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Flames can’t keep putting Avs on power play

By Joey AlfieriApr 17, 2019, 11:13 AM EDT
1 Comment

To the naked eye, the Colorado Avalanche power play hasn’t been too special through three games against the Calgary Flames. After all, they’re only clicking at 12.5 percent. But keeping that power play off the ice might be the difference between the Flames advancing to the second round or going home early.

Anyone who follows hockey has to agree that the Flames are a deeper squad from top-to-bottom than the Avs. There’s no denying that. Calgary had five different players surpass the 70-point mark in 2018-19 including a defenseman, Mark Giordano. The Avalanche have the high-end talent to match, but their depth players simply aren’t as good.

By giving the Avs power play opportunities, the Flames are essentially preventing their best players from attacking, while giving Avs stars like Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen easy offensive ice time. That’s why Flames head coach Bill Peters has to figure out a way to make sure his team is disciplined and focused throughout Game 4 and beyond.

Let’s look back at Game 3. In all, they took 11 penalties (some were Game Misconducts that were tacked on when the game was out of reach). Calgary fell behind the eight-ball when they gave up a full two-minute five-on-three power play. Oscar Fantenberg took a hooking penalty on MacKinnon while Matthew Tkachuk took a too many men on the ice penalty at the same time.

After Mike Smith made a few good stops, MacKinnon eventually found the back of the net to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. Garnet Hathaway then went to the box for holding Nikita Zadorov, and the Avs forward scored his second power-play tally of the night. That was it. The Flames were done at that point.

“That’s obviously not even close to where we can be,” said Giordano, per the Calgary Sun. “We have to regroup here and stick together as a team but we know our compete level, No. 1, has to go way up. We have to be smarter with our decisions with the puck, our pinches, everything …

“Across the board, there wasn’t much good, honestly, throughout the night. We made that team look and feel good all night.”

Stopping MacKinnon at even-strength is already difficult enough. Giving him added time and space in the offensive zone is a mistake and they can’t keep doing it. The top team in the East, the Tampa Bay Lightning, have already been bounced from the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. If the best team in the West wants to avoid a similar fate, they’ll have to get back to playing to their strengths.

“Everyone has to give a little bit more. Everybody. Me included,” Smith said after Game 3. “We all have to give a little bit more. It’s hard to win this time of year, it’s hard. Everyone needs to play a little bit outside their comfort zone to do what it takes to win.”

Putting the odds in your favor by staying out of the box would definitely help.

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.

Flames’ Hathaway tossed after turn-buckling Wild’s Kunin

Sportsnet
By Scott BilleckMar 2, 2019, 11:52 PM EDT
8 Comments

You’ve seen this before, but it usually doesn’t happen in the NHL.

Calgary Flames forward Garnet Hathaway might have gotten away with this one if he was a wrestler in WWE, but on Saturday night he was an NHLer in a hockey game against the Minnesota Wild, where slamming a guys head into the boards is frowned upon.

Hathaway did just that to Wild forward Luke Kunin early in the second period. Kunin looked to hit Hathaway near the Wild bench but Hathaway had his head up and was able to evade the check before putting his arm over Kunin’s head and bringing it down onto the top of the dasher board.

The result looked ugly:

Hathaway was given a match penalty for intent to injure on the play. Kunin, meanwhile, left the game for a time before returning to the Wild bench.

This one will be debated. It looked a lot less malicious at full speed (more of an awkward situation than anything), but when you slow the video of it down, it looks worse for Hathaway.

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck

The Buzzer: Rask’s milestone; former ‘Canes lift Flames over Carolina

AP
By Adam GretzFeb 3, 2019, 5:16 PM EDT
3 Comments

Three Stars

1. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins. When you move to the No. 1 spot on an Original Six team’s all-time wins list with a shutout over the defending Stanley Cup champions you get the No. 1 star for the day. Read more about Tuukka Rask and the Bruins’ big day here.

2. Elias Lindholm, Noan Hanifin and Derek Ryan, Calgary Flames. The Calgary Flames continued to build on their incredible climb to the top of the Western Conference standings with a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. It was a trio of former Hurricanes that were leading the way as Elias Lindholm, Derek Ryan, and Noah Hanifin all scored goals in the win. Lindholm and Hanifin were traded to Calgary over the summer in the big Dougie Hamilton trade (Hamilton, for what it is worth, also scored against his former team on Sunday for the Hurricanes) and have played a big role in the Flames’ resurgence. Lindholm has had a career year and been one of the single biggest individual surprises in the league. All three of them get to share a star for their role in the win. Lindholm gets a special star for, well, taking a page out of the Hurricanes’ celebration book.

It is great when the Hurricanes do it, and this is great, too. The NHL needs more personality from its players. More celebrations!

