The Calgary Flames relied heavily on their young netminder Dustin Wolf, but he had all the answers in his first career shutout victory, 2-0 over the Nashville Predators.

It’s a Team Game – No one team really took it to the other for an entire period. The Predators played in Edmonton the night prior, so it was impressive they had so much energy for Calgary. It was just their bad luck Dustin Wolf decided tonight was his to shine. He normally does well every start, but in this one he finally got perfection. Nashville did have a lull in the second period – yet Calgary has had their own fair share of scoring struggles. Those have actually crept in over the last 2-3 weeks as the offence seems to be a fight to create every night. Eventually Miromanov took a beautiful feed from Weegar in tight and roofed it over Saros. The Flames then went into a bit of a shell to try and fight for their young netminder, but the result was exactly what they hoped for.

Corsi King – Blake Coleman (79.71 CF%) led the way in typical Texas Tiger fashion. I think having Matt Coronato’s (66.34 per cent) constantly moving feet on the other side is more than enough to keep the energy up. He was rewarded for a strong game with an empty net goal. What did not work was Huberdeau (25.24 per cent) playing with Zary (37.53 percent) up the middle. It was only one game, and I believe Zary should be given time to acclimate to center at the NHL level, but the pairing with Huberdeau did not look very well.

Taken By Chance – Most nights this season Kevin Bahl (42.21 SCF% || 0 HDCF%) has been fantastic. Against the Predators he allowed a team high 8 high danger chances against while being out there for no high danger chances for. When you have more good days at work than bad days you get leeway, this is one where Bahl has a bunch of room for off nights – especially if the result is a shutout win. The Backlund (72.02 per cent || 40.94 per cent) line had the most high danger chances amongst the forwards with 3. The offence really does need to start finding some sort of groove if the Flames hope to continue to capitalize on their fantastic goaltending.

xGF% – It really stands out when just guys finish in the positive in all the categories I cover, but Weegar (56.75 per cent) being the only one from the entire game was a cool sight to see. The pump fake to freeze Saros just enough to give Miromanov (54.02 per cent) time to find some space for an in-tight shot. Having Weegar to be there on nights other pairings struggle is big. Calgary never seems to have all three defence pairs struggling – they always have at least two guys really turning the tide into their own favour.

In The Crease – Dustin Wolf finally got a shutout. I only say finally because I was hoping it would come earlier. I can be greedy. Wolf himself really look like he’s settling into a groove. I know they have this plan to rotate goaltenders but at what point do you give Wolf a steady stream of games to see if he can handle the extended workload? I’m not too worried about Wolf as he continues to pass every challenge that’s ever been thrown in his path. 1.71 expected goals against with both the 5v5 shutout and one in the Boxscore.

Today’s Specials – I try to refrain from the special teams talk but after the embarrassment of a 5-on-3 I have to speak up. Why was the puck moving slower than a Roomba gets around my parents house? You have all this talent and it feels like they are so stuck in this terrible structure with no freedom. It’s been years of putrid power plays – I’m at the point where it’s time to stop all this structured nonsense that never works and let these guys have some freedom. Frustration beyond compare – think different, think critical.