The Calgary Flames fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Friday afternoon.

It’s a Team Game – Some things are bigger than hockey. Sitting here and critically analyzing what was clearly an emotional outing for the Calgary Flames is not something that feels appropriate, so I will focus on the positives today.  Johnny Gaudreau was someone I really enjoyed watching – I still miss seeing him weave through traffic with ease. His smile radiated through the camera to audiences at home, capturing the hearts of many. For those men that knew him to go out there and play a game in these circumstances? The only thing I want to do is applaud them.

Corsi King – Top of the charts is Matt Coronato (72.46 CF%) who out attempted his opposition 20 to eight. More than half the team kept things fairly close here. Rasmus Andersson (51.61 per cent), Yegor Sharangovich (61.33 per cent), and Mackenzie Weegar (55.73 per cent) all were out on the ice for more than 20 attempts as well. The Blue Jackets were more opportunistic with their chances, but both teams had stretches of the game where they held momentum.

Taken By Chance – Some positives here, the Flames got double digits in terms of high danger chances. Daniil Miromanov (39.53 SCF% || 51.00 HDCF%) has been getting more confident and helping his partner MacKenzie Weegar (49.62 per cent || 55.03 per cent) in getting more high danger chances. This game alone they got involved in seven of the team’s 13 total. A trio of forwards were involved in six high danger looks – Blake Coleman (60.39 per cent || 67.21 per cent), Connor Zary (58.19 per cent || 67.21 per cent), and Martin Pospisil (65.56 per cent || 85.70 per cent).

xGF% – Nazem Kadri (59.58 per cent) had one of his best offensive days of the last few weeks. Looking for steps in the right direction there and simply getting more dangerous looks 5v5 is a big step for his line. Joel Hanley (64.33 per cent) has played the least of the rotating sixth defenceman, but he continues to have really strong defensive showings. I loved the emotion from Ryan Lomberg (25.95 per cent) coming to defend teammate Martin Pospisil (81.82 per cent) with a fight. I prefer Pospisil to not fight due to his concussion history, but sometimes those situations are unavoidable.

In The Crease – Not the best day at the office for Dustin Wolf, but not every game will be a win. He faced a higher than usual number of expected goals against at 5v5 as the Blue Jackets tried to go toe-to-toe with Calgary for chances. All of the goals against came from within the top of the circles so Wolf never got beat from long distance, just moderate distance. Not too worried about this one – everyone gave what they could.

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