Calgary Flames: Five Reasons Their Season Has Turned Around

THE BLUE LINE

In my opinion, the changes made at the blue line are one of the best decisions the Calgary Flames have made all season long. This is probably the biggest change the Flames have made all season long as well. I mean it’s no ‘trading the captain’, but in perspective of all the moves made by the Flames this season, it’s one of their biggest.

First, the Flames signed Matt Bartkowski, which isn’t our main point of focus. However, with the acquisition of Bartkowski, fans were maybe hoping to see Dennis Wideman benched, but that wasn’t the case. Then one game later, the Flames acquired Michael Stone from the Arizona Coyotes in a trade where the Flames gave some draft picks.

Now, since Michael Stone was in the lineup, Dennis Wideman would be a healthy scratch. I think you may be able to guess how excited Flames fans were.

Matt Bartkowski and Michael Stone have each been in the lineup every game since their trades. Since Bart’s been in the lineup, the Flames are 7-0-1. Since Stone has been in the lineup, the Flames are 7-0-0.

Which also means that the Flames are 7-0-0 without Wideman in the lineup. Wow, the Flames play well without Wideman in the lineup? Huh. Who would have thunk?

Of course, we know that the team is now on their season-high seven-game win streak without Wideman in the lineup. However, there is one particular player who is also benefiting from this.

The teams stats aren’t the only ones benefiting…

TJ Brodie has been Wideman’s defensive partner practically all season long. And Brodie has definitely been feeling the effects of this. Every Calgary Flames fans loves TJ Brodie (especially my dad). He’s an excellent skater and he’s a smart player. Sometimes he makes mistakes, but for the most part, he’s able to recover quickly from them.

However.

When your defensive partner is always making mistakes and getting turnovers that constantly lead to goals almost every game, it’s hard to show your true talents on the blue line.

Related Story: Five Players Not Living Up To Their Payroll

Now, when Stone was initially in the lineup, he didn’t start on the second pairing with Brodie. However, he does have a right-handed shot. So many people thought and were hoping he was brought to play alongside Brodie on that second unit. However, in that first game, he did move up alongside Brodie for the second half of the game and since then, he’s been paired with him.

Now, from the start of the season until the game where Dennis Wideman was a healthy scratch (seven games ago), Brodie’s +/- was -25. In those seven games since, his +/- is 4. Since that game where Stone started alongside Brodie (six games), his +/- is 6. His +/- is still -21, however, for what it’s worth, it’s going in the right direction. It’s hard to recover from -25, but with Stone in the lineup and Wideman out, the Flames haven’t yet lost a game.

Could this change alone be the largest reason for the Flames playoff chances now at 93%? We’ll never truly know the right answer for that. But this change was and will continue to be a factor.

BRIAN ELLIOTT

Brian Elliott has had quite the season this year. After having a bit of a rough season and not exactly finding his game, he’s completely turned that around. Since the All-Star break at the end of January, the Calgary Flames employed a win-and-start goaltending method. Basically, if you win, you start the next game. And boy, did Elliott take that to heart.

Related Story: Brian Elliott vs Chad Johnson Debate

He’s been absolutely incredible since then. Since the All-Star break, he has the second best record of all goaltenders in the league, right after Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals, who were also just on a hot-streak themselves. He is 9-1-1 since the break and is currently on a six-game win streak. He is even 10-1-1 since the game before the All-Star break where the Flames really picked up their game and they owed it a lot to their loss 5-1 loss against the Montreal Canadiens.

Since that game, Elliott is 10-1-1 and the Flames have the best record in the NHL and most amount of points since that loss. They’re 12-2-1 and don’t seem to be slowing down. And a big reason for this? Of course, Brian Elliott.

From the start of the season until that loss against the Habs, his record was 8-12-2, he had a save percentage of 0.891 and GAA of 2.92. Since then, his record is, like we mentioned, 10-1-1, he has a 0.927 sv% and 2.16 GAA. Definitely a large improvement in his play. Also in those 12 games, he allowed two goals or less in ten of the games.

I guess the change in goalie pants didn’t affect Elliott.

Via Calgaryflames.com:

“He’s just playing now,” Flames goaltending coach Jordan Sigalet said. “At the start of the year he was thinking a lot coming into a new situation, new team, new surroundings, new city. “Now he’s just playing his game.”

Elliott finally finding his game and bailing the Flames out when they allow over 30 shots like they have been almost every game this past week and not allowing more than two shots shows his true abilities and shows that he wants to help his new team into a playoff spot.

THE TOP LINE

First of all, there are many debates as to whether the first line on the Calgary Flames (Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Micheal Ferland) should be called the top line when many think the ~second line~ should be a ‘top line’. However for arguments sake, we’re going to be calling it the top/first line for now.

It’s no secret that the top line has struggled a lot for most of the season. They’re not what they once were and Johnny gaudreau and Sean Monahan weren’t producing like they should have been. At one point, it seemed that Gaudreau was starting to get his game back in early November. But unfortunately, he got injured and would end up missing ten games. Then the start of December rolled around, Gaudreau was back in the lineup, and him and Monahan seemed to be on fire again. Well, only for a couple of weeks.

