GDT: Flames @ Sea Monsters, 8:00 or something (not a 10/10 start time)

[OvermanKingGainer]

Another great game by Andersson, I can't wait to get Kylington back to give us a great D core

definitely some potential:

Kylington - Tanev - Elite 1st pair
Zadorov - Weegar - Strong 1st pair
Poirier - Andersson - Strong 1st pair
Hanifin - Stone - solid 3rd pair

 

[JurassicTunga]

Flames acquire the much needed 2 points!

 

[BRobMint]

HEY KRAKEN FANS!

 

[BobColesNasalCavity]

Good win considering the back to back and having to fly to Seattle

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

definitely some potential:

Kylington - Tanev - Elite 1st pair
Zadorov - Weegar - Strong 1st pair
Poirier - Andersson - Strong 1st pair
Hanifin - Stone - solid 3rd pair

You legit hate Hanifin eh?

 

[super6646]

Flames acquire the much needed 2 points!

I’m watching TNG right now ironically enough.

 

[TheHudlinator]

definitely some potential:

Kylington - Tanev - Elite 1st pair
Zadorov - Weegar - Strong 1st pair
Poirier - Andersson - Strong 1st pair
Hanifin - Stone - solid 3rd pair

As usual I like your enthusiasm I just don't have as thick of rose colored glasses

 

[Bounces R Way]

Nice win. They played focused pretty consistent hockey, physical on the puck and managed it well. Took a game over in the 3rd after playing a big rival the night before, gives me some hope this team could be on the verge of putting a nice stretch together.


Really good : Loved Kadri's game tonight, used his linemates, drew a penalty, wasn't afraid to make a play and cut to the middle. I know we hate Lucic on that line but I don't think I'd split them up right now, they had some nice chemistry going in this one. Andersson another very strong outing, 2pts, kept a lot of OZ possessions going, getting much better at breaking up cycles too. Ruzicka also was strong and the only reason the speedy forwards of the Kraken didn't bury our 4th line. Kind of sucks he gets stuck with Ritchie and Lewis but he's easily been the best of the guys we've tried in that spot so far this year.


Good : Huberdeau good finish on that game winner, liked his play along the boards and hanging on to the puck. Little lost on the Kraken 1st goal. Hoping for some big things from him in 2023. Mangiapane was solid, just couldn't get that final play to work but one of our better forwards. Toffoli also strong. Vladar was moving well, like how aggressive he is in the crease cutting down angles. Zadorov's puck retrievals this season have been excellent, liked his coverage too.

Decent : Hanifin, pretty OK. Dube won a lot of puck races. Backs and Lindy were mostly good, looked a little tired maybe. Weegar was alright, score a goal already tho dude. Stone played 11 minutes and that's probably where you want him. Lucic had some giveaways, also had some real nice passes to the slot to setup his teammates. He was hitting people so that's good.

Sure, whatever : Ritchie and Lewis also hit some stuff. Not sure either touched the puck more than twice. Coleman at fault for the 2nd Kraken goal but played well the rest of the game.

Not very good : Thought Tanev kind of stunk honestly, at least compared to his standards.

 

[flames23]

Glad we came back after giving away another lead. Much needed deuce.

 

[DFF]

Huberdeau is starting to show he can be a difference maker

Last 2 games were good

 

[Yepthatsme]

People may not like Lucic in this elevated role, but don’t expect the lines to change anytime soon. Based on counting stats and fancy stats, Sutter has seemingly found our ideal lineup finally with our forward group.

Dube-Lindholm-Toffoli have the 4th best possession metrics of any line we’ve given any sort of time, but the second best expected scoring rate, the highest actual scoring rate, and a better goal differential rate than last season’s top line.

Huberdeau-Kadri-Lucic are just barely behind that line in scoring rate, have great possession metrics, but most importantly has the highest scoring rate of any line Huberdeau’s been on and the best possession for Kadri.

Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman have been possession gods. They have 75% of the expected goals 5v5, and the highest expected scoring rates of any line we’ve tried all year. No line NHL wide has better xG% that have played the amount of minutes they have (Dube-Lindholm-Toffoli are also top 30 by those standards). All while giving the opposition nothing. Goals haven’t been going in for them yet but they’ve gotten the looks so far.

