Flames Ride Four Goal First Period to Victory in New Jersey

Calgary Flames 5 - New Jersey Devils 3

Preview

1st Period:

• CGY - Lucic (1) (Gudbranson, Kylington) - 6:35
• CGY - Mangiapane (6) - 10:08
• CGY - Lindholm (7) (Andersson, Gaudreau) - 12:10 PP
• CGY - Mangiapane (7) (Dube) - 12:56

2nd Period:

• NJ - Zacha (3) - 7:01

3rd Period:

• CGY - Tkachuk (1) (Monahan) - 11:18 PP
• NJ - Mercer (2) (Johnsson, Hamilton) - 11:51
• NJ - Zacha (2) (4) (Mercer, Hamilton) - 16:59 PP

Recap

For the first time since January 2 to January 11th 2020, the Calgary Flames have a four game winning streak. Simply put, it has been a very impressive winning streak as they’ve won the first four games of this five game road trip with the opportunity to go for the sweep on Thursday. Calgary was once again solid in all three facets of the game with their powerplay unit leading the way, going ²⁄₃ on the night while the even strength play was strong again too.

Dan Vladar got the start for the second time in three games while the Devils countered with Nico Daws. Vladar had previously played on Saturday in his Flames debut against Washington and was victorious.

For the third game in a row, the Flames got off to a very strong start, controlling the play early and having a number of dangerous chances that were turned away by Daws. However the Flames broke through when Milan Lucic was sprung on a breakaway by Erik Gudbranson (what a combination) and Lucic beat Daws through the five hole to give Calgary the 1-0 lead. Oliver Kylington also picked up an assist on the Flames opening goal.

For the second night in a row, Andrew Mangiapane would give the Flames a 2-0 lead by creating a defensive zone turnover and fighting his way into the slot and hitting the top corner on Daws. It was a very impressive play as he fought off the larger Devils defender and put a perfect shot up high. The goal was Mangiapane’s sixth of the young season.

A couple minutes later, Calgary would extend their lead again, this time on the powerplay though as Elias Lindholm continued his red-hot start to the season by deflecting a point shot from Rasmus Andersson past Daws. The goal gives Lindholm seven on the season and allowed him to re-take the team goal scoring lead.

However Lindholm’s lead would only last for 46 seconds as Mangiapane would get his second of the night after being sprung on a breakaway by Dillon Dube and Mang would put a nice deke on new Devil goaltender Scott Wedgewood. Just like that, it was 4-0 Flames in the first period.

Calgary did a good job of controlling New Jersey’s chances in the second period as they limited them to just 13 shots through 40 minutes. The only New Jersey goal in that stretch came off a misplay from Vladar as he threw the puck right on the stick of Pavel Zacha who buried it. The Flames led 4-1 heading to the third.

In the third period, Calgary extended their lead on the powerplay when Matthew Tkachuk was left alone in front of the net and was fed the puck by Sean Monahan. Tkachuk promptly buried it low blocker on Wedgewood to make it 5-1. The goal was Tkachuk’s first of the year and Monahan’s first point of the year as both broke the goose egg.

New Jersey would then get a pair of late goals in the period but it never really felt too dangerous as Calgary salted away their fourth consecutive victory. New Jersey did end up with 17 shots in the third which isn’t ideal, but on the second half of a back to back and with a four goal lead most of the night, it is a bit more acceptable.

Calgary wins 5-3 and will now head to Pittsburgh on Thursday with a chance to sweep the trip.

Final Thoughts

• I thought Vladar was solid for the most part. His stat line got hurt by the late goals as he finished 27/30, but really I don’t have any qualms with the goals he let in. It was a solid performance by the young backup goaltender and should help him continue to build confidence going forward.
• The Calgary Flames have two of the league’s top goal scorers. That is simply crazy as Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane’s seven goals has put them on top of the NHL goal scoring lead for the time being. It’s pretty rare to see two players up top like that aside from McDavid and Draisaitl in Edmonton.
• Oliver Kylington looked quite strong again with Chris Tanev and has only continued to cement his spot in the lineup lately. The Hanifin-Andersson pairing was very good again tonight as well.
• The Coleman-Backlund-Pitlick line was strong at both ends of the ice again with Coleman looking especially good as he pushed hard to get a goal in his return to New Jersey.

Flame of the Game

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Andrew Mangiapane (F): After being a well-earned honourable mention last night, I had to give the nod to Mangiapane tonight with another two goal game. Mangiapane ends up leaving the New York area with four goals in about 24 hours and was the catalyst for the Flames in both games. He continues to blow away all expectations that we had coming into the season and has only continued to make the case for more opportunity going forward.