Three positives from win over Panthers that bode well for Flames
There were bundles of positive takeaways from the 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, three of which in particular bode well for the Flames.
It was like watching the Flames rise from an extended slumber. Not quite long enough to be considered a hibernation, but certainly too long to have anyone mistake it for a nap. The Flames didn’t awaken from their comatose like most would. There was nothing sluggish, slow or sloth-like about this awakening.
It was as if the Flames had been injected with a copious amount of adrenaline prior to puck drop on what was arguably the club’s most important game of the season. A fifth consecutive loss and second in two weeks to the Panthers would have been received about as well as the latest stadium failure in the Stampede city.
There was no way the Flames were going to let that happen, as they engineered their most complete, well-rounded 60 minutes since November. Here’s three positives from the emphatic display that will bode well for Calgary in the coming weeks.
3. Flames aided by secondary scoring outburst
A severe lack of secondary scoring has hampered the Flames all season. That changed in an irrefutable way on Tuesday, hopefully permanently. Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson scored a goal each while Sean Monahan netted two, precisely the secondary scoring support the Flames were in desperate need of. Coleman and Monahan both have six on the season, 33 percent of which have come against Florida.
I’m sure those gents wouldn’t mind playing Florida every night. The rest of the team, however, would probably beg to differ. Andersson, who opened the Flames’ account, netted his first goal of the season. It was the defenceman’s first goal in 57 shots. When probed by Sportsnet broadcaster Ryan Leslie about his offensive drought, Andersson answered quite bluntly, saying it was about time. Couldn’t agree more, Rasmus.
Scoring four of five goals, the Flames’ supporting cast exceeded all expectations. While Darryl Sutter would be bonkers to expect such a prolific outburst on a nightly basis, he’ll be delighted to see the lads break out of their respective slumps, and he’ll want to see more of it in the games to come. Calgary’s long-term success depends on it.
2. Jacob Markström dialled in
Jacob Markström was sterling between the pipes for the Flames, putting in a performance reminiscent of November when he was consistently on fire. It was the first time Markström earned a save percentage of .966 or higher since he backstopped the team to a lopsided 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks on Jan. 2 (.968). The win improved his record against Eastern Conference teams to 9-4-2, five of which coming in the form of goose eggs.
Let’s for a moment put aside our hankering for analytics and focus squarely on his otherworldly performance against the league’s highest scoring team. To put the impressiveness of his outing into context, the Panthers had scored 50 goals in eight previous games. That’s a lot of scoring, even more than Leonardo DiCaprio (AKA Jordan Belfort) on Wolf of Wall Street. The Swedish netminder almost kept Florida off the scoresheet entirely. Incarceration was the only thing that kept Belfort from scoring in Wolf on Wall Street. On second thought, I’m sure he scored in jail too, albeit against his will.
Markström, with his german short-haired pointer-like reaction time, was aggressive, positionally sound and, like the rest of his team, battled for everything.
The Flames are in for a fruitful ride if Markström maintains that Vezina-like form.
1. Monahan back to what he does best
Even Monahan would admit that his season thus far has been nothing short of disastrous. The expectations of a player earning 6.5 million USD per year are exceedingly high, and so they should be. The Flames forward’s malaise started long before this season. He only scored 10 goals in 50 games last season, convincing many that his substantial reduction in offensive production isn’t temporary. And that’s obviously very worrying for Flames fans.
Even with his two goals last night, Monahan has only scored six this season. While there’s still a lot of hockey to be played, his current goal return equates to the 27-year-old earning over a million dollars per goal. And that’s USD. So it’s more like five million a goal. Ok, so that might be a slight exaggeration. Suffice to say, he’s currently the most overpaid player in Cowtown.
You could see the elation on his teammate’s faces when he scored his first. And when Johnny Hockey put it on a platter for his second, you could feel what it meant to the team and fans. The Flames need Monahan, who has 210 goals in 626 games, to score goals. It’s what he’s best at. It’s what he’s done his entire career.
dark. Next. Analysis of the Flames 5-1 win over Florida
The cruel reality is the centreman’s days at Calgary are most likely numbered. So it’s crucial the Flames get the most out of him before he departs for pastures anew. The chances of Calgary making a deep playoff run are predicated on Monahan consistently contributing on the offensive end. Hopefully his two goals on Tuesday will awake him from his deep, extended hibernation.