5 THINGS - FLAMES @ BLUES
The Flames are back in action tonight as they conclude a quick trip in the Show-Me State
Video: Alanna Nolan sets up tonight's game
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'The Complete Game'
COMING SOON: Projected Lineup
Say What - 'Rise to the Challenge'
STAT PACK
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Scoring Leaders
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (51)
Goals - Matthew Tkachuk (20)
Blues:
Points - Jordan Kyrou (41)
Goals - Kyrou (16)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 23.2% (11th) / PK - 83.6% (6th)
Blues:
PP - 28.9% (3rd) / PK - 84.3% (4th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 54.70% (3rd)
High-Danger Chances: 55.81% (4th)
Blues:
Shot Attempts: 47.05% (24th)
High-Danger Chances: 43.66% (31st)
It's Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau's world.
We're just living in it.
The Flames' top gunners went off (again) as the club cruised to a dominant, 6-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets last night.
It was a total team effort, with the Flames blitzing a franchise record 62 shots (!) and skating the locals into the ground from the drop of the puck.
Jacob Markstrom - who made his fifth straight start - wasn't overly busy but was good when he had to be, stopping all 23 pucks fired his way to record his league-leading sixth goose-egg.
"I concur. I'm in agreement with you," Head Coach Darryl Sutter replied when asked if this was one of the team's most 'complete' games of the season. "I thought in the first period, we had a really good start - we wanted to try and dictate how we wanted to play. And I think second period was... We had that lengthy 5-on-3 and didn't score, (but) I actually give our players lots of credit for not getting beat up about it or mentally down about it.
"Just stayed the course."
Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane, Elias Lindholm and Erik Gudbranson supplied a good chunk of the offence, but the big story (again) revolved around the two, top-line wingers.
They're on a serious heater right now, nabbing a dozen points each in the past four games to lead the Flames on a torrid, goal-scoring spree.
Tkachuk had another pair last night and now has a clean 20 on the year. Gaudreau, meanwhile, was the setup man for both - and dazzled the masses with a pretty, end-to-end rush on Lindholm's third-period tally.
Both players are now on six-game point streaks, combining for 29 points in the process.
Special, special stuff.
"They scored some highlight goals, for sure," Sutter said. "Johnny was in full control of the puck; Matthew was going to the net. Then, when you look at it, that's a big goal that (Tkachuk) scores at the end of the second, too. It gives you such an advantage and that's a slick play that he scores on."
Of note: With their goals, Mangiapane and Lindholm recorded their 100th and 400th career points, respectively.
All told?
A pretty good night.
The Flames have now scored 13 goals in their last two games.
It begs the question: What do the boys have left for an encore tonight in the Show-Me State?
"I've said this before - the points that you get now and the points that you get in October-November, mean just as much when it comes to the end of the year and you're pushing for the spot you want to be in to get in the playoffs," Gudbranson said. "The last two games, we've done a really good job of that and we need to stick to it."
Video: Condensed Game: Flames @ Blue Jackets
It went down was one of the most lopsided games of the year.
And the Blues - who were complete no-shows on Monday at the Scotiabank Saddledome - were none too pleased about it.
"We knew they were going to start aggressive and hard," Ryan O'Reilly told Chris Pinkert of St. Louis Blues.com. "They're a very good team with a lot of skill that plays hard. Just right from the get-go, we were kind of on our heels and just kind of watching. Against a team like that, you just can't do that. They took over the game. They dominated us from start to finish. That's not us. That's not our brand of hockey.
"That's not Blues hockey."
So, to recap:
Gaudreau and Tkachuk did what they do - combining for nine points - while 10 others found the sheet in a 7-1 throttling.
The Flames out-shot the Blues 35-9 after 40 minutes and 48-21 overall - with Tyler Bozak's third of the season early in the opening frame the only blemish for the homeside.
The Flames had 76.34% (71-22) of the shot attempts, 79.59% (39-10) of the scoring chances, and 81.82% (18-4) of the high-danger looks.
In short: It wasn't even close.
The Blues, though, now return to the friendly confines of the Enterprise Center, where they've put together the NHL's third-best home record at 16-4-2.
"We have to play them again here right away," Head Coach Craig Berube said Monday. "We're going to take some stuff out of this, learn from it, and move on and play a better game the next time we play them."
Video: "They'll be better and we'll have to be better"
FIRE AT WILL: The 62 shots on goal last night established a new single-game franchise record (regular season or playoffs). The previous record was 59, set twice - on March 15, 1977 vs. Pittsburgh, and Feb. 23, 1991 vs. Quebec. The last team with as many shots in a regular-season game was Boston on March 21, 1991 (73). This is the second-highest shot total recorded in a shutout since the NHL began tracking shots in 1955 (Boston Bruins - 63 on March 4, 1971, 7-0 win).
HOW HE 'DREW IT UP: With his goal last night, Andrew Mangiapane has now scored 18 of his 19 goals on the road. The timely tally was also his 100th career point. He now has 62 tucks and 38 helpers in 216 career games.
DID YOU KNOW? Jacob Markstrom has become the first goaltender in Flames franchise history to record four road shutouts in a single season. The last netminders to post more road shutouts in a single campaign: Andrei Vasilevskiy (6) and Pekka Rinne (5) in 2017-18.
Flames - Sean Monahan
Monahan is heating up with goals in two of his last four games, including one on Monday against these very same Blues. He had another strong night in Columbus, finishing with two shots, three individual chances, and a pair of high-danger looks that included a crossbar.
Blues - Tyler Bozak
Bozak, who scored the only goal for the Blues on Monday, who suit up in his 800th career game tonight.
The 35-year-old has 458 points (170G, 288A) over 13 seasons with the Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs, and currently sits 13th in team scoring with nine points (3G, 6A) in 35 games this year.
Bozak is only the third active, undrafted player to achieve the milestone. Former Flames captain Mark Giordano and New York Islanders vet Andy Greene are the others.
Erik Gudbranson on scoring his first as a Flame:
(Does he remember his last twine-tickler?)
"I scored against Calgary. I was playing for Ottawa. I have so few of them that, yeah, I do remember (laughs). It's nice to score. It's not my job, of course, but if you can chip in that way, it's always nice."
Jacob Markstrom on finding his groove:
"Yeah, I feel good. We haven't had a busy schedule before this ... so it gave us a chance to work with Barbs (Goalie Coach Jason LaBarbera) on some goalie stuff, technique, and get back to where we were in October, November. That little slump in December lasted a little too long for my liking, but we look forward and we keep pushing and if we keep playing like this, we think we can beat anyone."
Darryl Sutter on importance of secondary scoring:
"After the second period, we had three different lines score, which is critical for this team to win hockey games. You can get by with it once in a while with special teams or one line - you can keep it close that way... But I've said when you're asking about Johnny and Matthew, I said that we need something out of everybody. Tonight was a little more complete in that."
