'Work Together As Five'

Remember the old song?

‘Can’t touch a Flame when it’s Red Hot!’

That’s exactly the feeling around the powerplay of late; Calgary’s man-advantage units are clicking at a 32% success rate to start the season - scoring on six of their last 12 opportunities - bringing heat to opposing teams who dare sit for two minutes or less in the sin bin.

Take Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Red Wings, for instance. The Flames had two powerplays, they got goals from Zayne Parekh and Matvei Gridin on both, needing just 40 seconds of powerplay time to carve the Red Wings short-handed units with surgical precision.

For Associate Coach Dave Lowry - the man tasked with running the powerplay this season - the recent success has been rewarding. 

Each unit is versatile, each unit is hungry, and for Lowry, that’s a big reason why the Flames enter tonight’s contest with the Maple Leafs (GET TICKETS) sitting No. 4 in man-advantage efficiency.

"I think the biggest thing is their willingness to be creative, and their the acceptance of the flexibility,” Lowry explained Monday morning, shortly after Calgary’s two powerplay units got put through the paces at morning skate. “And not being married to one spot has been a big piece of it, and sometimes that takes time. 

“If you look throughout the league and you watch powerplays that are successful some of them are built around an (Alexander) Ovechkin, built around a (Steven) Stamkos, guys that have one-timers. If you don't have the personnel, you have to find other ways, and our guys understand that if we move, if we work together as five, then you get opportunities.”

Parekh has certainly been one of the sparkplugs on the Flames’ top unit. His second-period goal Saturday stood up as the game-winner against Detroit and so far in his young NHL career, two-thirds of the 20-year-old’s NHL tallies have come while a man up.

But following that win, Parekh emphasized the team mentality around his five-man unit; a group that’s now seen all five members score at least one powerplay marker through the first 10 games of the campaign.

“If you look at the guys we have on the powerplay, there’s not a guy that’s going to kind of take over,” said Parekh. “We’re all moving pucks in unison and whoever scores, we’re happy for them. 

“I think that’s what we’re doing really well, just moving pucks around and finding the open guy.“

“They're comfortable. And, you know, with being comfortable comes the confidence and the ability to try things,” Lowry added. “We understand that there are going to be growing pains, there are going to be mistakes, but the one thing that we're encouraging is to make plays. 

“We want to be a shot volume team. Well, let's look at the percentage of the chance of getting a shot through, and I think we're getting better with that in our decision making. With these guys, the big thing is their willingness to want to get better, they're all students of the game.”

Gone are the days when a powerplay prowess was determined by a booming point shot - an Al MacInnis slapper that struck fear into opposing penalty-killers and goalies alike.

Today, the Flames are finding success with motion, both with the puck and with fluid feet, keeping opposing defences in a state of flux as they shift positions, snapping the puck around from left to right and high to low.

Their next challenge? Toronto, and its top-ranked penalty-kill, which entering Monday’s game has given up only two goals against in 42 short-handed situations.

For Lowry, Parekh, and Calgary’s powerplay specialists, that means more movement is necessary, if and when the opportunity to strike presents itself.

“If you look at the kills that are successful, and the kills right now that are at the top of the league, they're all based on pressure,” Lowry said. “And the one way that you have to be pressured is, you have to work together. You have to have close support. 

“You have to move the puck, you have to move your feet, and if you can break it down with an attack mindset, then you will get looks, and you will get opportunities.”