Game 53 – Flames vs Ducks Live Chat

Anaheim is bit of a funhouse mirror maze for Calgary – the clubs are basically inverted versions of each other and the Flames frequently get lost when they visit the Honda center.

Anaheim is a grossly top-heavy club – perhaps the most in the league – although the addition of Hagman and Pelley have helped somewhat. The recent trun-around for the Ducks has a couple of primary causes. As Pat notes below that Hiller has regained his form after a terrible first half. In addition, the Ducks shot and possession metrics have improved to middling from putrid under Boudreau.

Since Bruce arrived in town, the team-wide Ducks corsi-tied is 502. That’s quite mediocre, but a vast improvement over the .450 or so they were managing with Carlyle. The big guns have begun to find their feet under the erstwhile WAS coach as well: Corry Perry and Ryan Getzlaff boast a .530 corsi ratio over the last 27 contests. That’s healthy on most teams and orders of magnitude better than just about any other skater on the Ducks. The deadly duo were floating around .500 for much of the season until the coaching change, but it looks like they are once again driving the bus to a non-trivial degree. As usual, they will likely prove to be a handful for the Flames tonight.