The Calgary Flames visited the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday afternoon for a pre-Superbowl matinee showdown. It was the first time Bill Peters, Derek Ryan, Noah Hanifin, and Elias Lindholm were in Carolina since the big trade between the two clubs in the offseason, and they were the stars of the show.

The Flames went down early, after a costly TJ Brodie turnover led to an easy tap-in goal for Teuvo Teravainen. Micheal Ferland picked up an assist on that goal (there’s a theme here). Fortunately, Lindholm would even things up with a powerplay goal just a few minutes later.

In the second, Ryan put the Flames ahead on an absolutely fantastic wraparound goal, and then fed Garnet Hathaway on the penalty kill to widen the lead to two goals. The Hurricanes would answer with a nice Dougie Hamilton marker, making it a one goal game heading into the third.

To complete the trifecta, Hanifin blasted a goal past Petr Mrazek midway through the third period to give the Flames some breathing room. The Hurricanes scored late off a goal from Sebastian Aho, but that’s as close as they would come in this one. On that last ‘Canes goal, both Ferland and Hamilton drew the assists. Every single goal was either scored or assisted by a player who was a member of the other team last season. Crazy.

Statistical Breakdown

Team Stats

All Situations 5v5 SVA 5v5 CF 45.6% 44.8% 48.6% SCF 48.3% 46.3% 33.0% HDCF 46.9% 51.2% 50.2%

5v5 Player Stats

Calgary Flames

Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Frolik led the Flames with 60.7% CF.

Johnny Gaudreau was a team low 28.6% CF.

Only six Flames finished above 50% CF.

Carolina Hurricanes

Warren Foegele led the Hurricanes with 66.7% CF.

Teravainen was a team low 43.5% CF.

Only five Hurricanes finished below 50% CF.

Stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick

Line Combinations

Calgary Flames

Gaudreau – Monahan – Lindholm

Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik

Bennett – Jankowski – Neal

Mangiapane – Ryan – Hathaway

Giordano – Brodie

Hanifin – Andersson

Kylington – Prout

Rittich

Smith

Carolina Hurricanes

Niederreiter – Aho – Williams

Ferland – Wallmark – Teravainen

Svechnikov – Martinook – McGinn

Foegele – McKegg – Maenalanen

Slavin – Hamilton

Pesce – Faulk

de Haan – van Riemsdyk

Mrazek

Nedeljkovic

Stats courtesy: DailyFaceoff

Thoughts on the Game

It’s been a couple games now that the Flames have finished below water in 5v5 possession stats. They used to dominate games and show teams who’s boss, but they’ve been winning by the skin of their teeth lately and I don’t like it. The Hurricanes are a great team and a Corsi beast, but still, I expected the Flames to come out flying after a bad loss on Friday night to the Capitals and they simply didn’t. They still picked up a win after finding their stride later in the game, but “play a full 60”.

Rittich was superb as usual. I’m not saying the Flames would have lost if Smith was in net, but that’s exactly what I’m saying.

The biggest storyline in this one was Lindholm. Not for his goal, but for how he mocked the Hurricanes with their own thunderclap celebration after the game. Hurricanes fans were absolutely irate, and I love it. Lindholm was booed the whole game for what appears to be frustration that he is having his best season after getting traded (not his fault) and I love how he responded to that. The Hurricanes fans showed him no respect, and he did the exact same. Good work, Lindy. And, you have to love Rittich getting into the mocking celebrations too. This team is awesome.

The Gaud, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Good: It doesn’t seem to matter if they get behind, the Flames always seem to be in it. Great comeback win yet again.

Bad: The Flames didn’t actually play that well at 5v5. They haven’t for a few games now and it’s starting to get a little concerning. They can do better.

Beautiful: Lindholm taunting the Hurricanes’ fans with their thunderclap celebration after the game. Pure energy.

Next Game

Opponent: San Jose Sharks

Record: 30-16-7

Standings: 2nd in Pacific

Season Series: 1-1-0

Photo by Terence Leung/NHLI via Getty Images