Things continued to go bad for the Calgary Flames as they got thoroughly defeated 6-1 at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights.

It’s a Team Game – There’s two things going on with Calgary right now. One – they can’t figure out how to score. They’ve come close, but timely goals are required to keep things going and close doesn’t move the needle. Calgary does have the skill to get the puck in deep and try and grind out opportunities. However, if the opposition plays with tight pressure – or are incredibly skilled at capitalizing on turnovers – the Flames tend to have trouble moving the puck forward. Which leads in to point two – Calgary’s defenceman have been atrocious. There’s no need to call out any one individual because almost the entire squad is guilty of a lazy cycle, a blown coverage, or a costly turnover. Hard to get the 5v5 offence going if the mistakes that are occurring keep momentum tilted in the oppositions favour. Dustin Wolf is great, but he’s not invincible.

Lots to work on, not much to compliment. They’ve scored six 5v5 goals in six games, only three of those beat a goaltender clean, outscored 25-10 on the season, and are coming off two straight games where all they could muster was a singular powerplay goal in each one. Disastrous start to the season for a squad whose goal is to qualify for the playoffs.

Corsi King – Joel Farabee (68.81 CF%) continues to at least always be on the positive side of the shot attempt battle. His chances have largely come from the high danger area of the ice, and he’s constantly in the attacking zone, yet there’s only one 5v5 point to show for it. You want to see this level of play from him continue, but the goals have got to start coming too. He’s had success no matter who he plays with – and Huska has had the line blender out trying to spark something – so here’s hoping the offence can find him. Calgary needs someone, anyone, to step up and Farabee’s been spending his time in the zone where he can make that happen. Right now he’s playing with Kadri (62.70 per cent) and Huberdeau (60.54%) so the opportunity is there.

Taken By Chance – Connor Zary (32.91 SCF% // 27.44 HDCF%) is getting his minutes but they aren’t turning into much. I have yet to see him get that drive and confidence he had prior to his injury last year. He was entering the zone in creative ways, creating scoring opportunities, and helping to make his linemates successful – now there’s a clear lack of that in his game. I wouldn’t say he’s one of the first guys on this squad I look to for offence, but he’s not getting any passes either. Mind you, he should at least be playing over Yegor Sharangovich (37.44 per cent // 49.21 per cent) who is not contributing on either side of the puck right now. He came close with a shot off the bar late, but that’s about the only good-looking shot attempt he’s had through six games. If he’s not going to take advantage of Morgan Frost’s (48.26 per cent // 0 per cent) increased play than someone else has got to be in that spot. The offence depends on it.

xGF% – Joel Hanley (62.05 per cent) is a major talking pint for myself. Like most people I do believe that Hanley has a very safe floor for who he is as an NHL player. I do not think he has the offensive capabilities or mindset to play top 4 minutes effectively at the NHL level. Those spots and minutes have got to go to someone that not only helps the defence but actively aids the offence as well. Hanley just does not do that. He’s the perfect third pair, penalty killing guy, but if he can’t aid in the creation of consistent chances there needs to be a fundamental shift in the defence pairings. It was good to have Huberdeau (47.53 per cent) back. He already helped the offence by coming back tonight and will continue to help going forward. He’s the Flames most talented winger at this moment – Coronato (32.62 per cent) has the best shot, but Huberdeau has the most well-rounded game. It wasn’t enough against the extremely talented Golden Knights with Jack Eichel playing like an early MVP candidate, but maybe they can get something going with him in the coming week.

In The Crease – I really do not blame Wolf for this in the slightest. The first two goals were ones not even Martin Brodeur would have stopped. Clear cut, hard snap shots from the low slot. Putting in Cooley for the third was a good call in my books. The team had collapsed, and you need Wolf going forward, better to move on. This team will only go as far as Dustin Wolf drags them, and if they don’t start playing better defence (making less mental mistakes) even his incredible skill won’t be able to save them.

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