The Vegas Golden Knights brought the pressure early and were able to take advantage of the Calgary Flames on the second half of a back-to-back.

It’s a Team Game – After one of the longest breaks of any team coming out of the holidays playing two road games on consecutive nights was a tall ask. The second one being Vegas certainly didn’t make it any easier. Calgary brought their lunch pails and tried to grind for some offence but there just wasn’t enough fruit to make juice. Dan Vladar did his best to try and give them a chance to stay in it for a win. He was superb and displayed some great anticipation and athleticism when down. The Golden Knights got plenty of quality chances – especially early on – and Vladar was there for all of them. It took all the way until the latter half of the second period before he broke – the best Flame on the ice in this one.

Corsi King – Matt Coronato (58.47 CF%) had some really strong moments in this game on the forecheck. He was persistent with pressure and was able to cause a lot of mistakes in the first period. The defence pair the fared the best on chances was MacKenzie Weegar (49.83 per cent) and Daniil Miromanov (51.06 per cent). As the only person on the back end who didn’t play last night – as well as playing his old team – it made sense for Miromanov to have a bit of extra jump. Nobody got too out-shot, Yegor Sharangovich (31.89 per cent) and his line had a rough outing after a near flawless game against the Sharks, but it wasn’t atrocious considering the amount time off before two straight games.

Taken By Chance – The Mikael Backlund (54.27 SCF% || 76.84 HDCF%) line had a good night in terms of high danger chances out pacing the opposition six to two in their twelve minutes at 5v5. On the other side of the ice the Kadri (34.71 per cent || 18.12 per cent) line gave up five high danger looks while generating just one themselves. They’ve earned more than enough leeway with how great they’ve played over the last month, one off game isn’t a big deal. They are prone to give up chances and breaks against them, but it’s in the pursuit of some offence the Flames desperately need. With the strong goaltending and quality defence it worth it – to myself anyway – for them to be allowed to keep doing what they’re doing.

xGF% – Rasmus Andersson (65.33 per cent) and Kevin Bahl (63.87 per cent) ended up being involved in some of the biggest chances of the day. They gave up quite a bit in their own end so finishing this high is a result of being deployed during some of the best chances the Flames were able to create all night long. Only five skaters finished above 50 per cent, that defence pair and the Coleman (74.54 per cent) line were those that achieved this. I’ve used all three players from that line to describe it now – intentionally – because it’s nice to see them get back to having consistent success in terms of transitioning play and pushing things to the Flames end. The more Coronato (81.12 per cent) learns the more he’ll be able to find space for scoring opportunities.

In The Crease – The Vladar show was on full display in Vegas. He was more than up to the task of going toe-to-toe with the mighty Golden Knights. He had to get to work early as Vegas pressed hard against the Flames. He made multiple stops on second opportunities and was in peak mental form. 2.05 expected goals against at 5v5 and only surrendered the one goal at that strength. It’s been such a treat to watch Vladar this season, he really has done a great job at pushing Wolf for a few more starts to make things even. It’s been a formidable tandem.