Calgary finished their 2 game California roadtrip by beating the Kings 6-4 on Saturday night. After watching the game (which was quite the up and down affair), it struck me that almost everything about this current iteration of the Calgary Flames - their strengths and weaknesses - was encapsulated in this single contest. To whit:
Unbalanced attack -
Jarome Iginla and Kristian Huselius were in on 3 of the Flames goals, including the game-tying and game winning markers in the 3rd period. Since being united in December, Iggy and Juice have accounted for a huge percentage of the Flames scoring. Like 85% huge. If you throw Langkow into the mix (who has skated with the first line, on and off), secondary offensive production shrinks from "minimal" to "negligible". This represents both a strength and a weakness for the Flames. Strength, because Iginla and Huselius are playing so well they are singlehandedly carrying the club on their backs and out-scoring the Flames other problem. Weakness, because a cold streak or an injury to one of them and this team becomes awfully beatable all of a sudden. And by "cold-streak", I mean, "not absolutely red hot". Even if Jarome/Huselius were to drop down to merely above average levels, the Flames would likely have problems winning games like the one in question.
It wasn't just the raw production (goals, assists) concentrated around the top line on Saturday night, it was the balance of shots and chances as well. Aside from Iginla and Huselius, every other Flames forward unit was basically out-chanced by their Kings counterparts according to the Corsi numbers (note Owen Nolan's particularly terrible -15, a figure he managed in just 13 minutes of ES ice-time. That's stunningly terrible for a vet like Nolan. I thought while watching that game that it was one of his worst of the year. These numbers kinda back that feeling up). To be fair to the team, it was their 4th game in 6 nights and their 2nd on the road. Fatigue was likely a factor. To be fair to the analysis, they were playing the worst team in the NHL. Without Iginla's herculean efforts and Huselius' wizardry on the PP in the 3rd, Calgary loses that game. Probably by a 2 goal margin. Going forward, the Flames will either have to find an internal solution to the top heavy production or acquire someone that can make a difference. Relying on a couple of guys (as great as they are this year) to outscore your problems night in and night out is a poor gamble long-term.
Craig Conroy -
Conroy is still a great skater and he still does some little things well: He's relatively strong on the puck, a decent PKer and one of the best face-off guys on the team. The problem is his hands and his head are a step or two behind when it comes to reading the play and finishing offensive opportunities. As such, my continued complaints regarding Conroy aren't necessarily about him per se, but about how he's being utilized. Meaning, he SHOULD NOT BE a first-line center.
Prior to Saturday Night, Conroy had collected a couple of points centering Huselius and Iginla recently. Thing is, they were of the 2nd, "I happened to be on the ice as the same time as these other guys", species of assist. For a majority of the season, Conroy has primarily skated with a combination of Iginla, Huselius or Tanguay (all of whom are well above 2 points per hour of ES ice time) and yet has put up extremely pedestrian scoring rates (1.87 ESP/60, 1.62 PPP/60). The LA game was no different - Conroy played with Iginla and Huselius for most of the evening at ES, and somehow ended up pointless and -1 (and -2 by the Corsi numbers somehow). If you carefully arrange the letters in Craig Conroy's name (and add an h), you get the word "anchor". He's a penalty-killer and a checker. An affable locker room presence and a great interview. There isn't anyone I prefer to see taking defensive zone draws. But Craig Conroy just isn't a scoring line pivot. He should stop being used as such.
The Kipper Enigma -
Miikka made some great saves against the Kings. Fantastic, improbable saves. The problem being, he also allowed some questionable goals. The Stuart floater from the point was stoppable, although it may have been tipped. The Kopitar goal was due to a shot squeeking it's way through his pads. The Frolov goal wasn't even a scoring opportunity until Kipper flubbed a routine play behind the net . So while Kiprusoff seems to be slowly and steadily improving, the Kings game was an eloquent example of his year thus far: great goaltending mingled with horrid goaltending resulting in a mediocre overall performance. This is another area of concern if the ship isn't righted before Iggy and Juice cool off.
