Beyond the Boxscore: Young guns no match for McDavid and company in 7-2 shellacking

Welcome back one and all to Beyond the Boxscore: Season 3 – a place to find out which Flames players had statistically great nights combined with some insight into what was working or not by myself (Shane Stevenson – @Flash_33 on X (formerly known as Twitter)). We’ll have charts, video breakdowns, colour commentary, and plenty of in-depth analysis.

If confused about what anything means, feel free to check out our BTB glossary!

It’s a Team Game – The only real positive – from a team perspective – was that the entire game was not a runaway. At least in the first two periods the Flames played in a manner that could have kept them close. Instead, the result was too many goals in the net and a route against a lineup that will see a bunch of cuts as early as today. A lot of guys learned a lesson about what it’s going to take to run with the best in the show, and many learnt they aren’t as close as they want to be.

Corsi King – Yegor Sharangovich (75.98%) finishing in a spot/way you would expect of a veteran in this lineup. Adam Ružička (68.36%) was the other guy that stood above the crowd. These two handily won their minutes by getting the vast majority of the offensive opportunities. This game shows me a few things that are going to be new this year. Number one being that no matter the score the Flames will be able to generate offence, with number 2 being they need their goaltending to be up to par. With a more NHL heavy lineup you hope this is a more close game, but we all know by now if McDavid decides he’s going to score it doesn’t matter much who is on the ice does it.

Corsi Clown – Samuel Honzek (9.66%) played 3:06 of 5v5 time and got out chanced 9 to 1. He can take this experience back to junior and use it as motivation to work towards where he needs to be to be able to compete. The young man has plenty of skill and a high hockey IQ, this should only serve him in a positive manner. Dillon Dubé (27.26%) was nowhere near good enough for a veteran in the lineup. He has defensive deficiencies in his game that rear their head in the times he’s not scoring. We need more consistency from him, this Is a year where he has to make a step to show he can be a significant contributing piece for this team.

Taken By Chance – Outside of young Mr. Honzek, who will escape my criticism on this night for what should be obvious reasons, Nick DeSimone (43.86 SCF% // 0.00 HDCF%) struggled the most. 3 high danger chances against while contributing to none himself. I never had DeSimone pegged as a guy competing for a spot, but kudos to the Flames for genuinely giving guys an opportunity at camp this year. Solovyov (52.53% // 32.35%) also finished with a down game statistically. I thought he was the best physical player on the ice for the auditioning Flames though – Zadorov (46.28% // 55.93%) was the best defenceman by a country mile.

xGF% – A trio of players ended up on the high side of quality share. Sharangovich (69.34%) was the most viable forward in the loss, Dennis Gilbert (59.45%) escaped being out against many significant chances, and Connor Zary (59.09%) showed that he can skate with the guys in the show. The fourth line battle seems to be at center with the Rooney injury – Zary himself is competing with Cole Schwindt (42.14%). Tonight I would say Zary took a step, but both should be given one last look in the final pre-season game to see who comes out victorious.

Shoutout Adam Klapka – didn’t mention him anywhere else in this piece but that is some solid results for the big man. Right there with Sharangovich, Zary, and Ciona for positive impact.

In The Crease – That wasn’t good. Flat out no need to lie about it. The defensive coverage in front of Vladar was as loose as he’ll ever see all season, but he still let in a few goals you would hope an NHL goalie would stop. He had some real struggles the majority of last season – the hot start and the fact he racked up wins help to mask the struggles he faced down the stretch. 2.30 expected goals against at 5v5 with 3 high danger, 1 medium danger, and 1 low danger goal beating Vladar.

Player Spotlight – Lucas Ciona – I went into tonight’s game with Ciona marked because he was still at training camp despite next to no news on whether he’s stood out or what he really had been accomplishing. Quietly efficient and by no means in over his head. The new regime in the front office but an emphasis on size at the draft so I get the sense an opportunity for Ciona will be knocking – maybe not this season – but certainly sooner rather than later. He can forecheck hard, is strong on the puck, and makes smart simple plays when necessary. He’ll never shoot the lights out, but I also said the same thing about Walker Duehr when they signed him. Anything can happen if you work for it, I think Ciona has what it takes if he can improve his processing speed.