The Flames came out absolutely flying in this one. Elias Lindholm jammed a loose puck past John Gibson to open the scoring, then Andrew Mangiapane picked up an errant pass and fed Mikael Backlund, who made no mistake in popping it into the back of the net. The goals kept coming. Oliver Kylington walked in from the point and fired a top-corner laser over Gibson’s shoulder to extend the lead to three. Still not done, Mark Jankowski takes the puck down main street and fires it top corner.

In the second, the Ducks put Ryan Miller in net, who stopped an early Johnny Gaudreau breakaway to give his team some momentum. Unfortunately for them, that did not last long. Backlund picked up the puck shorthanded and beat Miller on a partial break to put the Flames up by five. Cam Talbot shut the door on a number of excellent Ducks chances.

The Flames finished this one off with a tight defensive third period. Jankowski added his second goal of the game to make it 6-0.

Statistical Breakdown

5v5 SVA CF% SCF% HDCF% xGF% 48.3 50.0 62.9 58.8 51.7 50.0 37.1 41.2

Team Stats

5v5 Player Stats

Calgary Flames

Monahan led the way for the Flames with a 53.1% CF. He was one of three Flames skaters over 50%

Although he had a goal, Backlund posted a team low 22.7% CF

Michael Stone was on the ice for nine high-danger chances for and two against. None of those chances were created by him

Opponent

Hampus Lindholm posted a game-high 69.7% CF

Carter Rowney posted a team-low 42.1% CF. One of only two Ducks below 50.0% CF

Adam Henrique created three individual high-danger chances for his team

Stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick

Thoughts on the Game

Other than a blip in the last game against the Los Angeles Kings, the Flames have finally looked like a dominant scoring threat. They scored a number of goals in this one that were off of beautiful chances, and a number of just stunning finishes. Backlund’s breakway and Kylington’s shot from the point come to mind on this one. The team really looked great.

This has not been Jankowski’s season. After going 38 games without a goal, he had two in this one and has five goals in his last seven games. And what beautiful goals they were. Both came off of excellent zone entries in which he just drove to the front of the net and the puck went in. If he can keep using his big physical strength to drive play, he might be a difference maker on this team.

Unlike David Rittich in last night’s game, Cam Talbot got excellent run support from the team in front of him. However, just like Rittich in the last game, his counterpart was just as good. Stopping all 44 shots he faced in this one, he was a major difference maker for the Flames on the ice.

Although the scoreline does not reflect it, the Ducks had a number of excellent scoring chances, but the Flames netminder stood his ground. He faced nine high-danger shots, and handled them all well. This was his first shutout as a member of the Flames.

There have been a few bumps along the way, the Flames have looked like a much more complete team since Coach Geoff Ward reunited the lines that won them 50 games last season. Gaudreau looked like a renewed player, and is getting more dangerous chances than he did earlier this season.

Monahan has not been getting the same scoring chances he did last season, but his defensive plays have been strong. Lindholm has obviously been excellent, and has quietly been on a nine game point streak. Hopefully this line can continue putting up points, and can go back to being as dominant a line as they were last season.

he Gaud, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Good: The seeing-eye shot from Kylington was beautiful. Definitely need to see more of that

Bad: You can always do better than giving up 44 shots against

Beautiful: Backlund. Top. Shelf. Need we say more?

Next Game

Opponent: Chicago Blackhawks

Record: 25-24-8

Standings: 7th in the Central

Season Series: 1-1-0

Photo by: Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images