The Calgary Flames turned the page on the beatdown before the break, claiming a 3-2 bounce back victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

It’s a Team Game – Four days ago was a beat down of epic proportions, one which clearly had the Flames ready to rock from puck drop. They came out swinging hard and fast eventually getting the first goal. Of course, they took a penalty right after and let the Oilers right back into it (because the Oilers power play is what the kids call “cracked”). It did not deter the team who played with a lot of pride in front of their home crowd. Ryan Lomberg secured a mid-game pizza and turned it into a lead, which Blake Coleman then was able to add on to and give the Flames some runway. Connor McDavid pushed hard in the third, really pushing Calgary back onto their heels just like last game, but the hot start was enough to let Dustin Wolf get this to the finish line. 8-1-1 in their last 10 home games has everyone acting like Dorothy saying, “There’s no place like home.”

Corsi King – The Flames fourth line was on some Superman stuff – playing their best game of the season no questions asked. Adam Klapka (61.02 CF%) was playing the game of the year for himself – involved on all three Flames goals – being the primary difference maker in this game. Ryan Lomberg (79.16 per cent) also went full Lomborghini scoring his third goal in the last five games. A good sign to see that someone other than the top six was able to produce the offence needed to help Dustin Wolf do his thing. The coach knew who was faltering in this one too, seeing the Connor Zary (28.24 per cent) struggling to get shot attempts and thus they lost some of their normal ice time to the rest of the lineup. It all worked towards a win so no major complaints. Not everyone’s going every night – adjustments in real time will always be necessary. It’s good to see the guy in charge recognize and adjust.

Taken By Chance – Rasmus Andersson (47.62 SCF% // 38.27 HDCF%) and Kevin Bahl (43.87 per cent // 28.79 per cent) once again gave it a good try, but the Oilers know how to get scoring chances. Their problems are not up front, at all, as evidenced by the fact this pairing surrendered ten high danger chances at 5v5. It wasn’t just them, Mikael Backlund (40.77 per cent // 35.72 per cent) and company gave up 7 themselves. All that is mitigated when they go in together to get the eventual game winning goal off a blueline turnover. Is the game plan perfect? No. Does it have to be to get the dub sometimes? Also no. They did their best against the NHL’s best and survived – win in my books.

xGF% – It’s nice to see Yegor Sharangovich (82.27 per cent) drive the middle lane and rip a puck past a goaltender. He’s not got a lot of those style of goals this year – it’s been a lot of bounces and deflections. More of that is required for Calgary to climb back to relevancy before time runs out – the problem for them is time will probably run out before the Olympics. It makes no sense to keep Rasmus Andersson (40.53 per cent) on their roster to risk an injury at that possibly risky venue. Time will tell, but that seems highly likely to me.

In The Crease – Dustin Wolf was his all-star level self in this one. Athletic, acrobatic, anticipatory, and amazing. 2.88 expected goals against at 5v5 and it took some McDavid magic to beat him. I do wonder how much the altering defence could adjust his numbers, but that’s a future problem. It’s just a refreshing sign to see him play like the number one goaler he is.