GDT: | Game #VII | Pens vs Flames |1900hrs MST | Effort cant be worse than last night

[Zirakzigil]

vs

​

Leading Scorers:

Flames:

Points - Nazem Kadri (6)

Goals - Tyler Toffoli (3)

Penguins:

Points - Sidney Crosby (11)

Goals - Crosby (4)

Special Teams:

Flames:

PP - 30% (6th) / PK - 85.7% (T-8th)

Penguins:

PP - 25% (T-10th) / PK - 72.7% (27th)

Advanced Stats:

Flames:

Shot Attempts: 56.09% (4th)

High-Danger Chances: 50% (14th)

Penguins:

Shot Attempts: 52.21% (12th)

High-Danger Chances: 56.36% (7th)

Flames: Last time out​

Good teams find a way to win.

And the Flames have done just that to start the season.

The Flames avoided a second straight loss with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over the Hurricanes Saturday night, and now sit atop the Pacific Division with a 4-1 record.

It was another game that they fell behind in early but there was no quit. Nazem Kadri and Brett Ritchie scored in regulation while Tyler Toffoli tallied the overtime winner. Jacob Markstrom settled into a groove and was stellar in the third period, stopping 25 shots.

"The league is so much based on special teams when you look at it," head coach Darryl Sutter said after the game. "What's the difference between this game and last game? Last game they scored shorthanded and a powerplay goal. Tonight (Saturday) we scored a powerplay goal and the penalty-kill, those 10 guys we used for the four minutes and even the other parts of the game did a hell of a job.

"And then the goal that is the winner is three-on-three so it tells you what the game is about."

With both teams flying so far, it very well could come down to a special teams battle.

"You can't overlook the fact that our special teams have been solid and a big reason why we are where we are," Blake Coleman said. "We have a lot off familiar faces on the kill from last year, and obviously the new guys coming have been big keys on the powerplay. Been great and that's why we are 4-1.

"So while 5-on-5 hasn't, maybe not been where we want it, a lot of the other things have been good and there are a lot of important parts to the game too. You look toward how teams win in the playoffs and special teams make or break that time of year."

Pens: Cant be worse than last night​

The Penguins enter the match-up following a 6-3 loss to the Oilers last night at Rogers Place.

Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust scored for the visitors, as the Pens saw a 3-1 lead early in the second period slip away with Edmonton scoring five unanswered goals en route to the comeback win.

"We got outplayed," head coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. "I thought we had a real good start. The first period was really strong. It was an area where we knew we had to get to get better. I thought the guys really came out and worked hard in the first period, but we got outplayed from there."

"I think there's a certain discipline to manage the puck the right way. One of the easiest ways to beat yourself is to mismanage the puck and give teams easy looks. I think we're just not diligent with the puck right now."

Despite the setback, Pittsburgh is off to a hot start with nine points out of a possible 12, currently first in the Metropolitan division.

Players to watch:​

Flames - Rasmus Andersson

A dazzling start to the year!

Andersson has picked up right where he left off last season, and is currently tied for first in team scoring with six points (1G, 5A) following a two-point outing vs. the 'Canes.

The 25-year-old also reached a milestone in the win, picking up his 100th career assist. He's been heavily leaned on early in the year with over 20 minutes a night of ice time consistently and played a whopping 27:47 minutes last game.

Penguins - Sidney Crosby

No slowing down for Sid.

Crosby not only leads his club in scoring but also the league in scoring with 11 oints. The Penguins captain has five points in the last three outings (2G, 3A) and is one assist shy of 900 in his career.

5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. PENGUINS | Calgary Flames

Sid and the Kid and Co. come to town for a tilt at the Scotiabank Saddledome

www.nhl.com

Click to read more...

 

[Flying Dego]

If we play only 20 minutes of hockey tonight we're goin down in flames

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

It's pretty normal for a team to not play 60 minutes of top hockey, imo. I don't think many teams put that kinda effort together on a nightly basis. The issue is that when this team isn't playing up to ability, they're playing total dogshit hockey.

-edit- This is one of the oldest teams in hockey, if not *the* oldest team. They're gonna have down periods, down games, bad stretches. You just gotta try and keep the valleys not so damn deep. But it's a balancing act. We've seen this team fall behind a bit in the standings and go on a mad scramble for a month or two and just completely gas themselves and pile injuries by like February or March and that's that.

 

[SomeDude]

A little positivity from last night

 

[Darren McCord]

I hope to see Poulin tonight. Even if just to throw some fresh legs in.

PP1 is an issue and they need to fix it ASAP. One reason why they lost last night.

 

[SEALBound]

We all know the team will lose at some point but those first regulation losses are always rough despite winning 4 where you score 6 goals three times.

Excited for this game. Had to miss last night due to social obligations. Now it's left overs and the Flames in a decent time zone for once.

 

[Flying Dego]

It's pretty normal for a team to not play 60 minutes of top hockey, imo. I don't think many teams put that kinda effort together on a nightly basis. The issue is that when this team isn't playing up to ability, they're playing total dogshit hockey.

