Tired Flames hold off Hawks' in return home.
My thoughts on the Flames vs Blackhawks game, Nov 23, 2021
Game Story:
The Flames return home after a very successful 7-game trip to play the Chicago Blackhawks who have been playing well, going 5-1-0 since they fired their head coach. The game was off to a quick start as Blake Coleman and Kirby Dach fought in response to a Coleman hit on Debrincat. Less than a minute later, what looked like a harmless Dillion Dube shot snuck past Fleury’s glove and the Flames led 1-0. The Blackhawks would respond, Hagel would walk into the Flames zone and fire a laser past Markstrom, 1-1. About 5 minutes later, Lucic would shoot from the circle, beating Fleury and putting the Flames up 2-1. The rest of the 1st would go by with a few chances for each team but no goals. 4 minutes into the second, Markstrom would leave the net to play the puck, he makes an alright pass to Lindholm who is unable to handle it, the puck bounces right onto Johnson’s stick and with an empty net, he ties the game up at 2. The second period would be pretty uneventful from there, each goalie made a few good saves but not much else. The third period would continue to be much of the same way, with the Flames top line having a dominating shift early in the period. With just under 6 minutes in the third, from behind the goaline, Tkachuk threw one in front looking for Gaudreau; however, it would hit Seth Jones’ stick and bounce into the Blackhawks net, giving the Flames the lead late in the third. With 1:20 to go, Trevor Lewis floats one from center ice and with the net empty, the Flames take a 4-2 lead. Johnny Gaudreau would add one more empty netter and the Flames beat the Blackhawks 5-2 in the dreaded return home game.
My thoughts:
Once again, another good game for a Flames goaltender. Although the Numbers may not show it because of the Blackhawks low shot count(21), Markstrom was big when the Flames needed him to be.
This was a pretty dominating Performance from the Flames and the shot count shows it, outshooting Chicago 39-21. The Deserve To Win O’Meter also has the Flames dominating this game, sitting at 70%.
Johnny Gaudreau was buzzing once again, posting 1.54 Expected Goals. His line wasn’t bad either posting a 71 GF%.
The tired Flames manage to hold off the Blackhawks and pick up a 5-2 win. The Flames get a well deserved 3 days off until they play the Jets, Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada.