travel_dude Posted November 28 Author Report Posted November 28 5 Things - Flames @ Blue Jackets Calgary continues this road trip with a matinee in Columbus (1 p.m. MT/Sportsnet West) 1. Last Time Out The Flames, trailing 1-0, were pressing hard for the tying goal Wednesday in Detroit. Like hard - as in full-court press. And they got it off the stick of Connor Zary, who snapped a wicked wrister on the powerplay with less than three minutes to go to force overtime against the Red Wings in their second game of this four-game trip. But with just under two to go in OT, they got tagged with a too many men penalty and Detroit would capitalize for a 2-1 victory. CLICK HERE TO READ THE GAME STORY After starting thos roadie with a 4-3 loss in Ottawa Monday, ther defeat was disappointing but the single point was sure better than nothing. "I don’t think it was our best game," said captain Mikael Backlund in the dressing room, before heading to the airport for a flight to Columbus. "I didn’t think we got, until the third, really, some pressure. We can play better than we did tonight. But it was a tight game until the end. We got a big point. To get a point when you don’t play well, it’s big. But we’ve lost too many on the road now, it’s time to win a road game." Zary's powerplay marker marked the fifth straight game the team has scored at least one goal while on the man advantage, as the team has enjoyed a breakthrough in that department. "I thought it was a hard game, both ways," said Head Coach Ryan Huska. "Again, a typical game for us, there wasn’t a lot of room on the ice, I’m happy the guys stuck with it. We’ve talked a lot about our powerplay, and now we’re talking about it in a positive way, so that was a big goal for us tonight." Huska was asked about Zary's progession this season as he continues to be one of the Flames' most dominant players on the ice, night-in and night-out. "I think that’s the hope with all your young players, that they’re going to watch some of the older guys around them, and they’re going to take steps along the way," said Huska. "That’s part of our job as a staff, is to make sure they develop, and it’s part of the player’s job to make sure they’re putting in the work, and Connor has done that this year. His game has taken steps. It keeps getting harder as the season goes on, so it’s going to be a really good challenge for him to keep improving." This is the first time the Flames will play the Blue Jackets since former Flame and Columbus star Johnny Gaudreau was killed, along with his brother Matthew, in an accident this summer while they were riding their bikes. It will be a emotional day for many of Gaudreau's former teammates - including Rasmus Andersson, Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, along with the team's staff. 2. Know Your Enemy The Blue Jackets are sixth in the Metropolitan Division, 4-4-2 in their last 10 outings, and coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Canadiens Wednesday night at home. They had won three straight prior to the defeat. Mathieu Olivier scored near the midway point of the first period but Juraj Slafkovsky would tie it up before the intermission. Yegor Chinakov would put the homeside out front in the second but the Habs would again tie it up before Emil Heineman would put Montreal ahead in the third period. Zach Werenski would tally his seventh of the season to force OT, where Nick Suzuki would put a quick end to things, scoring 44 seconds in on his own rebound to ice it for Montreal. Elvis Merzlikins made 19 saves for the Jackets. “I don't think we got to our forecheck tonight,” Werenski told NHL.com's Craig Merz after the game. “We weren’t bad, but I don’t think we were good. And in this league, that’s what happens if you don’t play your game. “Even though we didn’t play our best, we did find a way to tie the game and get to overtime. We would’ve liked two points, but it’s a great learning experience for us. We’re in it, we’re getting points and we’re finding ways to stay in games, even when we’re not at our best.” Former Flame Sean Monahan didn't record a point in the game but he is off to a great start to the season, sitting third in team scoring with seven goals and 20 points in 21 games. He had a goal and four points in a wild 7-6 overtime win against the Lightning two games earlier on Nov. 21, and has seven points in his last four outings. 2024-25 Stats Powerplay Rate Rank Flames 19.7% 17th Blue Jackets 17.2% 21st Penalty Kill Flames 74% 28th Blue Jackets 76.9% 25th Shot Attempts (via NaturalStatTrick) Flames 49.93% 16th Blue Jackets 51.62% 10th High-Danger Scoring Chances (via NaturalStatTrick) Flames 49.59% 17th Blue Jackets 49.75% 16th 3. Fast Facts Afternoon Affairs: The Flames get set to skate in their third matinee affair of the season, posting a 1-0-1 record in afternoon games thus far: Nov. 9 in Buffalo (2-3 SOL), Nov. 23 against Minny (4-3 SOW). Following today, the Flames next afternoon game will come on Dec. 21 when they welcome the Chicago Blackhawks to the Scotiabank Saddledome at 2 p.m. MT. Back-To-Backs: The Flames get set to begin their third back-to-back set of the 2024-25 season. In the Flames' last set, they split the two contests on Nov. 11 against LA (3-1 W) and Vancouver (3-1 L). Calgary has a 3-1-0 record in back-to-back games so far this season, and following their game in Pittsburgh tomorrow night, Calgary’s next back-to-back will come on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29 when they face San Jose and Vegas on the road. picture_as_pdf 4. Gone Streakin' Forwards Yegor Sharangovich and Connor Zary both enter today’s contest riding four-game point streaks. Sharangovich has three goals and two helpers during his run and is tied with MacKenzie Weegar for the team-lead in points with five since Nov. 21. Connor Zary has two goals and two assists, and his four points are the third-most on the club since Nov. 21. 5. Players To Watch Flames - Nazem Kadri Kadri led all forwards in ice time (20:57) and shots (5) in the loss to the Wings. He scored a late marker against Ottawa to open the trip. He's got six goals and 12 points on the season. Blue Jackets - Zach Werenski The blueliner also had an assist against the Habs and is riding a six-game point streak in which he's collected four goals and 12 points. The half-dozen games ties the franchise record for longest point streak by a Columbus defenceman (Bryan Berard back in 2005).
