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10 Takeaways: Mackenzie Blackwood Made the Big Saves When Calgary Tested Him (+)
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- 10 Takeaways: Mackenzie Blackwood Made the Big Saves When Calgary Tested Him (+)
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Calgary Flames didn't generate a ton of offense against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. But when they did, they made those chances count, creating some dangerous opportunities. The difference was Mackenzie Blackwood , who came up with several huge saves to keep the Flames at bay.
The Avalanche controlling much of the shot share, they dictated play offensively, spending plenty of time in the Calgary zone and cycling the puck. Even with a multi-goal lead and what felt like a comfortable path to two points, Blackwood never let up. He stayed locked in until the final buzzer, delivering exactly what you want to see from your No. 1 goaltender.
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"I know they played last night, but you can tell they're a younger group who will trade offense and defense for each other. They might give something up to get something," Blackwood said. "So if you're not really detail-oriented when you play them, it can be tough because you know they're going to get their chances.
"For me, you can't take any team lightly. Whether we're playing Carolina, Tampa, Dallas, you name it, right? Calgary Flames, they can freaking come in this rink and beat you any night. There are 32 good teams in the NHL, and onbany given night, if you're not ready to go, they'll beat you."
Also Read: Postgame Reaction: Avalanche's Big Boys Came to Play Against Calgary
10 Takeaways
1.That's Blackwood's sixth consecutive start of good-to-great hockey. He's 5-1-0 in that stretch and has not given up more than three goals in any game. He's only surrendered three goals twice during this run. In that time, he has stopped 151 of 165 shots for a .915 save percentage. His five wins are tied for the second most in the league in that time.
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2.We all remember the Toronto game two weeks earlier, when the Leafs barely had much to work with, but Blackwood didn't make any big stops. That's the performance that Bednar regularly brings up as one where he would've liked to see his goalie steal one. Blackwood had that type of night against the Flames.
That robbery of a glove save on Matt Coronato with seconds remaining in the first period was spectacular. He also made a huge pad stop on Coronato again late in the second period in the crease. Those were just two of his highlight-reel stops.
3.Here's what Bednar said postgame about his starting goalie.
"Yesterday or the day before, I talked about the Toronto game, where we didn't give up a lot of chances, but the ones we did were huge ones, and they went in the back of the net. That was the difference for me tonight. I thought we were doing the right things defensively, checking the right way, but we made some mistakes with the puck that, when we're going one way and we turn the puck over and they're coming the other way, it's usually your best chance at creating a grade-A chance. They got a handful of them tonight, and he was awesome and made some huge saves for us."
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4.We really need a chant for Blackwood at Ball Arena. There were a ton of "WEDGIE, WEDGIE" chants last season. Hyping your goalie up is a longtime tradition at games in Denver.
5. Artturi Lehkonen scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season and matched his career-high, nine-game point streak. The last time he did it (November 2022), he recorded four goals and seven assists for 11 points. This time, he's got eight goals, four assists, and 12 points. That's quite a run for a guy who has only hit 50 points once in his career and has never scored more than 27.
6.The beauty of 84 games is that it divides into segments a lot more than 82 did. Basically, at 14 games, we are officially one-sixth of the way through the regular season. If my math is mathing correctly, that means Lehkonen is on pace for 66 goals. That obviously won't happen, but he's giving himself a lot of room to have some scoring slumps and still be able to shoot for 30+ goals for the first time in his career.
7.It's impeccable timing once again. The same guy who scored a Stanley Cup-clinching goal to finish off his last contract is on pace for his best year yet to conclude this contract, with the added bonus of being an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of it. And, of course, also having the good fortunes of an ever-changing leaguewide salary landscape.
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8. Brock Nelson needed 18 games to hit four goals last season, and it coincided with the start of his hot streak. From that point onward, Nelson went on a 27-goal, 44-point run over the next 39 games, with a gold medal sandwiched in between. Could we see something remotely close to that this year?
9.The power play needed some time to brew on their first opportunity, but PP1 pulled through and scored. I'll say it again and again for as long as it takes, but they need to play down low a lot more than they do. Pressure the penalty killers and push them back further into the zone to create more opportunities from below the dot. And of course, the goal came down low, with Nazem Kadri sending it through the top of the crease to Martin Necas for the one-timer.
That double-minor in the third period was a tough watch. And it highlighted a lot of the issues they've had for several years now. Too much finesse and not enough down-low muck and grind type of goals. The more you battle down low, and the more you push the opposition back, the more times you can give the puck to Cale Makar closer to the hashmarks to shoot it into the net.
10. Speaking of Makar, it was nice to see him get his cookies in this game to up his points. He finished with four assists, bringing his season totals to 15 points in 13 games.
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