Morgan Frost had his best game of the season and surged the Calgary Flames past the youthful San Jose Sharks with a 3-2 victory at home.

It’s a Team Game – The process had been looking better over the last week and it all came to a head on Saturday afternoon where the Flames controlled much of the game against the Sharks. It was a slow start, surrendering a 4-2 high danger chance deficit after 20 mins (5v5), but that was more the Sharks being really good at offence. Their below the goal line passing into the slot is unbelievable and it does not surprise me they are deep in the thick of the playoff hunt after watching their top guys make some royal road passing. Calgary was able to match them shoot for shot in the second though as they picked up the pace up and down the lineup. Each team scored a power play goal, and a 5v5 goal, but the Flames main difference was Joel Farabee tucking a rebound shorthanded (REBOUND! SHORTHANDED! That’s awesome) in the third frame. They got solid goaltending from Wolf who only got beat by guys charging the blue paint and the overall play of the Flames players was above average compared to what they were doing a week earlier. Fun game, fun result, and the kids that got to see the Saturday afternoon game got to see a well-earned victory.

Corsi King – Brayden Pachal (72.77 CF%) with partner Joel Hanley (85.97 per cent) had a real good outing. Hanley only saw 3 shot attempts the entire match (5v5), Pachal was at 6, while surrendering no goals against. Pachal is an everyday third pair defenceman and I do feel bad he’s the guy that has to sit for all the right shot youth the Flames have coming up (Brzustewicz, Parekh), but someone’s got to because those guys are the future of the franchise. With playoff odds at an abysmal ~2% by four different models the focus should shift to tomorrow. Jonathan Huberdeau (68.54%) – who will most likely still be here when tomorrow comes – had an alright performance. He needs to start hitting the net on those distance shot attempts. Even at moderate distance he’s sending pucks into the glass behind the net rather than getting anything substantial. Good play today – would like to see the accuracy increase if he can do that.

Taken By Chance – Matvei Gridin’s (50.32 SCF% // 53.14 HDCF%) goal was absolutely my favourite of the night. It was scored at 5v5, he initiated the entire play on the far boards, anticipated the player at the point would drive low, so he went through traffic then opened up his stance to be able to receive the pass that he wired home. Pure top level goal scorer instincts. He’s 19 years old and he should be in Calgary quite a long time. He had a little flare with Frost (61.58 per cent // 80.91 per cent) and it paid off in a big way. Interested to see if that pairing can make something happen the next couple games before the break.

xGF% – Morgan Frost (71.08 per cent) you’ve earned roughly three weeks off any sort of criticism with that performance (cough, Olympic break helps, cough). Three weeks ago, he was in a slump, and I was declaring him a third line centre at best. One game doesn’t change that, but a positive week – like he has had – does make me eat a little crow. Long way to go before I really lighten up on that stance, but no matter what when he’s out there playing like he did in this one you love to have him in your lineup. Last shout-out is for Nazem Kadri (66.60 per cent). I promise you that Naz will have an explosion of offence soon. He’s been around it for 3 games and I feel the slump will end in a big way one night.

In The Crease – That’s the Dustin Wolf I love – if you want to see his impact look no further than the last 5 minutes of this game. He made some incredible saves to keep that 1-goal lead intact. He only got beat by guys crashing the crease. All those royal road passes from the Sharks I mentioned earlier? Thwarted every time, except for Gaudette in the second. One blemish on a night for a goaltender is excellent work, no surprise because Dustin Wolf is an excellent goalie. With Wolf and Cooley in tow the Flames have a tandem that can do damage, they just need to produce more goals, regularly. (easier said than done)