The Calgary Flames survived a consistent attack from the Florida Panthers enough to sneak away with a 5-3 victory.

It’s a Team Game – This game was full of back-and-forth momentum moments where both teams got their chances. The first period, even though it was tied when it ended, saw the Panthers dominate scoring chances. Devin Cooley had to stand on his toes and be ready for anything, especially after two early goals against. Calgary got rewarded with some low danger goals going in for them as Daniil Tarasov struggled to keep things afloat. Penalty trouble for the Cats got Calgary into a full 2-minute 5-on-3 where Morgan Frost capitalized to get Calgary the lead. For the rest of the second Calgary kept the momentum in their favour with the late goal by Nazem Kadri giving them much needed insurance. It wasn’t a pretty win, but they don’t all have to be.

Corsi King – Only the third defence pair of Joel Hanley (64.08 CF%) and Brayden Pachal (56.25 per cent) managed to stay in the positives for shot attempts. Up front that honour belonged to Nazem Kadri (60.22 per cent) and his line. Everyone else surrendered more than they earned, which can happen against good teams like the Panthers. Getting those special teams and low percentage goals can be a killer on any given night and it was a premier factor in this game. Rasmus Andersson (51.47 per cent) was right on the border for attempts while partner Kevin Bahl (45.87 per cent) was on the south side. Worth noting that second goal against was a terrible line change by Bahl – ended up sticking poor Kuznetsov (33.97 per cent) with the minus.

Taken By Chance – Matt Coronato (43.12 SCF% // 31.54 HDCF%) and his line surrender 8 high danger chances. On the back end the Panthers abused the pairing that also scored the first period goals. MacKenzie Weegar (14.24 per cent // 8.90 per cent) spent the majority of the game in his own end. He had a high danger chance ratio of just 1 for and 11 against. His goal wouldn’t be classified as the high danger chance because of where he shot it from, but that doesn’t offset all those chances against and three goals against in his ice time. Not the best night from Weegar – despite the offence.

xGF% – The forward group does not look too terrible right now. I still think most nights will be a fight to get more than 3 goals, but the top 9 has the ability to produce offence on every line. Yegor Sharangovich (56.82 per cent) finding a consistent home with Kadri (53.98 per cent) was something the team really needed. Zary (47.72 per cent) is back collecting points next to the captain too. The strugglers get their stuff sorted and the Flames can stick around in any game now – it’s just that we’re used to cold spells and expect them to arrive with anyone not named Kadri.

In The Crease – Just another wild day at the office for Devin Cooley who stole the show in this one. The Panthers were able to get a lot of opportunities against him and he weathered the storm excellently in my opinion. 3.78 expected goals against at 5v5 and he just surrendered the three. Positive performance from the Flames netminder who is making a case for more appearances with every win he gets. So impressed that he took his one chance he may have had left in the NHL and capitalized on it.

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