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Beyond the Boxscore: Flames end long road trip with 5-2 loss to Red Wings
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Photo credit: Tim Fuller-Imagn Images
Flash Stevens
Mar 17, 2026, 08:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 17, 2026, 01:17 EDT
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The Calgary Flames had some fight, but a rough start to the second period was their undoing in a 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
CF% – 61.32%|| SCF% – 56.87%|| HDCF% – 51.9%|| xGF% – 52.37%
It’s a Team Game – The Detroit Red Wings made me eat my own words. After the first period I was wondering where this playoff team was, the one that had traded for multiple additions at the trade deadline, because the Flames were in charge of everything. Even shorthanded where the power-kill was in full bloom causing turnovers and good opportunities for the Flames. In the second period that team arrived, scoring 3 goals in quick succession to take a multi-goal lead. After that Detroit added a beautiful power play goal from their Norris candidate in Moritz Seider and an empty-net goal. Calgary stayed strong at 5v5, had a few errors, and ultimately pushed Detroit right until the end of the game. It’s been good efforts for Calgary the entire road trip, even though the results continually favour the opponent, the heart is still there, and I appreciate the heck out of that.
Corsi King – Joel Hanley (72.87 CF%) led on the back end and Blake Coleman (69.33 per cent) for the forwards in terms of disparity. It was Zach Whitecloud (62.81 per cent) who saw the most positive attempts on the entire team in his minutes, which makes sense as he does play some of the most important ones. Still, it’s very easy to get buried in your own zone when both of the other pairings have rookie defencemen –  being able to finish as a significant net positive with that in the lineup is a really good individual result. 
Under Pressure –
Taken By Chance – I’m so happy Matt Coronato (75.76 SCF% // 59.66 HDCF%) finally got a bounce. The man has done everything, and then some, this entire road trip. He deserved that goal (and about 2 more). There’s been a surge from him and Morgan Frost (60.82 per cent // 45.18 per cent) in terms of their ability to generate more significant chances since their roles increased post-deadline. It’s been a good look for them both, however, going into next year we really need to see this level of play throughout the entire year. 10+ game scoring droughts are something the team can’t afford if they want to remain somewhat competitive. 
xG Breakdown –
xGF% – The young Matvei Gridin (62.16 per cent) continues to be the most fun player to watch on a nightly basis. I find myself actively hunting to see what 92 is going to do next, almost as much as I’m watching for 19. He’s displaying some high quality tools regularly raising the expectations for what could be possible from the young man. Finding space and opportunities at the NHL level already is not an issue for the winger, I’m getting more excited by the shift for what his ceiling could possibly be. 
Game Flow –
Game Score –
Shot Heatmap –
In The Crease – I honestly re-watched the Seider goal – top shelf through a handful of bodies on the power play – at least 5 times. I thought it was a gorgeous goal that Wolf had no chance of seeing. It wasn’t a night with a lot of support, as most of the goals came off some good passes to leave shooters with tap-ins or uncontested breakaways. They couldn’t generate much run support, but that’s nothing new at this point of the season. Last game of a longer road trip, pack it up – go home – and move on to the next one.
The Goals –
Flash’s 3 Stars –
1) Matvei Gridin
2) Matt Coronato
3) Zach Whitecloud
(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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