"We know we can chip in": Flames blue line starting to find their offence
There have been plenty of positives for the Calgary Flames in each of their past two wins, with the play of their defencemen perhaps being number one on the list.
On paper, there are few teams in the league who have as solid of a blue line as the Flames. MacKenzie Weegar has proven to be an excellent acquisition from the Florida Panthers, while Rasmus Andersson’s game has continued to get better each and every season. Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev are as reliable of a tandem as there is, and Nikita Zadorov has played excellently regardless of who he’s with on the third pairing.
As good as their blue line is, however, they weren’t firing on all cylinders to start the season, and the Flames’ record showed that. In their most recent 5-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks, their entire back end had arguably their best game of the season. Both Weegar and Hanifin found the back of the net, while Andersson had an assist on a goal from Dillon Dube in the second period. In their prior game versus the Montreal Canadiens, both Andersson and Zadorov logged assists in a 2-1 win.
It’s become crystal clear that when the back end is contributing, this Flames team is capable of winning on any given night, regardless of who they are up against.
“You need that. You need that from everyone in the lineup,” Andersson told reporters at the Saddledome after practice on Friday. “We have a really good d-core, and we know we can chip in.”
While most view Andersson as the most offensively gifted defenceman on the Flames roster, he is far from the only one capable of putting points on the board. Another who has proven he can do just that is Hanifin, who is also a major fan of what he has seen from his fellow blue liners as of late.
“It’s huge, it’s something we’ve got to do,” Hanifin said in regards to putting up offence from the back end. “I think as of late we’ve been doing a better job of getting in the rush and in the offensive zone moving around. We have all mobile guys back there that can create offence. That’s tough for teams to defend, when we can get in there and make those types of plays.”
The Flames will be back in action tomorrow night versus the New York Islanders, who are coming to town on a seven-game losing streak. If guys like Andersson and Hanifin are able to continue finding ways to produce, the Flames will likely have their first three-game winning streak of the season.
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