The Calgary Flames offensive woes and inability to finish chances popped back up again while Connor Bedard went off for 4 points as the Flames fall 4-0 to the Chicago Blackhawks.

It’s a Team Game – It’s unfortunate for the Flames they could not use the momentum from Kadri’s 1,000th game as a springboard to more success – instead things came to a screeching halt. No, Chicago didn’t dominate 5v5 play forcing Wolf to be spectacular or near perfect, but rather the Flames showcased that their own inability to generate offence will sometimes be their downfall. They are now a league worst 1-for-25 on the power play at home as the unit(s) consistently showcase as one of the most inefficient ones in the game of hockey as a whole. I do see a lot more effort to cut to the middle and get scoring chances down the middle lane of the ice, but it’s still too much of a default to perimeter play and not enough danger being generated for an attack. If they want to stay on the wall until possession is fully established, they are going to be waiting a long time – they need to get better at their open ice passing, specifically in their short passing game. The consistent throwing back to the point gets predictable and, if coached well, gets easier to defend. Overall, it was another fine night structurally for the Flames, a superstar forward was the main reason they lost. Both because the other team had one and because Calgary just doesn’t have a single person that could do to someone else what Bedard just did to them (1g, 3A for the Chicago C).

Corsi King – Joel Hanley (73.76 per cent) led the way in terms of percentages while Morgan Frost (64.72 per cent) led in overall shot attempts for. He was just one ahead of Matt Coronato (63.69 per cent) who managed to make sure 11 of his 20 shoot attempts actually found their way to Spencer Knight. Coronato looked dangerous, sure, but most of these shots weren’t incredibly dangerous. Calgary isn’t getting lateral passes that get the goaltender moving done unless they come all the way out at the blue line. Off the rush in the last game was where they found the most success – creating turnovers and jumping on odd man rushes. Have to find a way to get back to that.

Taken By Chance – Let’s talk about Joel Farabee (54.88 SCF% // 100 HDCF%), Flames… defenceman? There was a point Calgary got down to three usable defence for a stretch of time due to a couple of fisticuffs and an injury to Zayne Parekh (64.48 per cent // NA). To fill in they had Joel Farabee out there on the backend until the other guys found their way out of the Penalty box. Farabee just continues to showcase why he’s locked himself into a top 9 winger spot on this roster, essentially taking a spot from Yegor Sharangovich (43.70 per cent // 100 per cent) who continues to disappoint no matter where he ends up slotting in the depth chart. The primary problem is all this strong, structural play is worthless without some offence to go with it. Especially when your squad sits 4-10-2 on the season.

xGF% – Yan Kuznetsov (68.23 per cent). Welcome to the show in a big way. Third NHL game, thrust into minutes and situations the coach historically has allowed young players to avoid, and he thrived. Strong defensively in his own end, especially in front of the net. That paired with a good first pass to get the puck out of the zone when given the opportunity. He ended up with 4 shots on goal, 2 hits, and a 4-0 advantage in high danger shots at 5v5. That’s the kind of performance you want to see out of your former second round defenceman early in his career. Even on a night when there wasn’t much success on the offensive side of the puck you can see Kuznetsov showed he can play up here. Chicago isn’t playing like the basement Blackhawks anymore – quality performance by the young defender.

In The Crease – Dustin Wolf can’t do it all every night. He doesn’t put the team down shorthanded, he can’t cover Bertuzzi in front of the net and be in a position to stop a shot, and nobody is stopping Bedard when he’s got the time and space to utilize his top-end skill. What is the point of saying Wolf needs to stop one more if the Flames give him zero run support. I’m not absconding his performance, that wasn’t his best, but the team isn’t exactly helping him every night. Not like last year anyways. Good thing the owner loves this core and wants to keep it and their three straight seasons of no playoffs together. That will help out the all-star goaltender for sure.

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