Flames Scoring Chances – Game 53 versus Atlanta

 

 

Flames with a bit of theft tonight, although it’s not a gross miscarriage of justice that they ended up the winners. Still, generated nine ES scoring chances on a team as poor as ATRL at 5-on-5 doesn’t usually give you the "w" on most nights. Flames were especially flaccid through the first couple of periods, although they were generally the more dangerous team with the man advantage.

No real stand-outs tonight, although Jackman’s numbers are deceiving. I thought he actually played well and was driving the pcuk up the ice with aplomb. Problem was, Sutter deployed in an almost pure defensive role, with 5 d-zone draws to three o-zone face-offs. That sunk him into negative numbers.

Sutter deserves some credit for the win this evening. The winning goal was scored on a shift with Iginla playing with Backlund against some of ATL’s lesser lights. Nice way to exploit the gap on the 4th line. Iginla in general has been okay recently, hovering around neutral in terms of possession and scoring chances. He’s been strong on the puck along the boards, but he’s really not getting himself into positions to shoot and that’s reflected in his 3 shots in the last two games…despite some big ice time against some so-so opposition. The Flames are winning so it doesn’t much seem to matter right now, but over the long-term the Flames are going to need more from him.