Calgary Flames (3) @ Vancouver Canucks (4) (SOL): Markstrom steals the show

Calgary Flames 3 – Vancouver Canucks 4 (SO)

Recap

Saturday saw the Flames lose a frustrating game to Pacific rival, the Vancouver Canucks. From the start of the second period, the Flames utterly dominated every aspect of the game, but could only beat Jacob Markstrom once in the final two frames.

The first period saw the Flames suffer a terrible start, with Bo Horvat one timing a Chris Tanev pass just 44 seconds in, on the first shot of the game. Elias Lindholm and the Flames responded 5 minutes later, with Lindholm sliding a Sean Monahan centering pass home. David Rittich had a solid bounce back period after being pulled Thursday.

The teams would exchange quick goals to end the period. Josh Leivo zipped a long wrist shot through Rittich’s legs, before Sam Bennett used his stick like a magic wand to direct the tying goal in. With just 5 seconds left, Noah Hanifin sprang Johnny Gaudreau in on a break, but he was stopped by Markstrom, a dire sign of things to come.

The Flames came out flying in the second. They had extended periods of offensive zone pressure, and put 20 shots on goal, tying their season high. They were finally rewarded for their efforts, with Andrew Mangiapane scoring his first NHL goal on a one-time bomb.

The Canucks themselves had a chance to play equalizer, as Brock Boeser took a pass from Elias Pettersson and his time to pick a spot under Rittich’s glove, to even the game just two minutes later.

The third saw the Flames bring just as much pressure, including a 4 minute powerplay, which was the product of James Neal losing most of his teeth. However nothing was solved and the game went to overtime.

The Canucks had most of the pressure during overtime, including a powerplay. Both Mark Giordano and Bo Horvat exchanged shots off the post. The Flames misery in the shootout continued, with all 3 shooters failing to score. The Flames record this season falls to 0-3.

Scoring

Flames

1st: 6:39- Lindholm (24) (Monahan/Gaudreau), 13:35- Bennett (10) (Neal/Jankowski)

2nd: 13:19- Mangiapane (1) (Hanifin)

3rd: None

OT: None

SO: Tkachuk – NO GOAL, Monahan – NO GOAL, Neal – NO GOAL

Sharks

1st: 0:44- Horvat (19) (Tanev/Roussel), 12:58- Leivo (11) (Pettersson/Pouliot)

2nd: 15:11- Boeser (20) (Petterson/Hutton)

3rd: None

OT: None

SO: Pettersson – GOAL, Boeser – NO GOAL

Final Thoughts

These nights happen. Jacob Markstrom was out of his mind tonight, making 44 saves on a Flames season high 47 shots. The Flames should be happy about their level of play tonight, as they completely dominated the opponents. All 4 lines were rolling tonight, and the bottom 6’s chemistry has really started to make the Flames a hard team to play against.

The Flames may want to add a new position to their coaching staff in the form of a shootout specialist. While some Flames have had success in the shootout (Tkachuk, Monahan) they remain too predictable, and almost all NHL goalies nowadays watch film on their opponents tendencies.

Hopefully James Neal’s bad luck was knocked out of him along with his teeth.

Flame Of The Game

Andrew Mangiapane (F): It took 22 shots and 27 games, but Mangiapane finally scored his first NHL goal. One of the few players who rivaled James Neal’s snake-bitten-ness, the rookie was finally rewarded for his 4th line’s success over past weeks. The confidence generated by that goal was immediately evident, and he finished with a career high 5 shots in 7:45 of ice time. He has 2 points in his last 3 games, as he appears to be adjusting to the NHL level and his role.

by Gordie Taylor