It was the duel of two of the NHL’s hottest teams on Monday night as the Calgary Flames visited the Colorado Avalanche. The Flames came into Monday with a four game winning streak, while the Avalanche had won their previous six contests.

It was an intense back and forth game, with both teams having the lead at different points in the game, but also staging respective comebacks. Sixty minutes was not enough for both teams, as they needed the extra frame to solve the 4-4 deadlock.

Although giving up the 4-2 lead in the third period, the Flames were able to redeem themselves thanks to another overtime winner from Sean Monahan with a nifty feed from Dillon Dube. The Flames kept their win streak alive and extended their point streak to seven games.

Statistical Breakdown

5v5 SVA CF% SCF% HDCF% xGF% 41.7% 37.5% 35.3% 42.1% 59.6% 62.5% 64.7% 57.9%

Team Stats

5v5 Player Stats

Calgary Flames

Rasmus Andersson led his team in CF% by a wide margin with a 63.4%

Including Andersson, only two other Flames skaters posted positive possession ratings: Oliver Kylington and Matthew Tkachuk

Although he netted his first point of the season, Mark Jankowski posted a game-worst 21.7%

T.J. Brodie and Mark Giordano were victimized as a pairing last night, as they were on the ice for six HDCA

Colorado Avalanche

Tyson Jost held a game high CF% of 80.0%

No Avalanche skater posted a CF% below 50%, with Gabriel Landeskog posting an even 50.0%

Samuel Girard was on the ice for 6 HDCF, while Mikko Rantanen accounted for 3 iHDCF

Stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick

Thoughts on the Game

What. A. Game.

After suffering losses in their previous two games against the Avalanche, the Flames were in tough against the red hot team. They caught a bit of a break with the likes of Cale Makar, Nazem Kadri, and Philipp Grubauer being out of the lineup, but it was still an impressive win to say the least.

The Avalanche truly did outplay the Flames in terms of controlling the pace, with a wide margin in both possession and scoring chances. The Flames were able to weather that storm and fire back in opportune moments.

David Rittich didn’t have his best game, but the offense threw up a ton of run support for the goalie who deserves a bit of a break for an off-game. It was a win by committee last night as the Flames had five different goal scorers and had 11 skaters register a point. The team was heavily criticised for their depth earlier in the year, but they seem to finally be getting production from all four lines.

The Flames now move to 5-0-0 since Geoff Ward took over as head coach, and frankly it’s not just the wins that show the coach’s new impact. His line altering was first noted with a ton of backlash, but he looks to have put a number of players in the best position to succeed. The impact of Stockton call-up Dube also cannot be understated, as the third line has been completely stabilized with him alongside Milan Lucic and Derek Ryan.

Last night was a big test for the “revamped” Flames, and they looked to pass with flying colours.

The Gaud, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Good: After blocking a shot in the third period, Giordano made an outstanding defensive play against MacKinnon in OT that eventually led to the Flames winning goal.

Bad: The Flames seem to have an issue with keeping leads as of late. Up 4-2, you’d think the team would have been able to hold on, but alas that was not the case. Even against Buffalo they almost gave up their 4-1 lead. The Flames need to find a way to play with the lead and not take their foot off the pedal.

Beautiful: Dube has been absolutely clutch. Two goals and four assists in a four-game point streak, in addition to an absolutely beautiful set up on the OT goal to Monahan.

Next Game

Opponent: Arizona Coyotes

Record: 18-10-4

Standings: 2nd in the Pacific

Season Series: 1-1-0

Photo by: Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images