Beyond the Boxscore: Calgary Flames go back in forth with Dallas Stars in highly entertaining affair

The number one goal for any home game is for the team to give the fans a fun filled electric performance. Take that on a Saturday night and the dial should be cranked to eleven. Calgary and Dallas went back and forth all night long trading chances before Jason Robertson put It away at the tail end of overtime for a 6-5 win. The hollow points don’t mean much anymore, but if you want to sell hope for a hard-fought playoff race you scrap for every morsel you can get your hands on. At this point of the season though, I’m just glad the Flames are always invested in almost every game they play – no matter who is in the lineup.

It’s a Team Game – When everything is within a stone’s throw of 50% you know you had an even match-up. You just never know if it’s a shoot the lights out one or a super trap one. This one I would lean more towards shooting out the lights because both teams struggled to protect their blue paint. Chances came from in tight and goals got chipped up high constantly – it pairs well with the *five* posts the Flames made contact with. The Flames have also been unfathomably unlucky this season which is more than just a minor excuse for what has resulted in terms of their record. It isn’t just that obviously, but it’s certainly a factor.

Corsi King – MacKenzie Weegar (74.89%) and his newest D partner Rasmus Andersson (57.24%) seemingly unlocked something special tonight. When out against the top of the Central Stars they constantly pushed play towards Oettinger. The Stars top end attack is no slouch and only more lethal since getting Domi and Dadonov, yet that did not phase these two guys at all. Tyler Toffoli (62.11%) lead the forwards which is not shocking considering he’s their primary shooter this season.

Corsi Clown – Nikita Zadorov (35.68%) and Troy Stecher (40.08%) got stuck in their own end a bit more than one would have liked. Not every night will see the third D pair fair on the more positive side of shot attempts but at least they didn’t get blown away. Dillon Dubé (41.87%) and the man who’s publicly getting shown he’s in the doghouse – Nazem Kadri (43.88%) – were the bottom ranked forwards. Kadri actually got a promotion this game off a line with Lucic (DNP) and Lewis (46.15%) to one with Dubé and Duehr (46.54%). It didn’t work out so well either but did better than the previous trio.

Taken By Chance – Rasmus Andersson (53.87 SCF% // 53.62 HDCF%) was involved in the most high danger chances at 7, but it’s also worth pointing out he saw 5 come against him too. This was a match that saw everyone participate in a few good chances but not play well enough to stonewall the other team. Jonathan Huberdeau (57.56% // 51.37%) for instance graded out pretty even. If you just look at the percentages, you have no idea how much he was involved in vs. what he helped in giving up. Studying the raw totals of each ratio do help in further understanding how the numbers come to be.

xGF% – Lets highlight some other positive performances because that game was entertaining for the fans and some positivity can go a long way. Tanev (66.40%) and Hanifin (43.77%) finished on weird polar opposites, but that just goes to show Tanev’s consistency away from his partner. Mangiapane (61.83%) still looked effective with his new linemates – they really pushed the pace on the Stars to begin the match. I get a feeling the lines are going to keep changing so the skill players need to make sure they are ready to play with anyone on any night.

In The Crease – Not all the goals were Markstrom’s fault – the defence let a few too many chances through – but he still didn’t make enough when he needed to. He’s been rock solid for three weeks so having a bad game is tolerable. It even helps when you notice that the five 5v5 goals they got scored on them were all high danger chances. Natural Stat Trick makes sure those chances are super close to the net to count as high danger, so the Stars made the most of their time in the blue paint. It wasn’t too often – or egregious – but it sure was effective… for Dallas. 5 goals against on 2.57 expected goals against.

Player Spotlight – Rasmus Andersson – Excuse me I’m still replaying that glorious stretch pass to Nick Ritchie for the fourth goal in my head. He was a firecracker in the offensive zone tonight actively engaging in the play and feeling more comfortable being the fourth forward. Weegar talked about being able to be the defensive guy now and letting Andersson cook – if this is the result than sign me up for more. Hanifin playing better with Tanev is a massive sign too. Why did it take until after the trade deadline to try these? Just another lineup question the Flames coaching staff has incited this year.