Related Story: Monahan And Gaudreau Finally Living Up To Their Payroll

But Monahan and Gaudreau aren’t who I want to talk about right now.

Troy Brouwer has been on that top line alongside Monny and Johnny. Before the season started, I was hoping it would be somewhat of a Jiri Hudler with those two in the 2014-2015 season and how unstoppable and incredible that line was.

However, things didn’t exactly go as planned and Brouwer didn’t seem to be a good fit with Monahan and Gaudreau. So in the same game where Michael Stone made his Flame debut against the Nashville Predators on February 21st, another change in the lineup happened. The Calgary Flames decided to try out putting Micheal Ferland on that top line.

Ferland > Brouwer

In that game against Nashville, putting Ferland has proved to a good move right away. He scored 46 seconds into the game and scored later in the first period as well. His first multi-goal game in his career.

Ever since Ferland’s been on that top line, they’ve been contributing. Since Ferland has been on that top line in the game against the Preds, Gaudreau has nine points in seven games, Monahan has eight points in seven games, and Ferland has five points in seven games, and all five of his points were goals. Before that, Ferland had eight goals in 55 games.

All three guys are also +9 in this seven game span, which tied tied for the team lead. All three are also tied for third highest +/- in the league. Before this, Gaureau’s +/ was -18, Monahan’s was -16, and Ferland’s was -8.

Calgary Flames

Via Calgary Herald:

“He’s sneakily skilled,” Gaudreau said of Ferland. “Guys look at him just as a fighter and a big tough guy, but he’s smart with the puck. He’s intelligent, he can read the play and he has a great shot, too. He played great (Tuesday) for us and it was good to get a bit of chemistry there.”

And I know I’ve given lots of grief to Calgary Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan, but this was a very smart (clearly) move to make.

“I thought that he could give them a little energy,” said Flames bench boss Glen Gulutzan. “Obviously, I didn’t think he’d pot two right away, but he has that ability.” “All the coaches tell me, ‘When you have a chance to shoot the puck, just shoot the puck,’ ” Ferland said. “I think last year and the year before, too, I would always look to pass first before I would look to shoot. And now, I think, just being kind of selfish and shooting the puck more.”

Please, for all us Ferland. Continue to be selfish and shoot the puck.

ABLE TO KEEP LEADS/ABLE TO COME BACK

Something impressive this season for the Calgary Flames is, not only their ability to keep leads, but their ability to come back. Currently this season, they are tied with the third best win% when leading after one period and have the second best win% when leading after two periods, just 0.003 after the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They also have the second most amount of wins when trailing after one period with 11. Again, behind the Pittsburgh Penguins who have 13 wins.

They also have the second most amount of wins when the opponent scores first, with 17 wins. Can you guess who they trail behind in that category? (Spoiler alert: It’s the Pens again).

Via Calgaryflames.com:

Sunday’s victory over the Islanders was the 26th consecutive time that the Flames have earned a win when holding a lead after two periods. Six of those 26 wins have come during this nine-game point streak and Calgary has also surrendered the first goal in seven of those nine games. Calgary’s only loss this season when leading after 40 minutes came on Oct. 15 when they still earned a point in a shootout loss.

It’d be nice to score first and hold onto that lead, but it’s also a bit of a relieving feeling knowing the Flames don’t fret too much when the opponent scores first.

In their last game against the New York Islanders, I was actually upset that they scored first. I wanted the Isles to score first, seeing how well the Flames have been playing when their opponent scores first.

Via Calgaryflames.com:

“Everyone here in this room believes.” “The best teams in the league,” reminded Versteeg, “always have flawless records in terms of holding leads. “That’s what we want to become. So these kinds of games are important to be able to close out. We’ve come a long ways but we’ve got to stick with it. “Everyone here in this room believes.”

EVERYONE IS CONTRIBUTING

Something the Calgary Flames are prone to struggling with is their ability to have more than one solid line. However, that seems to be the opposite this year. Well, almost.

For a while, their first line was struggling quite a bit and people were wondering when they were going to find their games again. Well, like I mentioned earlier, everything is clicking again for that top line.

However, without other players producing, the playoffs would have been out of the question.

Thanks to the 3M line who have been the Flames’ most consistent line this entire season and they were really keeping this team afloat. But as much as we love the 3M line, they’ve been consistent all season long. So they’re not exactly the reason for the Flames turn-around.

But, in this case, everyone is.

Their fourth line have also been incredible lately. While, they may not be scoring a million goals, but they’re incredible on the fore-check which is taking away the opponent having scoring chances.

I’d say the third-line is probably the team’s weak link right now, but even then, they’re not that bad. Not being worried about any of your lines is really a luxury that not many teams ever have.

Via Calgaryflames.com:

“They’re all in shape now, they can all shoot, they all have skills coaches, they can all skate.” Said Flames head coach, Glen Gulutzan.

Maybe like what Kris Versteeg said earlier. Everyone in the locker room believes. And now everyone wants to contribute. Even Flames captain Mark Giordano said that belief is a big part of the game.

Next: Flame For Thought's 3 Stars Of The Week Feb 27- Mar 5

Well, there you have it Flames fans! Five reasons why this team is much different than they were just a few months ago. And when the team starts to believe and a whole city behind them believes in them too, you’re bound to rack up a few points here and there.