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4 Flames players who need to step their game up
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Photo credit: © Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Robert Munnich
Dec 14, 2024, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 13, 2024, 20:33 EST
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The Calgary Flames are in a bit of a tail spin recently with a record of 2-5-2 in their last nine games. There are a lot of reasons for the 5th worst record in the NHL since Nov. 24.
They aren’t getting elite goaltending. Their defence has slipped. And they can’t score goals.
Not a great recipe for a team that has intentions on making the playoffs.
There are a few players who need to step their game up if this team wants to have some success this season.

Yegor Sharangovich

Sharangovich scored 31 goals last season and was rewarded with a five year, $28.75M contract on July 1st last summer. Unfortunately for Sharangovich and the Flames, he has not been the same player this season.
There is a built in excuse for him as he was injured in the final pre season game. And maybe he returned to quickly to the lineup and is still dealing with playing through pain.
But he’s played in 23 games. Over a quarter of the season and the performance just hasn’t been there from a guy the Flames rely on to score goals and generate offence.
He’s on pace for 28 points over 82 games. 21 goals and 7 assists.
Sharangovich is just a non factor on too many nights. There are a lot of games, like on Thursday night, where you barely notice he is playing.
The Flames have been outscored 10-5 with Sharangovich on the ice at 5v5. High danger chances are 53-43 for the opposition.
He’s third last on the Flames in +/- with a -9. If you include last season, Sharangovich is -38, which is second last during that time (Huberdeau is -40 since last season).
Good news for Calgary is that Sharangovich is a streaky scorer. He scored 26 of his 31 goals last season from December 1st onward. Maybe we will see something similar this season?

Blake Coleman

I have been one of the biggest Blake Coleman supporters over the last couple years. He brings a lot of great intangibles to the team off the ice and he is a solid middle six winger on the ice.
But he has not been the same player since being split up from his long time linemate Mikael Backlund on Nov. 20.
Coleman has been off Backlund’s line for 11 games. In those 11 games, he has one goal, two assists, and is a -7 which is good for 2nd last on the Flames.
The Flames have been outscored 10-3 with Coleman on the ice at 5v5.
When Coleman is on his game, he is aggressive on the forecheck, physical, and contributing offensively. But you just haven’t seen those elements of his game right now. It looks like he is lacking that aggressiveness and intensity which has made him such an effective player for the Flames over the last three seasons.
It’s looking like Coleman and Backlund will be reunited on Saturday when the Flames take on the Florida Panthers which is great news for both players who need to jump-start their offence.

Pairing of Kevin Bahl & Rasmus Andersson

Bahl and Andersson have been the Flames top pair since day one of the regular season. And for good reason. They were one of the better pairs in the NHL for the first month and a bit of the season.
But it’s started to fall off as of late. They’ve been outscored 10-5 at 5v5. There have been a lot of examples of blown coverage for this pairing.
A dip in their play was to be expected. I’m not sure if it was reasonable to think that Bahl could keep up that level of play in only is second full season in the NHL. That’s a steep learning curve for any young defenceman. Both Bahl and Andersson are -7 since Nov. 20.
The offence is down for Andersson since the start of the season. He only has three points in the last 11 games which isn’t good enough for a player the Flames rely on to produce.
It would certainly help if the Flames goaltenders could step their games up and make some more saves and the team could burry more of their chances while Bahl and Andersson are on the ice as they have a PDO of .921.
I think it’s only a matter of time before this duo gets their game back to the level where it was at the beginning of the season. It’s just been a bit of a rough patch.

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