Series Overview - Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks
Series Overview – Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks
With both teams finishing with 49 wins and 110 points, this is a true coin-flip series on paper. Calgary's edge lies in its depth and defensive structure, while Vancouver leans on high-end offensive talent and one of the league’s top goalies in Thatcher Demko. The Canucks won 3 of the 4 regular season matchups, giving them a psychological edge, but the Flames bring a more balanced roster into the playoffs.
Offense
Calgary Flames
While the Flames finished ninth in league scoring, their scoring is well-distributed and their depth ensures that their top nine can contribute. However, they lack a true top-10 offensive force. Mark Stone (37-38-75) leads the offense and is supported by a solid group that consists of Jared McCann (25-37-62), John Tavares (16-42-58), Sean Monahan (22-31-53), Drake Batherson (23-25-48) and Alex DeBrincat (23-23-46). While the numbers for Batherson and DeBrincat may not excite you, they have played much better since the injection of Sean Monahan in the lineup.
Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver's offense is top-heavy but explosive. Matthew Boldy (49-46-95) is a legitimate game-breaker, and Claude Giroux’s (29-65-94) playmaking complements him perfectly. The Canucks have slightly less depth than Calgary, but their top line has more offensive upside. Matthew Boldy finished in the top ten in league scoring while Claude Giroux just missed finishing 11th overall. The team has more offense in their arsenal with Nazem Kadri (34-43-77), Lawson Crouse (27-23-50) and Alexander Kerfoot (15-35-50). While the last two may come as a surprise, the chemistry since Nazem Kadri has joined the team has been off the charts.
Advantage: Even
Defense
Calgary Flames
The Flames defense has been their strength this season. There isn’t a whole lot of offense after Adam Fox (11-51-62), but the back-end has been solid on the defensive side of things. Guys such as Cam York (12-26-38), Colton Parayko (14-23-37) and Dylan DeMelo (2-33-35) have shown up on the scoresheet often, but prefer to keep the puck out of their net.
Vancouver Canucks
Anchored by Vince Dunn (8-52-60), the Canucks deploy a similar system to the Flames. Much like Fox, most of the offense travels through Dunn, while the other guys keep the puck out of the net. Mattias Samuelsson (10-34-44) had a career year and broke the 40-point plateau, but his teammates Mark Giordano (6-23-29) and Olli Maatta (4-22-26) failed to do-so.
Advantage: Calgary Flames
Goaltending
Calgary Flames
The Flames deploy a tandem that consists of Logan Thompson (32-15-7, 2.37, .916%) and Lukas Dostal (17-6-5, 2.39, .916%). This duo has been a major success for the team and gives them a nice advantage over many other teams. The ability to roll out a fresh goalie in a tight playoff series is an under-rated tactic that could pay-off for the Flames.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have an ideal situation going on between the pipes. They have their elite goaltender for this season in Thatcher Demko (37-20-9, 2.39, .921%), as well as their future starter next season in Anthony Stolarz (12-1-3, 2.58, .908%). Demko should be able to handle the workload, but in a tight series they may need to rely on Stolarz. Demko is the best goaltender in this series without a doubt and Stolarz is no slouch himself.
Advantage: Vancouver Canucks
By The Numbers
Calgary Flames
As previously mentioned, the Flames put up very solid numbers in the Goals Forward and Goals Against department, finishing 9th overall and 3rd overall. Their goal differential being the sixth best of all teams this season shows just how strong this team is. If the Flames want to win this series, they will need to improve their league average Power Play (13th best) and Penalty Kill (15th best). The season series saw the Flames drop three of their four games versus the Canucks, which doesn’t bode well for this playoff matchup.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks surprised a lot of teams this season. I don’t believe people realize how well this team played, especially down the stretch. The Canucks won their final 12 games of the season and are going into the playoffs on a heater. Their goal differential is up there with the Flames as they finished just one position behind them in seventh. The key to this series may come down to special teams as the Power Play ranked 11th best and the Penalty Kill also ranked 11th best. The Canucks won three out of their four matchups against Calgary this season.
Predictions
This might be the toughest series to call. A few of the East matchups may be equally as tough. I am taking the Vancouver Canucks though to win this series in seven games.