The Calgary Flames defended strong but in the end did not have what it took to take down the Colorado Avalanche, losing 4-2.

It’s a Team Game – This one never felt particularly close. Calgary held their own for about 20 minutes before everything went off the rails. Not only did the Avalanche have three power plays – scoring on one of them – they also mustered up 16 high danger chances at 5v5 to the Flames measly 3. Calgary ended up defending in a stationary manner in their own zone way too often while MacKinnon, Necas, and Makar danced circles around them. Nobody seemed to be able to clear the front of the net when it mattered. Thankfully Dustin Wolf was playing lights out again or this one would have been worse. It was a measuring stick to see where Calgary stands in the grand scheme of things, and they failed miserably. Playoffs, while still feasible, could be  a very short lived experience for the Flames if that’s how they fair against the NHL’s elite.

Corsi King – Nazem Kadri (53.00 CF%) and his line were the only ones that got to press enough to get double digit shot attempts amongst the forwards. Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau (46.00 per cent) were both at 20 shot attempts for, followed by MacKenzie Weegar (42.03 per cent) with 14, Danil Miromanov (37.06 per cent) at 13 before hitting the next forward in Martin Pospisil (36.26 per cent) who only mustered up nine for. The small percentages may have alluded you to the fact only Kadri and Joel Farabee (51.73 per cent) managed to have more attempts for themselves while deployed than they saw against. Despite having those 20 scoring chances for, Huberdeau still saw 24 come against him as well. Really a terrible night from the entire roster with marginal bright spots.

Taken By Chance – Once again the only player to top the positive list was Nazem Kadri (40.10 SCF% || 26.15 HDCF%), if you feel like calling five high danger chances against positive. Rather Kadri was the only one to experience more than one high danger chance at 5v5 – he secured involvement in two. That was better than both Morgan Frost (22.14 per cent || 0 per cent) and Mikael Backlund (8.80 per cent || 0 per cent) who both achieved no high danger looks and surrendered four. Backlund has been a shell of himself recently. The offence has dried up, quite permanently as well. Since Jan. 1 Backlund has played 17 games and in that time, he’s mustered only three goals and two assists.  That is an 82 game point pace of just 24 points. It’s time to take a serious look at what is going on with Mikael Backlund.

xGF% – I do feel one man deserves praise. Adam Klapka (62.67 per cent) may not have went up against the top competition, but he more than looked like a player that belongs. He was great on the forecheck, very physical (great hit on MacKinnon when his feet were standing still), and had an active stick. Klapka playing well isn’t enough to move the needle against an impact team like the Avalanche, but his quality game doesn’t deserve to be lumped in with the rest of the teams result. The defence was exposed again, for the second straight game, as something that needs seriously addressed. The Joel Hanley (29.76 per cent), Daniil Miromanov (21.02 per cent), and Jake Bean (34.44 per cent) trio, along with Tyson Barrie from the press box, have had a pretty bad light shone on them. Failure to move the puck, get it out of the zone when stuck, or having the physicality and proper positioning to defend the front of the net have this team reeling when they need to be surging. Ilya Solovyov alone will not be enough to solve this – if they want to compete for the playoffs, they need to add somebody as well as get Kevin Bahl back. However, this goes beyond Bahl as well – they need someone who can move the puck, be involved on offence, and play complimentary hockey to MacKenzie Weegar as well.

In The Crease – The goaltender can do everything but put the puck in the net for you during 5v5 gameplay and in this one Wolf needed that extra smidge of offence. Deserved it really – the single best bright spot was how hard the Avalanche had to work to get four goals past him. Calgary’s defence let the Colorado players walk in and make difficult shot after difficult shot. The speed on display from Wolf was a massive reason why they had a chance to even be in the game in the final minute. 2.88 expected goals against at 5v5 with three getting behind him. Just another game to add to Wolf’s excellent portfolio.