3. Jonathan Drouin, Montreal Canadiens. He completed the Canadiens’ come-from-behind win with an outstanding end-to-end rush in overtime to score his 15th goal of the season. The Canadiens trailed by a goal heading into the third period and sent the game to overtime on a late tally from rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi, setting the stage for Drouin’s goal. It is a big goal for Drouin not only because it helped the Canadiens win, but because they could use more production of him this season. Entering play on Sunday he had scored just three goals in his past 19 games but has started to show some signs of snapping out of it with five points, including a pair of goals, in his past eight games. The Canadiens are now 6-1-1 during that stretch following Sunday’s win.

Highlights of the Day

It did not result in a win, but the Carolina Hurricanes opened up the scoring on Sunday with a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play that was completed by Teuvo Teravainen.

Speaking of the Hurricanes, their Storm Surge celebrations may not be embraced by people like Brian Burke but they are definitely having an impact on the young hockey players in the city.

Some of Rask’s biggest saves on his big day for the Bruins.

Here is Jonathan Drouin’s overtime winner.

Factoids

  • Garnet Hathaway scored the Calgary Flames’ 16th shorthanded goal of the season on Sunday afternoon. That total leads the league, is the fourth most in franchise history, and is just seven away from tying the team record for a season. They have a real shot at matching it at this paceP. [NHL PR]
  • Shea Weber‘s goal for the Montreal Canadies on Sunday was the 197th of his career, moving him into a tie with Mark Howe for 22nd on the NHL’s all-time list for goals scored among defenders. [NHL PR]
  • Elias Lindholm’s goal extended his current point streak to 10 consecutive games. [NHL PR]

Scores

Boston Bruins 1, Washington Capitals 0

Calgary Flames 4, Carolina Hurricanes 3

Montreal Canadiens 4, Edmonton Oilers 3 (OT)

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

The Buzzer: Hart wins in debut; Bishop leaves, returns in shutout

Associated Press
By Scott BilleckDec 19, 2018, 1:25 AM EDT

Three stars

1. Ben Bishop (and Anton Khudobin), Dallas Stars

Bishop and his backup edge Hart here due to the fact that Bishop got run over by Calgary Flames forward Garnet Hathaway, forcing him to leave the game in the second period with the Stars up 1-0.

Khudobin held down the fort while Bishop was getting checked out to close out the second period.

Bishop would only miss about six-and-a-half minutes as he led Dallas back onto the ice in the third and resumed where he left off. The duo combined for 24 saves for the shutout as Dallas won 2-0, making some history in the process.

2. Carter Hart, Philadelphia Flyers

Hart made history as he stepped onto the ice in his NHL debut, becoming the Flyers’ sixth goalie to appear in their first 35 games. That’s not a great record to hold, but he’ll be in the annals of hockey history for a while, I’d imagine.

History or not, Hart was solid in his inauguration. He turned aside 20 shots as he and newly-minted head coach Scott Gordon picked up their first wins at their respective positions.

Hart is facing a lot of pressure here. He’s dubbed as the future in Philly and for good reason. Some call the City of Brotherly Love a graveyard for goaltenders. Perhaps Hart can buck the trend. Who knows.

For now, he’s certainly earned another start.

3. Martin Jones, San Jose Sharks

An all-goalie lockout in the three stars tonight finishes with Jones.

The Sharks netminders earned his first shutout of the season, making 26 saves for career goose egg No. 20. Jones’ save percentage this season has left a bit more to be desired, so Tuesday’s effort was a good refresher for fans on what he’s capable of.

San Jose has now won five in a row as they continue their ascent to the top of the Pacific Division.

Other notable performances: 

Highlights of the night

As advertised, this is a nice goal:

Luuuuu:

Given how the Flyers crease situation has played out this season, Gritty may want to keep these goalies healthy:

Factoid

Scores

Panthers 5, Sabres 2

Maple Leafs 7, Devils 2

Rangers 3, Ducks 1

Flyers 3, Red Wings 2

Sharks 4, Wild 0

Blackhawks 2, Predators 1

Stars 2, Flames 0

Blues 4, Oilers 1

Islanders 3, Coyotes 1

Lightning 5, Canucks 2

Kings 4, Jets 1

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck

Stars’ Bishop returns to game after taking shoulder to the head

Sportsnet
By Scott BilleckDec 18, 2018, 10:36 PM EDT

Dallas Stars fans were able to breathe a sigh of relief as the team came out for the third period on Tuesday.

Nearing the mid-way point fo the second period, Calgary Flames forward Garnet Hathaway went to challenge Bishop, who was playing the puck behind the net.

Bishop was able to move the puck to his defenseman but the incoming Hathaway’s shoulder caught him in the mask. The impact knocked Bishop over and he was slow to get up before being pulled from the game.

Here’s the hit:

Hathaway was given a two-minute minor for goaltender interference. Stars defenseman Roman Polak got a roughing minor after going after Hathaway following the hit.

Bishop stopped all nine shots he faced in the 33:37 he played. Anton Khudobin logged 6:23 in relief before Bishop led the Stars out for the third period.

Bishiop had a 10-8-1 record coming into Tuesday with a .920 save percentage. The Stars were leading 2-0 in the third.

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck