The Calgary Flames took advantage of a weaker Chicago Blackhawks team in a 6-4 victory Saturday afternoon.
CF% – 53.81%|| SCF% – 42.69%|| HDCF% – 35.52%|| xGF% – 46.29%
It’s a Team Game – The first half of the game was everything you wanted to see from the Flames. They were the first to the puck, constantly causing turnovers in the middle of the ice and pairing that with a quick strike offence going back the other way. Creativity was abundant all throughout the lineup and the goals started to come easier than they have been coming all season. As the third period started Calgary’s attack dried up, they found themselves in bad penalty trouble, and almost let the game slip away. From having a five to one lead to needing the empty net to score an insurance marker it was certainly closer than it needed to be. Flames’ players can’t completely shell up to protect a lead, they need to stay in motion and on top of their forecheck. The holiday break comes at a good time and the Flames can celebrate Christmas on a winning note.
Corsi King – Brayden Pachal (74.09 CF%) had to spend ten minutes in the box for defending Martin Pospisil (26.63 per cent) from Ryan Donato. He had just blown-up Chicago rookie Frank Nazar (he was staring at his feet) with a clean hit, but after an elbow to Bedard earlier the Blackhawks were looking for a reason to send a message. Why else fill your team with aging veterans if they aren’t going to at least protect their young players? End result was Pachal coming to Pospisil’s defence and getting a 10-minute misconduct as the third man in. Most of the Flames lined fared well in terms of a chance advantage, just the Kadri (23.74 per cent) line were getting stuck in their own zone a significant amount.
Under Pressure –
Taken By Chance – Jake Bean (44.93 SCF% || 49.41 HDCF%) was the high-danger chance leader by getting involved in four, but he also gave up four looks against as well. I love to see the offensive contributions from someone who comes in as a 6/7 defenceman, the defensive stuff is normal to what is expected from him – getting some more offensive spark would be great. He’s shown to work well with defensive machine Pachal (66.21 per cent || 100 per cent). I want you to think about that for one second – yes, all four if the high danger chances Bean saw go against him came without Pachal playing next to him. With Pachal not next to him, Bean did not fare well. Two more years at $1,187,500 million dollars for the Estevan, Saskatchewan native is tidy work – with evidence as to how important he can be easily visible within today’s numbers.
xG Breakdown –
xGF% – I’ve been quite the advocate for Kadri (12.59 per cent) and Huberdeau (11.25 per cent), but their 5v5 game was brutal. Huberdeau’s goal was shorthanded and Kadri’s was one a goalie saves ninety-nine percent of the time off a line change turnover. As a unit the duo, along with Martin Pospisil (13.43 per cent), collected zero high danger chances, gave up over four, and created 0.08 in terms of raw expected goals for at 5v5. The poor outing will be disguised by the two goals, but context matters. Another guy that struggled was Kevin Bahl (26.24 per cent), but I give the defence plenty of leeway for dealing with the constant change-over of partners. Pachal (77.20 per cent) being out for as long as he was created a bit of unfamiliarity between the pairs. Something I’m sure will be forgotten about as soon as the next game starts in San Jose on Dec. 28.
Game Flow –
Game Score –
Shot Heatmap –
In The Crease – 5v5 had Dustin Wolf still show up well. He was his usual dialed in self with great lateral control and puck tracking. His team left him out to dry on a few occasions. Bahl’s bad pinch led to Bedard’s two-on-one, Bahl gets beat out at the side of the net for Bertuzzi’s goal, and anytime there’s a two minute five-on-three power play that’s on the team more than the goaltender. I am certainly at the point where I will bend over backwards to defend Wolf, but I’m only at this point because of the consistent top notch play he brings to every performance. If the Flames play a strong game in front of him Dustin Wolf, he will always deliver a performance good enough for them to win, I truly believe that. 1.84 expected gals at 5v5 with two getting behind him
The Goals –
Flash’s 3 Stars –
1) Matt Coronato
2) Connor Zary
3) MacKenzie Weegar
(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)
