[Meikkhaell]

Another win baby!!
The boys have now won 4 straight and have 10 of a possible 12 points in 2019 so far.
I have to say, we've not really played our best hockey for that stretch at all. Defense has lacked, some iffy goals have gone in, several turnovers in our own zone, and though Big Save Dave and our scoring usually lifted us beyond those problems, it's becoming a bit of a worrying trend. It's definitely fun hockey to watch when every game has 7+ goals, but if/when the offence goes on a cold streak, we might not be able to outscore our problems as nicely as we have been.

Another perhaps less alarming but much more weird trend, is that the Flames have now allowed a goal while the opponent's net is empty in THREE STRAIGHT GAMES. Thankfully, we won all three. It hasn't cost us (yet), but we have to clean that up. At the very least it hurts the statistics and deflates the pride a little bit. We're facing pretty easy opponents as of late, I fear how we'd be doing if we were hosting Tampa, Washington, Toronto, Vegas, Nashville, and Winnipeg this home stand instead.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Yeah, they haven't played great in 2019 so far. I thought their play was kind of mediocre in the Detroit, Philly and Chicago wins, but given the weak opponents they managed to find a way. I was at both of the last two games and wasn't impressed with the play, especially the Colorado game.

The bright spot of the last two games has been the play of the 3M line. They've been the best two lines and looked checking Colorado's big line. Frolik has had jum, and it's helped the line get going.

 

[BKha]

Yeah, it's seems pretty likely we're going to the playoffs this year, and exciting to think about possible matchups. Though they won last night, they looked sluggish and rusty. Hopefully they pick up the pace fore the rest of this home stand.

Assuming the point mark is 95, the Flames would now need 35 points in 37 games.

I'm not even sure the point mark will be as high as 95 with the way Anaheim/Edmonton/Colorado/Minnesota are playing. Over halfway through the season and the highest team out of a playoff spot (Anaheim) is averaging 88 points. Hopefully the Flames can do better than 89 points, but still it seems like the playoffs are almost a given.

 

[Surrealplaces]

You might be right. Edmonton, Minnesota and Colorado all lost last night, and Anaheim is in Winnipeg tonight where they'll probably lose.

I have a feeling the Flames are going to lose tonight. Arizona has been playing well and the Flames have been struggling. They've been finding ways to win, but that can't go on forever.

 

[Meikkhaell]

We're at that point where - barring some absolutely monstrous collapse - we can talk not about if we get into the playoffs, but when. If the mark is ~90 points, we basically have to win 13 more games this season to clinch. Yeah. As long as we win a about a third of the remaining games, we're in. I'd like to think that's not too difficult haha.

Great game tonight, Smith got a win and played very well, all lines contributed to scoring. I've heard the "maybe this will get Neal going" thing too much, but that pass from Neal to Bennett was a beauty. You're totally right Surrealplaces, that 3M line is pure magic. 14 points between them in the last 3 games, with 6 from tonight alone.

Heard some rumblings about Ferland. A lot of Flames fans were basically begging on Twitter for Tre to get him at the deadline. As much as I like him, I don't see where he'd fit unless maybe Neal or Frolik went the other way. I wouldn't dare break up that top line for any extended period, nor the 3M line with how they're playing. That leaves Ferland to the 3rd line, Neal's spot. So now Neal's a $6M 4th liner with no real opportunity to climb back? Unless Ferland takes Frolik's spot and MAYBE that would work, but then what would we do with Frolik? It's not like we could sign Ferland either, he's asking for ~$5M and we'll need every penny to lock down Tkachuk. And then there's Rittich. He might get a nice raise too.

 

[Mountain Man]

Ferland would add some much needed grit in the playoffs, but what would we send back to Carolina to get him? Neal should be quite useful in the playoffs, think of him as a guy we pick up at the deadline for a playoff push, except that we already had him.

 

[Cowtown]

The Flames could use a bit more grit for the playoffs. I'm concerned that they won't have enough and the playoffs are a whole different type of game. The problem though is the money....we need a Ferland type guy for half the money. $5Million is too much.

 

[Meikkhaell]

Yet another boneheaded move by Chiarelli for the Oilers, he's on a roll right now. Normally i'd be laughing or at least grinning at our arch rival's expense, but this might affect us. Maybe.
Koskinen was signed by the Oilers today for an AAV of $4.5M.

Koskinen's a decent goalie, but not a $4.5M goalie imo. I think he was overpayed by about $2M. So you look at Rittich, younger and arguably better than Koskinen, and you have to wonder, does this affect how much money he asks for in any way?
Everyone was up in arms about how much Tom Wilson got signed for, and now suddenly all players think they deserve $5M+. Could the same thing happen for goalies because of this?

