Dustin Wolf continues to drag the Calgary Flames’ lifeless offence along, shutting the door for a 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

It’s a Team Game – The Flames must plan to really put the old phrase “defence wins championships” to the test with their lack of ability to score goals. Dustin Wolf has this team nowhere near where they truly belong in the standings and games like this become evidence of how true that is. He had some support to start the game – Calgary got out and had the better first period. Then came some decent back and forth in the second frame with Calgary getting out-pressured early and late. Joel Farabee tickling the twine late then allowed the Flames to go into their usual shell and as a result spent the majority of the entire third period in their own zone. That’s the same defence that got them destroyed by Dallas in the bubble – Wolf wasn’t there so that does become a major factor, but I personally do not believe that strategy gets them anywhere close to a Stanley Cup, ever. Simply having elite goaltending is not a viable long them winning strategy, but it got them this win and in their current playoff race that’s more than likely all they care about.

Corsi King – I will relay some positive performances here, but what good are shot attempts if you can not convert them into goals? Slow streaks are one thing, but this version of the Flames seems to be allergic to any type of goal. Getting all of your offence out in one game against Philadelphia and then failing to build on that going forward just comes across as a bit sad. Yegor Sharangovich (61.65%) led the Flames forwards with a fifteen to nine advantage. Joel Hanley (59.48%) led the rearguards with a nineteen to thirteen advantage. As you will see soon not many of them were dangerous.

Taken By Chance – Kevin Bahl (62.71 SCF% || 57.89 HDCF%) and Rasmus Andersson (62.71 per cent || 57.89 per cent) edge out the other pairs to lead in the high danger category. Positive percentages in their stat lines indicate they did not get out chanced – Andersson without Bahl struggled mightily. He still is not playing up to the level the coach should hope to get out of him, but the return of his most frequent partner has him stabilizing his game a bit. Nazem Kadri (100 per cent || 100 per cent) and Jonathan Huberdeau (100 per cent || 100 per cent) did not see a 5v5 scoring chance against them, got three of their own, and both ended the night with zero points. Calgary got away with a one-goal win here and a one-goal overtime point in Carolina –I’d like to say they can’t keep getting away with this but… Dustin Wolf is as legitimate as legitimate gets.

xGF% – I’m genuinely curious if the Flames remembered that Kevin Rooney (4.86 per cent) is a problem most nights. He did get the least amount of 5v5 time in this one, but he’s an offensive black hole. If you had a top nine forward group getting you three to four goals a game you could get away with this, but as the roster is currently constructed the fourth line center needs to contribute too. I’ll be nice to Joel Farabee (35.54 per cent) because he scored, but I do think his line showed signs of struggle again. Mikael Backlund (37.79 per cent) has not been playing with that same offensive pop he used to have. Breaking up the wing and getting decent shot opportunities are not happening anywhere near the rate of the last four to five seasons. The third period strategy to play defence in your own end for 15 minutes doesn’t help with this issue either, but the decline has been more than just strategy based or situational.

In The Crease – The trophy engraver should start putting Dustin Wolf’s (1.82 GSAx at 5v5) name on the Calder. Rookie of the year is clearly the guy dragging the husk that is the current Flames offensive strategy and ability into the postseason. It does not matter which skater you pick out because everyone needs to pull their socks up. Coronato, Zary, Frost, Coleman, Backlund, Andersson, Weegar… the list goes on. At the end of the day the one person on this team you can rely on to show up for the game and perform at an elite level is Wolf. That almost sounds like he may be the most valuable player to his own team in the National Hockey League.