People want Lucic down the lineup and Ruzicka higher, but this has been the best iteration of our lineup by far results wise. The team quite frankly has looked the best it has all season during this stretch with our new lines.

 

[Yepthatsme]

Also got curious so I looked it up, Toffoli is tied for 3rd league wide in posts hit this season. 8 posts with 15 goals ranks him as one of the unluckiest players in the league. Only guy seemingly with worse ratio this season is Trocheck, who has a hilarious 10 post with only 12 goals. Goals could come flooding in for Toffoli in the last half of the season, his lines playing great and a change in luck could heavily inflate his totals.

 

[Some Other Flame]

That'd be a mistake. Lucic's playing well cause he's rested - he sat for a week, played a few games, then got another break with the holiday layoff.

Same old story. Start of the season he was playing well. Why? Cause he had a long summer. But that didn't stop the praise or the baffling talk about an extension. I said wait until the 10 to 15 game mark for Lucic to fall off a cliff and lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. Because that's what always happens. And that's exactly what's gonna happen again in another 10 to 15 games.

He's a 34 year old power forward with over 1100 NHL games played. There's no magic formula to turn back time. But he's the poster boy for load management and under a more modern management group, could probably extend his playing career by a few years. I.e, you can realistically have an aging Lucic that's still effective playing about 60% of games, or a Lucic that's a gross liability the majority of the time playing 90% of games. Feels like simple enough math.

 

[Mobiandi]

It's crazy cause Lucic wasn't even the weak link on his line in the BoA. Most of that line's puck possession time came from the Oilers D shitting their pants seeing Lucic on the forecheck.

That being said, he hasn't been an every day player for a while now and it's clear when he takes his foot off the pedal because he doesn't have any gas in the tank

 

[Yepthatsme]

That'd be a mistake. Lucic's playing well cause he's rested - he sat for a week, played a few games, then got another break with the holiday layoff.

Same old story. Start of the season he was playing well. Why? Cause he had a long summer. But that didn't stop the praise or the baffling talk about an extension. I said wait until the 10 to 15 game mark for Lucic to fall off a cliff and lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. Because that's what always happens. And that's exactly what's gonna happen again in another 10 to 15 games.

He's a 34 year old power forward with over 1100 NHL games played. There's no magic formula to turn back time. But he's the poster boy for load management and under a more modern management group, could probably extend his playing career by a few years. I.e, you can realistically have an aging Lucic that's still effective playing about 60% of games, or a Lucic that's a gross liability the majority of the time playing 90% of games. Feels like simple enough math.

It's crazy cause Lucic wasn't even the weak link on his line in the BoA. Most of that line's puck possession time came from the Oilers D shitting their pants seeing Lucic on the forecheck.

That being said, he hasn't been an every day player for a while now and it's clear when he takes his foot off the pedal because he doesn't have any gas in the tank

And I hope Ruzicka has been practicing playing his off side for when that time comes, he possesses the size and puck protection that’s seemingly been the missing piece for Huberdeau and Kadri with more offense. But that’s for when Lucic falls off, because right now he’s the missing link for that line. I unironically hope Sutter has been feeding game film of Lucic with those two to Ruzicka so he knows what he needs to do when the time comes.

 

[Nanuuk]

And I hope Ruzicka has been practicing playing his off side for when that time comes, he possesses the size and puck protection that’s seemingly been the missing piece for Huberdeau and Kadri with more offense. But that’s for when Lucic falls off, because right now he’s the missing link for that line. I unironically hope Sutter has been feeding game film of Lucic with those two to Ruzicka so he knows what he needs to do when the time comes.

Rosie played a lot of RW in Stockton. He'll do fine if he remembers his lessons learned from playing with Lewis and Ritchie.

But I don't think Sutter will change this line-up anytime soon. As a veteran Looch performs to the role that is asked of him. I think he is being asked to contribute on the 2 line offensively, but no one is expecting 40 goals or anything.

What is expected is to create time and space for his line mates with a strong forecheck, wreak havoc in front of the net, and play a 200 ft. game.

I think he is up to the task until Rosie is ready to take over. Right now our 4th line is a strong line and I'd hate to weaken it.

However, the Flames could insert Zohorna in at 4 C, drop Looch down, play Rosie up, and platoon Ritchie, Lewis, and Looch. The line wouldn't be as strong though.