Beyond the Boxscore: Calgary Flames let the Rangers see the Huberdeau Show

At this point we should be used to the Calgary Flames having strong fundamentals no matter what the score. It’s almost a given they’ll possess the puck more and because of that limit the amount of time the opposition has to get their own chances. Saturday’s game against the Rangers was them ending up on the positive side of the result rather than the negative. Anybody expecting an eventful match-up in terms of extracurricular activities was disappointed as the game – while physical – played out rather tame.

It’s a Team Game – They did lose the high danger chance battle in a typical marginal Flames way. 11-8 in favour of the Rangers sparked by them getting 6 in the second period. Luck played a factor as well including a post and a few close calls in the Flames crease. When the Rangers did get chances, they made it count, but Calgary was able to smother most of the second or third chances.

Corsi King – Tyler Toffoli (82.29%) led the way with Coleman (81.88%) and Mangiapane (80.45%) right behind. Very easy to play the game of hockey if you get 80% of the shot attempts while on the ice. Lowest two defencemen were Andersson (56.24%) and Hanifin (56.30%). Profoundly heavy in terms of shot attempts which is very much on brand for the Flames. Adam Ružička (71.81%) plugged in for Elias Lindholm who was at the hospital to support his wife during the birth of their first child. Congratulations to the Lindholms.

Corsi Clown – Nobody qualified! Love it when this happens.

Taken By Chance – Here’s always the section where I have to bring up issues – high danger chances do not come easy for the Calgary Flames. Two forward lines and one defence pair failed to register any high danger chances – the Dubé (82.50 SCF% // NA HDCF%) did get some good looks but nothing as dangerous as below the hashmarks. Some will scoff at what it takes to get classified as high danger but it’s exclusive and based on a small area of ice for a reason. The bottom line and the third defence pair also failed to generate a high danger chance. Dubé and Toffoli (90.41% // NA) didn’t have any chances go against them and they had 90% of the chance share. It’s important to look at that too before someone also says they had a bad game.

xGF% – They were the most dangerous line for Calgary, and they constantly had to deal with the Rangers top players themselves. Kadri (41.65%), Huberdeau (40.45%), and Pelletier (40.50%) have lower ratios because the wingers struggled to exit their zones at time. Pelletier was great when he was in the offensive zone but there were quite a few times he failed to get the puck out of his defensive zone when he had a chance. Huberdeau is getting the player highlight so we’ll discuss him lower. Mangiapane (88.27%) led the way in terms of expected goal share and in terms of scoring in the game. That’s a goal you show the kids when they get on YouTube when you tell them how good you used to be. Great stuff to fire up the Saturday night crowd.

In The Crease – Markstrom wasn’t crazy busy, and he only let one 5v5 goal in. Tarasenko got an unfortunate bounce on that one, but you can call it even because there was an aggressive post in the first. Just earned it back. The late power play goal is unfortunate and a bit of a backbreaker. Calgary can’t really say they played a strong complete team game because Markstrom still had to make many great saves on some dangerous Rangers looks. 2.01 expected goals against with a medium danger chance beating him.

Player Spotlight – Jonathan Huberdeau – I’m almost offended he played as well as he did because I’m wondering where that was 55 games previously. Maybe Tweetgate ended up with him deciding it was time to let loose and play in the open space a bit more. If that’s the result then please sir, may we have some more. Looked like a true game breaker out there and never gave up on a puck even if it got a little bit out of control. A man determined it was a welcome sight. I was mad at my TV because in the overtime I noticed him in front of the net – with how he was going I wanted the puck on his stick. The players recognized that – executed a shift in positions and got Huberdeau the puck. Backlund got the tip, but the game was won with the puck in the stars hands – exactly what everyone in Calgary wants to see.