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Paul Kukla Kukla's Korner

Published on Thursday, May 19, 2022

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Surviving McDavid

from Travis Yost of TSN,

Before the start of the Battle of Alberta, I had a few theories as to how the series would play out. Chief among them: Calgary is the better team, Edmonton has the best player, and, by extension, the best line.

Barring a goaltending collapse from either club, these two forces would collide and ultimately decide the series.

Game 1 checked all three of those boxes. The Flames were comfortably the better team. The Connor McDavid line was as lethal as usual. And, ironically, we saw goaltending capitulation from both sides.

Edmonton’s Mike Smith (three goals conceded on seven shots faced) was horrific and yanked from the game early. Backup Mikko Koskinen (five goals conceded on 32 shots faced) wasn’t any better. The only difference between Smith and Calgary starter Jacob Markstrom (six goals conceded on 22 shots faced) was Darryl Sutter’s reticence to pull his besieged goaltender. It was bad.

Let’s set the goaltending aside for a moment – after all, it’s exceptionally rare you see a single-game stop rate of 80 per cent.

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