The Calgary Flames finished up their three game home stand Friday night, taking on their Pacific Division rivals; the Anaheim Ducks. The Flames dropped the sole match-up early in the season on the road, so evening the season series was the main priority. Looking for their fourth win in a row, the team turned to Mike Smith in his fifth straight starting appearance. The Ducks, who have been embattled in an embarrassing season, are still clinging to a playoff chance. Without star goaltender John Gibson, the Ducks would turn to veteran Ryan Miller between the pipes. The Flames got off to a very quick start, with Austin Czarnik drawing a penalty on the opening shift. Unfortunately even with this strong starting effort, the game would remain 0-0 entering the second frame. In that stanza, the offense started to trickle through as the game started to open up. The Flames got the scoring started with a goal from T.J. Brodie. Having being demoted from the top pairing due to an Oliver Kylington injury, Brodie’s point shot snuck past Miller after deflecting off a Ducks player. The Ducks would strike back a few minutes later, as a Smith giveaway would land right on the stick of Derek Grant, who capitalized on a wide open net.With the game tied at one in the final frame, both teams would limp through the majority of the 20 minutes. With not much happening on either end, it looked like the teams were destined for extra time. Luckily, the Flames have Andrew Mangiapane. The rookie forward would capitalize on a two-on-one, collecting his own cross-seam pass and burying it past Miller. The Flames would never look back, polishing off the Ducks 2-1, extending their win streak to four in the process.

Statistical Breakdown

Team Stats

All Situations 5v5 SVA 5v5 CF 56.3% 57.6% 56.6% SCF 55.8% 56.5% 54.5% HDCF 44.0% 45.0% 42.1%

5v5 Player Stats

Calgary Flames

In addition to his game winning goal, Mangiapane posted a game high CF% of 70.4%

His fellow fourth liners, Garnet Hathaway and Derek Ryan, posted second and fourth on the team in CF% at 67.9% and 64.3% respectively.

Although he had a goal and an assist, Brodie posted a team worst CF% of 38.7%

Anaheim Ducks

Troy Terry posted a strong CF% of 70.0%

In addition to Terry, only two other Ducks players posted positive possession ratings

Jakob Silfverberg was on the ice of eight HDCA, and only one HDCF

Stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick

Line Combinations

Calgary Flames

Gaudreau – Monahan – Tkachuk

Lindholm – Backlund – Frolik

Bennett – Jankowski – Czarnik

Hathaway – Ryan – Mangiapane

Giordano – Andersson

Hanifin – Hamonic

Prout – Brodie

Smtih

Rittich

Anaheim Ducks

Ritchie – Rakell – Perry

Jones – Henrique – Terry

Shore – Grant – Silfverberg

Gibbons – Kesler – Rowney

Lindholm – Manson

Fowler – Del Zotto

Megna – Montour

Miller

Boyle

Stats courtesy: DailyFaceoff

Thoughts on the Game

Last night was an absolute dud. Aside from Magiapane’s beautiful winner, last night produced little to nothing. The Flames did not play their best, but luckily the Ducks didn’t either. It would be safe to say the Flames were lucky to face a weaker opponent with that type of effort.

The top line was once again forgettable, and that includes both iterations with Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm. It’s concerning that they aren’t factoring into many games as they once were, but luckily the Flames’ depth is keeping them going. Heading into the deadline, it would be concerning to see the Flames toy with that depth if the top line continues to struggle.

The next few days will be extremely interesting to watch, as Brad Treliving appears to have his hands in every cookie jar available. This could be the last time you saw some Flames players in uniform, and come Sunday they may have an upgrade somewhere in the lineup.

The Gaud, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Good: Even after being demoted to the third pairing with Dalton Prout, Brodie pitched in a goal and an assist. His defensive game may have been lacking, but he is making up for it on the other end of the ice.

Bad: Good old Mike Smith.

Beautiful: Andrew. Eat. Bread.

Next Game

Opponent: Ottawa Senators

Record: 22-34-5

Standings: 8th in Atlantic Division

Season Series: 0-0-0

Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images