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GDT: Canes @ Flames. 10/23 9:00

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
The Canes meet the red hot Flames.

Thanks to the OT sorcery between Necas and Aho, and a huge contribution from new/old Ghost, the Canes came away with an OT win in Edmonton. Necas had 3 points, Ghost had 2, including yet another power play goal and Andersen was sharp, beaten twice by MacDavid but making 32 saves to keep the Canes in it after they fell behind by 2 again. RBA put the lines in the blender and it paid off, with Robinson feeding Necas for probably their only combination of the season. Blake skated with Aho, Jarvis skated with Staal. They didn’t practice yesterday, they’ll have a morning skate at 1:30 our time, but I suspect the line combos will revert to the norm. We’ll see who goes in goal.

The Flames are 1 of 4 teams without a regulation loss, 5-0-1 on the season. They’re coming off a shootout win against the Pens on Tuesday. Kadri, Huberdeau, Weegar and dman Rasmus Andersson all have 3 goals. Andersson leads with 5 assists. The Flames traded goalie Jacob Markstrom to the Devils for dman Kevin Bahl and a top 10 protected 2025 1st round pick. The goal is manned by Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf, who is technically still a rookie. He’s coming off 3 terrific seasons in the AHL. Vladar has been the backup for the last 3 seasons. They’ve each started 3 games, Wolf has been as advertised, 2.30/.936. Vladar is at 2.63/.890. Even though their playing time is separated by only 9 seconds, Wolf has faced 37 more shots than Vladar. They’re alternating starts and Wolf played Tuesday, so we should see Vladar tonight.

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The Flames TSN reporter says Vladar is in goal tonight. He also said that Sharangovic skated for the first time since being injured in camp.
 
The Flames seem to have truly shocked the hockey press with their hot start ... mostly because the hockey press are a bunchh of morons who assumed they'd fall apart after losing a mercurial but unreliable center and one of the least consistent good goalies in hockey. Oh, and kinda/sorta top pairing d-man Noah Hanifin too. Hmm. How did the last team to shed Hanifin and Lindholm do? I seem to recall a culture change followed by a turnaround on the ice. I'm not saying the two are entirely equal, but I am saying that, outside of fantasy sports, stats aren't everything.

So what did the Flames have left? A capable if top heavy group of forwards, a promising young goalie they were eager to get going, and a scrappy if not particularly skilled group on D. Are they going to go unbeaten in regulation for much longer? Prolly not. Are they a playoff lock? Early days, but I'd say no. Are they hotter than the exhaust on an old Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine? Yup. Carolina got a break if Vladar is going in net, because he's just basic enough to not spook them after playing against Elastic Man in their last game. Also, Calgary has really only played two teams in their first 6 that even sticks to a recognizable defensive system, so they're in for a different challenge tonight as well.
 
jeffbear said:
The Flames seem to have truly shocked the hockey press with their hot start ... mostly because the hockey press are a bunchh of morons who assumed they'd fall apart after losing a mercurial but unreliable center and one of the least consistent good goalies in hockey. Oh, and kinda/sorta top pairing d-man Noah Hanifin too. Hmm. How did the last team to shed Hanifin and Lindholm do? I seem to recall a culture change followed by a turnaround on the ice. I'm not saying the two are entirely equal, but I am saying that, outside of fantasy sports, stats aren't everything.

So what did the Flames have left? A capable if top heavy group of forwards, a promising young goalie they were eager to get going, and a scrappy if not particularly skilled group on D. Are they going to go unbeaten in regulation for much longer? Prolly not. Are they a playoff lock? Early days, but I'd say no. Are they hotter than the exhaust on an old Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine? Yup. Carolina got a break if Vladar is going in net, because he's just basic enough to not spook them after playing against Elastic Man in their last game. Also, Calgary has really only played two teams in their first 6 that even sticks to a recognizable defensive system, so they're in for a different challenge tonight as well.
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Calgary is one of those teams that if you are able to keep that first few guys under wrap you should fare well, most of the Flames troubles last year were because most of those first few names mentioned like Huby Halloween and Weegar did not do much of anything at all hence the record. I like the Canes chances tonight, they should be able to pick up where they left off in Edmonton where they were flying most of the night! The Canes win tonight is my money line bet.
 
The lines at the skate were pretty much where they ended the game in Edmonton. Kochetkov was the first goalie off the ice.

Svechnikov - Aho - Roslovic
Robinson - Kotkaniemi - Necas
Martinook - Staal - Jarvis
Carrier - Drury - Blake

Slavin - Burns
Orlov - Chatfield
Gostisbehere - Walker
 
An attempt to balance out the lines as much as the current roster will allow. Honestly I'd be OK if Brindy just rode with that line setup for the rest of the road trip regardless of results. That kind of all four line threat is what his system really wants to be efficient
 
Mr Moneybags and Mr Moneybags, Jr are looking great tonight. Future Mr Moneybags the Third is quite the puckhawk. KK taking shots and Ghost looking to keep up the blueline bombing while he can. Looking good all over the place thus far.
 
Well, Calgary finally woke up in the second to cut into the lead, but the Hurricanes kept hustling and didn't let the Flames back into the game too much.
 
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