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Last night the Calgary Flames took on the Colorado Avalanche for the second time in as many weeks and, as was the case in the first meeting, the Flames picked up a convincing three-goal lead.
A few notes:
1) Brian Elliott had his shutout spoiled late on a fluke/soft goal by Patrick Wiercioch but I thought he was good once again. Elliott wasn't peppered with shots by any means, but whenever the Avs showed any signs of pushback he was there to shut the door.
Elliott's start to the year was disastrous but he's quietly won five straight starts and posted a .920 save percentage or better in six of his last seven appearances.
With the way the Flames are playing, especially on special teams, they're going to win a lot of games with goaltending like that.
2) I thought the 4th line played an excellent game for the Flames. They were very aggressive chasing puck carriers, they finished their checks, caused turnovers, and had several shifts of sustained offensive zone time.
In the preview, I noted how poor the Avs are defensively (and offensively) and that it's almost hard to believe considering some of the high-end talent they have. Then you see something like that.
3) Considering the 4th line had a couple shifts like the one above, it should be no surprise they led the way in terms of shot attempt differential. It was a very solid, balanced team effort in that game state.
4) Throughout the game, T.J. Brodie passed up a couple clear shots to try and pass it to teammates for worse looks. Given how much Brodie passes, the Avs were kind of sitting on the pass and Brodie's tendencies were causing more harm than good. I was ready to say he should be selfish and shoot a little more to keep defenses honest, and then he did this.
Keep doing you, Thomas James Brodie. Keep doing you.
5) Growing up, I always enjoyed hockey fights. I thought they were cool and exciting. As I've grown older and learned more about concussions, not to mention suffering a couple myself, my love for fighting has certainly diminished. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it when a couple really good players, say Mark Giordano and Jarome Iginla, drop the mitts and scrap but at this point, I could live without fighting. I love basketball, football, baseball and soccer and there's no fighting in those sports, so I'm sure I could still enjoy hockey plenty if fighting were to leave the game.
That said if the NHL is going to permit fighting they should let fights happen rather than jumping in as they get started. If every time players drop the mitts they're going to split it up immediately, they should just ban fighting completely. Someone, whether it be a player or ref, is going to get hurt when you have people trying to get in between angry 200+ pound players throwing punches while loaded with adrenalin.
Let it happen, or get rid of fighting. Don't do this.
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Pacific Division breakout players
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