6 Observations from Pre-Season Game 2

The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers met on Monday night as the Oilers kicked off their pre-season while the Flames kicked off the North American portion of theirs. Edmonton won 7-4, but the story of the game was Dillon Dube and that’s where we’ll start.

Not a ton to say about a game that featured mainly AHLers but here are six observations.

1. Dillon Dube’s Hat Trick

We should’ve known that Dube was poised to have a really good night when he scored his first goal just 23 seconds into the game. He scored his second goal of the game early in the second period, before he completed the hat trick with a breakaway goal minutes later. He was easily the standout of the game as he awarded first star of the game and continues to make a very strong case for cracking the Flames roster.

2. Juuso Valimaki Elevates His Play

Valimaki easily had a better game tonight than either of the two rookie games last week. He picked up an assist on Dube’s first goal and made some really good plays at both ends of the ice.

3. Rittich Struggles

I’m willing to give guys a break in their first action of the year, but nevertheless it probably won’t help Rittich’s confidence with giving up 6 goals in his first game of the season. He could held out to dry on a couple breakaways, but will need to clean up his game, especially his glove hand before the season begins.

4. Mangiapane Racks up the Shots

Andrew Mangiapane finished the night with a goal on seven shots and was buzzing in the offensive zone. He wasn’t dominant like Dube, but you definitely noticed him on the ice.

5. PTO = PT-NO

None of the Flames PTO’s in the lineup tonight looked particularly noticeable, nor really made any plays that stood out. They looked like what they are, fringe NHLers to AHLers.

6. Flames Top Prospects Perform Like Top Prospects

Valimaki, Mangiane, Foo, and Dube all had CF% on the night and were making plays during the game. The rest of the guys? Not so much.

The Flames will next take to the ice on Wednesday, with two games actually. You can wake up and watch the Flames against Boston in China at 5:30 AM MT, then stay up and watch them in Vancouver at 8:00 pm that same night.

by Michael MacGillivray