The Calgary Flames found some third period magic once again, but It was not enough to propel them past the Detroit Red Wings in a 2-1 overtime loss.
CF% – 45.58% || SCF% – 35.45% || HDCF% – 36.13% || xGF% – 30.08%
It’s a Team Game – The only reason the Flames even got an extra point was because of the fantastic play of Dan Vladar. It was an exceptional performance between the pipes. As for the rest of the team, they struggled at 5v5 to generate much offence yet again. The streak of games with 3 goals or less has now hit 20 games. If not for their powerplay starting to run hot – scoring in 5 straight matches – Calgary would be nowhere close to the playoffs. Defensively they remain well above average, rarely ceding more than single digit high danger looks. They have the goaltending, and they have the defence, so if they can get the offence going at 5v5 they can really start to make some noise.
Corsi King – When I talk about the team not finding offence that does not include Connor Zary (81.17%) who has been the Flames best offensive forward this season. His ability and willingness to manoeuvre through open ice to get quality looks was on full display in this match. He rarely got pushed back into his own zone and got the equalizer on a beautiful goal from distance on the man advantage. Only one defenceman got on the positive side of attempts in Brayden Pachal (57.34 per cent). Detroit has some speed, and they were exposing the Flames by using it to burn down the wings. It got them an advantage in a lot of categories – just not saves.
Under Pressure –
Taken By Chance – I am happy Andrei Kuzmenko (38.10 SCF% || 50.65 HDCF%) started to get some chances on his line with Kadri (32.41 per cent || 50.65 per cent). I am not happy to see him make bad, avoidable giveaways down by one goal with under 5 minutes to go. In the offensive zone no less, with next to no pressure on him. It can’t happen. The best ratio was Connor Zary (83.21 per cent || 100 per cent) who never saw a high danger chance against.
xG Breakdown –
xGF% – Rare off night for the Backlund (16.48 per cent) line as they got pinned in their own zone frequently. I did like Coronato’s (17.16 per cent) hustle on the boards. If he made a bad play he would follow it up and work his butt off to correct it. Looking at all these low ratios doesn’t translate into a bad game for Calgary. Their lack of offence makes the numbers disguise the fact they do play strong defensive hockey. They make it easier on their goaltenders on a nightly basis – despite that the goaltending has still shone above and beyond.
Game Flow –
Game Score –
Not available.
Shot Heatmap –
In The Crease – Dan Vladar made a statement tonight that we should not all completely dial our focus on Dustin Wolf, he’s got some game too. He was agile and smooth in his motions while remaining cool, calm, and collected through all of the pressure situations. It feels like a criminal offence to have his night end on a penalty as questionable as the too many men call, but we move on. 1.98 expected goals against at 5v5 with his only goals surrendered on penalty kills. Superb, I look forward to seeing him in action again this weekend.
The Goals –
Flashalytic’s 3 Stars –
1) Dan Vladar
2) Connor Zary
3) Jonathan Huberdeau
 (Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)

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