travel_dude Posted November 28 Author Report Posted November 28 The Flames Confirmed: Jonathan Huberdeau – Connor Zary – Blake Coleman Martin Pospisil – Nazem Kadri – Andrei Kuzmenko Yegor Sharangovich – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Justin Kirkland Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson MacKenzie Weegar – Daniil Miromanov Joel Hanley – Brayden Pachal Dustin Wolf
travel_dude Posted November 28 Author Report Posted November 28 The Blue Jackets Confirmed: Dmitri Voronkov – Sean Monahan – Kirill Marchenko Cole Sillinger – Adam Fantilli – Kent Johnson Zach Aston-Reese – Justin Danforth – Mathieu Olivier James van Riemsdyk – Sean Kuraly – Kevin Labanc Zach Werenski – Dante Fabbro Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson Jake Christiansen – Jordan Harris Elvis Merzlikins backed up by Daniil Tarasov.
travel_dude Posted November 28 Author Report Posted November 28 Please feel free to start adding any special messages you would like before general game day comments begin. I will delete any of my unused posts to free it up.
conundrumed Posted November 28 Report Posted November 28 1 hour ago, travel_dude said: Note the crazy start time of 1pm - American Thanksgiving. Which is awesome. I love it. I predict Wolf saying, "screw this losing streak". Head to Pittsburgh, and Vladar saying, "yeah, what he said". 5 of 8 points, not bad.
travel_dude Posted November 29 Author Report Posted November 29 Posting open. Not as many articles as I expected to be available. My last tribute. RIP Johnny Hockey
medatswhoP Posted November 29 Report Posted November 29 41 minutes ago, travel_dude said: Posting open. Not as many articles as I expected to be available. My last tribute. RIP Johnny Hockey Thanks for the G.D.T. TD, very classy one more for Johnny, may he be smiling down on both teams tonight. For any of you young players out there or if your a hockey parent the inspiration at 38 seconds is very cool, dream big! Go Flames, let's get a win one last time for both brothers.
travel_dude Posted November 29 Author Report Posted November 29 If Monahan fails to score in this game and the game is out of reach, I would suggest that the coaches have a mini discussion and agree to pull the goalie for one last shift with Monahan at C. Allow him to skate in unopposed with a missing man formation and score one last goal. Fitting.
conundrumed Posted November 29 Report Posted November 29 Personal fun story. An Edmonton buddy had been living in Houston about 5 years. Called me, in Calgary, visiting his dad. So I treated them to a Flames game. He said he's embarrassed that he's completely lost track of hockey, who should he be watching. #13 on the Flames is the only guy. Sure enough, opening faceoff, Johnny screams it down the left side and snipes. Game literally just started. He turned to me and said, "JC, that #13, hahaha". Yup. Went to his first Flames camp, as others here did. His feet, seeing it live, blew my head clean off. To this day, I would say he's the best skater I've ever seen. Those feet dance. I always thought, if a defender looks at his skates, it's over for said defender. lol. His skates could be facing 9:00 and 3:00, and every minute in between. Just unreal. I've watched a lot of live hockey. I had never seen that before. Bringing something new is extremely rare. He did that. I can't paint the tragedy verbally, nor do I care to try. Imho, all because some dude refused to address his anger issues. As usual, those raging lapses of reason are a ticking timebomb.
conundrumed Posted November 29 Report Posted November 29 27 minutes ago, Kulstad said: Vladar has a new mask for today's game Awesome!!
travel_dude Posted November 29 Author Report Posted November 29 Starting goalies confirmed. Wolf for CGY.
conundrumed Posted November 29 Report Posted November 29 Wolf's getting a shutout. I'm throwing that out there right now. I don't gaf about silly superstitions. 1
travel_dude Posted November 29 Author Report Posted November 29 10 minutes ago, conundrumed said: Wolf's getting a shutout. I'm throwing that out there right now. I don't gaf about silly superstitions. He's on fire these days.
travel_dude Posted November 29 Author Report Posted November 29 10 minutes ago, conundrumed said: Wolf's getting a shutout. I'm throwing that out there right now. I don't gaf about silly superstitions. Bwahaha, the superstition is a joke. It's something more talked about by commentators than anything else.
travel_dude Posted November 29 Author Report Posted November 29 Grab the guy's stick so he can't touch the puck? Let em play I guess.
conundrumed Posted November 29 Report Posted November 29 Just now, travel_dude said: Bwahaha, the superstition is a joke. It's something more talked about by commentators than anything else. Oh, it's a joke. It shouldn't be a thing.
travel_dude Posted November 29 Author Report Posted November 29 Just now, conundrumed said: Oh, it's a joke. It shouldn't be a thing. I always joke about it. We sometimes use it to break the shutout bid by the oponent team. Elvus will be getting a shutout today. He's playing great. There you go. LOL
travel_dude Posted November 29 Author Report Posted November 29 Another dum arse play by the guy with the puck and the poor positioning.
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