Darryl Sutter is back behind the bench for the Calgary Flames.

Following a 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, the Flames fired Geoff Ward as head coach and replaced him with the two-time Stanley Cup champion Sutter.

Calgary currently sits outside of a playoff spot in the North Division at 11-11-2. 

Overall, Ward went 35-26-2 as a first-time head coach for the Flames.

So what’s next for Calgary?

Can Sutter maximize the potential of this group and help the Flames turn their season around?

Here is the Morning Coffee for Friday March 5, 2021.

Sutter Takes Over In Calgary

With 24 points through 24 games, Calgary is two points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the final North Division playoff spot with two more games played and four points back of the Edmonton Oilers with a game in hand.  

The Flames, who opened the season as a 30-to-1 long shot to win the Stanley Cup, are currently 50-to-1 to win it all.

Considering Sutter’s reputation, it wouldn’t be a surprise if there were a renewed emphasis placed on stronger defensive play in Calgary going forward.

The Flames rank 19th in the NHL with an average of 3.04 goals allowed per game. They rank 23rd overall with an average of 2.71 goals per game.

From a fantasy perspective, the coaching change is most likely to help Calgary’s goaltenders, which could mean a boost for David Rittich in the short term and Jacob Markstrom in the long term once he returns from injury.

On the flip side, it will be interesting to see how Sutter’s defensive system impacts the production of the Flames’ top offensive players like Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm. 

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button explained in detail what Sutter brings to Calgary on SC with Jay.

Maple Leafs Suffer Rare Regulation Loss

NHL betting favourites went 7-3 on Thursday night, with two of the three upsets coming in North Division matchups.  

The Vancouver Canucks (+145) were responsible for the biggest upset as they handed the Toronto Maple Leafs a rare regulation loss with a 3-1 win. 

It was just the third regulation loss for Toronto in its last 20 games. Jake Virtanen scored twice for Vancouver, while Thatcher Demko turned aside 31 of the 32 shots he faced in the win. 

Demko has now won back-to-back starts, allowing just one goal on 59 shots combined.

It’s probably a good time to point out these goalie splits:

Thatcher Demko: 6-9-1, 2.93 GAA, .911 SV%
Braden Holtby: 4-6-1, 3.56 GAA, .893 SV%

Jets Beat Habs… Again

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the overtime winner as the Winnipeg Jets (+130) beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3.

It was Winnipeg’s third win in as many meetings with Montreal over the past two weeks. The Jets improved to 6-1-0 over their last seven games played. 

Winnipeg has been an underdog in four of their last six wins, including all three victories over the Canadiens. 

The Jets continue to be undervalued by oddsmakers in the midst of an impressive run.

It will be interesting to see if Winnipeg is an underdog once again as they look to continue their head-to-head dominance against the Canadiens on Saturday night.

Raptors Fall To Celtics

Kyle Lowry recorded a career-high and a Toronto Raptors franchise record-tying 19 assists in a 132-125 loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.

Toronto covered as an eight-point underdog. The over (221.5) also hit for the fourth game in a row for the Raptors. 

Toronto is 17-19 heading into the All-Star break – the worst record in a loaded Atlantic Division.

The Raptors are still 16-to-1 to win the Eastern Conference – making them the sixth choice behind the Brooklyn Nets (+130), Milwaukee Bucks (+260), Philadelphia 76ers (+550), Boston Celtics (+1000) and the Miami Heat (+1200).

Toronto is a 60-to-1 long shot to win the NBA title.