Useless bottom-liners -
I'll leave the struggling "kid line" (Boyd, Lombo, Nystrom) alone for now...I plan on posting something on them tomorrow. The target of this complaint is the under-performing flotsam that litters the bottom of this club's roster: The 4th line of Godard, Yelle and Smith played a combined 11 minutes on Saturday night. Their stats are happy (2 points, +3 total) because of Regehr's fluke opening tally that glanced off a King stick and happened to float over Labarbera's head into the net. Otherwise, that unit was what every 4th line has been for Calgary in every game this year: a big bag of steaming suck. They typically see the softest competition (as long as they aren't caught on the ice after an icing call) and still give up a boatload of shots and chances against.
Now, it's one thing to have a 4th line with really cheap fringe guys or some kids breaking into the league. And, given, Godard and Smith aren't exactly pricey. But the problem(s) being the guys in question won't be getting any better, the Flames probably have replacement level players in the minors AND there's more than $2M worth of cap space sitting in the press-box behind them. Sutter re-signed Primeau and Nilson ostensibly to solidify the bottom half of the roster, but they've both proven obsolete compared to Boyd, Nystrom (gee, who would have guessed that?) and even Mark Smith (not sure why, though perhaps Smith is a better scrapper, bench presence...?). The result is a 3rd line of kids being hung out to dry and a bunch of doddering or fringe vets unable to keep their heads above water below them. Not to mention, all this dead weight at the cheap end of the line-up is contributing to the complete lack of secondary scoring afflicting this team.
It'll be interesting to see what happens when Moss returns to the line-up. With Keenan obviously (and sensibly) preferring Boyd and Nystrom to Primeau and Nilson, a freshly signed vet may be in line for a waiver-wire demotion. I hope. The other potential solution is re-assigning Boyd to the farm club. At this juncture, I think Boyd has proven he can play in the NHL and it would better serve the organization to continue his development at this level. Primeau and Nilson's contributions are obviously minute and it's not like they're going to get any better. Might as well send the lame horses to the glue factory to make way for the young studs, if you get my drift.
Other observations:
- In his first game back, Rhett Warrener was predictably a step or two behind the play all night. He looked as awkward and slow as he does in all my nightmares. Warrener was playing some good hockey before he went down with injury, so it may take him awhile to get back to speed. Or, given his history, maybe that couple weeks was an aberration and he's back to being the Rhett "beat by Grier" Warrener I've lamented about so often in this space before. If the latter proves to be true, we're likely stuck with an Eriksson/Phaneuf 2nd pairing in perpetuity. And while Anders hasn't been the Zyuzin clone he was in the first couple of weeks, he and Dion don't exactly fill me with confidence at ES, especially against tougher teams. Even with Eriksson playing better, the pair still give up too many shots and chances against.
- Lombardi is struggling a lot at ES. He's still skating and drawing penalties, especially on the PK, but he's got nothing going otherwise. He spends a lot of time crossing the offensive blueline and shooting the puck at defenders shin-pads. To be fair, a lot of this has to do with his linemates - as much as I like Boyd and Nystrom and what they've brought to the team, both are still prone to rookie errors. In addition, Nystrom has almost 0 offensive ability. Not the best recipe for success . Again, more on this stuff tomorrow.
- David Hale has gotten better and better as the season's progressed. He still has all the offensive flair of a broken kitchen appliance, but the tools I saw initially when he was acquired last year have been in full evidence recently: good skating, physical presence, simple, effective game. He and Aucoin formed a pretty decent 3rd pairing before Adrian was injured (they rarely got scored on, which is all you can ask a 3rd pairing) so I think Im secure in feeling mildly encouraged by his progression.
- Jarome Iginla is playing the best hockey of his career. And that's saying a lot. He was simply amazing in the 3rd period against the Kings. The two PP goals he set-up with power moves out of the corner literally made my jaw drop. A stunning hockey player and fully deserving of the "Iggy for Hart" pieces making the rounds in the mainstream media.