-edit- This is one of the oldest teams in hockey, if not *the* oldest team. They're gonna have down periods, down games, bad stretches. You just gotta try and keep the valleys not so damn deep. But it's a balancing act. We've seen this team fall behind a bit in the standings and go on a mad scramble for a month or two and just completely gas themselves and pile injuries by like February or March and that's that.

I understand down periods...but specifically that 2nd was beyond poor effort. No way I'm blaming age on that.

Up to Sullivan to get them focused for tonight.

 

[Icarium]

So, in which period(s) will the Pens fail to show up? Make your bets now! I say the third one.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I understand down periods...but specifically that 2nd was beyond poor effort. No way I'm blaming age on that.

Up to Sullivan to get them focused for tonight.

Sure. It sucked shit. But there's like 250 periods in the regular season, some are gonna suck. It probably won't be the worst period of the season. Is what it is, forget about it and move forward. /shrug

I think too much emphasis is put on Sullivan getting them ready. A lot of these dudes have been in the league for 15ish years. I'm not saying the coach doesn't have any impact or duty, I'm just saying it's just a buncha buzzwords when people throw around stuff like focus, and "play for 60 minutes" and all that. Lotta ups and downs, especially for what's essentially a geriatric team.

 

[66-30-33]

I'll miss this game due to work.

 

[Trade]

I hope Malkin had his fun.

With Jake and Zucker possibly out, it’s back with the scraps he’ll go!

 

[Turin]

If I see Petry on PP1 again I’m driving to Calgary to beat Reirdens ass

 

[Josey Wales]

OH BOY!!! This ought to be fun tonight

 

[Andy99]

So, in which period(s) will the Pens fail to show up? Make your bets now! I say the third one.

That makes sense on a b2b. I’m going w both 2nd and 3rd because they haven’t shown they can play 40 strong minutes even lol, especially on the road…it will be a noticeable decline in play through those periods…I’m just praying CDS has a stand on your head kind of game lol…that’s all I got

 

[Pens x]

Sure. It sucked shit. But there's like 250 periods in the regular season, some are gonna suck. It probably won't be the worst period of the season. Is what it is, forget about it and move forward. /shrug

I think too much emphasis is put on Sullivan getting them ready. A lot of these dudes have been in the league for 15ish years. I'm not saying the coach doesn't have any impact or duty, I'm just saying it's just a buncha buzzwords when people throw around stuff like focus, and "play for 60 minutes" and all that. Lotta ups and downs, especially for what's essentially a geriatric team.

It’s a bad sign to look this sluggish after like 5 games though.

 

[Gurglesons]

I think those that are losing their shit on the team need to look around the league. Every single team is underperforming that was supposed to be a “contender” this year outside of Carolina and we’ve matched their point production.

The amount of leads being blown right now is bizarre by numerous teams.

If they lose tonight it will stink, but what we are seeing is simply October hockey. I’d rather they underperform now and get bought in later in the season tbh.

 

[SomeDude]

I think those that are losing their shit on the team need to look around the league. Every single team is underperforming that was supposed to be a “contender” this year outside of Carolina and we’ve matched their point production.

The amount of leads being blown right now is bizarre by numerous teams.

If they lose tonight it will stink, but what we are seeing is simply October hockey. I’d rather they underperform now and get bought in later in the season tbh.

We all know the team doesn't really turn it on until you become pessimistic. No pressure.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

Both Calgary goalies under 900? Let’s get 6 again.

 

[Gurglesons]

We all know the team doesn't really turn it on until you become pessimistic. No pressure.

I don’t really see any huge issues right now outside of the whole playing half a game and using veterans over youth because stick to it ivness which have been Sullivan staples since day one.

 

[SomeDude]

I don’t really see any huge issues right now outside of the whole playing half a game and using veterans over youth because stick to it ivness which have been Sullivan staples since day one.

I wouldn't be shocked if we get shelled pretty hard on this road trip. The schedule is brutal playing rested teams and we're playing 5 games in 7 day and traveling across Canada. I think we'll start to see some HF panic if that's the case. Either way, a main board panic thread usually is the turning point in our season.

 

[SEALBound]

We lost Zucker last night?

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I mean, it's true that games in October count as much as games in March. But people gotta readjust their expectations for a team on the extreme tail end of the era with a Cup window that's either slammed completely shut, or is riiiiight about there. There's gonna be ups, there's gonna be downs. A group of 35+ year old dudes aren't gonna be able to put in the same level of effort for 82 games that a group of 25 year old dudes will.

 

[Andy99]

We lost Zucker last night?

I hope someone just caught him in the nuts…he doesn’t need any more kids anyway

 

[SEALBound]

I hope someone just caught him in the nuts…he doesn’t need any more kids anyway

You seen his wife? I'd have had about a 100 by now. The world needs more beautiful people.

 

[wgknestrick]

We lost Zucker last night?

He's already played a Zucker season's worth of games.