I love Rittich and he doesn't seem like the greedy type, he'll probably resign for somewhere in the $2M - $3M range, still a big (and well deserved) raise for him. But you never know.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Looks like Chiarelli is done with making bonehead moves. Maybe the Flames can use Koskinen's contract and Chiarelli's subsequent firing when it comes to negotiating a contract with Riddich

Last year, the Flames had just beaten Carolina before going into a lengthy break, only to return and spiral the rest of the season. Hope last night's win and the break ahead isn't an omen.

 

[Rollerstud98]

We also had smith go down with injury and backup goalies not playing up to snuff. Even when smith came back he wasn’t the same.

 

[Surrealplaces]

We also had smith go down with injury and backup goalies not playing up to snuff. Even when smith came back he wasn’t the same.

True, and also Tkachuk's concussion for the rest of the season. I don't honestly think we'll see a repeat of last year, but I do wonder if the break will affect them?

 

[Meikkhaell]

They might be a little rusty for the first few back, maybe similar to how we started 2019. Shaky, defensive lapses, bad passes, that kind of thing. Thankfully we still won most of those. But unless a key guy gets injured long term I think we should generally be fine.

All star game was a rough one for the Pacific ... lost 4-10. I mainly blame Gibson, he let in 7 I believe on 9 or 10 shots. Didn't really look like he was trying at all. No biggie though, Johnny scored a beauty and now hopefully they can all get rested up. I found the All Star game spectacularly unenjoyable, mainly due to the lack of trying from everyone. I get that they don't want to get hurt, but come on.
Leads me to wonder though ... if instead of giving the winning division's players a million bucks, perhaps assign each division a charity. Team that wins, their charity gets the million. Might actually motivate guys to try a little bit, and lord knows that million would be a lot more meaningful if it went to folks who truly need it.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Nice to see the Flames get another regulation win yesterday. They were very close to getting a point or two in the Washington game also. Hard to believe we are almost 2/3 through the season.

 

[Meikkhaell]

I figured this would happen eventually. We're in a bit of a slump. We're still winning the odd game, we're still playing generally fine, lots of pressure in the enemy's zone but we're just not getting the wins. Vs San Jose we missed at least 6 open net chances. Vs Vancouver we piled on nearly 50 shots but couldn't get more than 3 past Markstrom (who was fantastic, i'll admit). Rittich's looked kind of shaky lately too.

We're now only 1 point up on San Jose, though we have a game in hand. It wasn't long ago we were 5 or 6 points clear of them. And we'll definitely be tested. We face Tampa, Pittsburgh, Isles, Toronto, etc in the near future. I have a feeling the Tampa game especially will be a good one. If we can get a nice commanding victory over them, I think the confidence will come back.

Although supposedly the Flames won't make any massive moves ahead of the trade deadline, there's one I wouldn't mind them making. If BT could somehow wave his magic wand and bring Mark Stone here, our offense would be about as solidified as it could be. Perhaps something like

To Ottawa: 2019 1st, 2019 3rd (becomes 2nd if Flames make it to the WCF), 2019 5th (becomes 2020 4th if Flames make it to the WCF), plus a prospect like Foo or Mangiapane
To Flames: Mark Stone.

Think about it. He's a 6'4" 26 y/o two-way RW, leads the league in takeaways, great shot, great pass, responsible in all zones. If that doesn't spell playoff success I don't know what does. I think the Flames have a log jam right now of 3rd line players. Guys that aren't good enough to consistently be 2nd liners but deserve more than 4th line. Stone would fill that 2nd line RW void instantly.
Unfortunately it's basically a pipe dream, that's an extremely high price to pay for a rental, there's no chance we could re-sign him and even to acquire him would mean moving out someone like Neal, or the Sens retaining most of his salary. Neal's actually been doing pretty well of late, at the expense of a bunch of his teeth. I don't think I would want to lose him, I think he'll come alive for playoffs.

For a much more realistic option, I've also heard Wayne Simmonds from multiple people. I'd like that, his physicality is awesome and he's a RW too. His scoring has been significantly down this season, so his price probably will be too. Maybe a change of scenery will help him.

 

[Surrealplaces]

To Ottawa: 2019 1st, 2019 3rd (becomes 2nd if Flames make it to the WCF), 2019 5th (becomes 2020 4th if Flames make it to the WCF), plus a prospect like Foo or Mangiapane
To Flames: Mark Stone.

I would be okay with that trade if the Flames were somehow able to move Neal and his salary.