The Calgary Flames kept their win streak alive with an electric game, coming out on top 4-3 in overtime against the Seattle Kraken.

It’s a Team Game – The Flames started the game with pop, showcasing the positive attitude that’s surrounding the team after their New York trip. They maintained pressure – taking on a more aggressive approach in trying to get to the net then they had been employing prior to the aforementioned road trip – from start to finish. Naturally the Flames aggression from their forwards on offence opened up some holes defensively, but with a stud netminder in Dustin Wolf this is a risk the Flames can (and should) add to their game. In the second the Kraken took over though, reminding everyone they are not some team that will just step aside and let the other team win. They were able to capitalize twice and sent the Flames into the second intermission down by a single goal. Once the third period got underway the Flames re-found their groove. Dominating the third frame and using a much deserved four-minute powerplay to get themselves back in a position to score. Then, when things went to overtime, Nazem Kadri would be the answer once again. After an amazing Dustin Wolf save Matt Coronato was able to spring Kadri on an overtime breakaway for the dynamic win and third straight comeback victory.

Corsi King – Adam Klapka’s (74.45 CF%) goal deserves way more attention than its probably going to get. He breaks in with speed, casually brushes off a very large, physical defenceman in Jamie Oleksiak, drives down low before intentionally driving the crease with possession of the puck and eventually the puck leaks through for him to tap in. If Connor Zary (61.62 per cent) had done that it would not be able to stop being shared. Amazing gal from the big guy with fantastic puck handling skills. In terms of the rest of the roster – nobody ended up getting stuck in their own zone for multiple periods in this game. A rare occasion where the Flames found themselves controlling the offensive pace – not something that’s happened in many games this season.

Taken By Chance – Jonathan Huberdeau (47.36 SCF% || 83.54 HDCF%) is back t playing like he was in Florida. The Flames neutral zone attack has shifted, and they are creating way more off the rush – using the middle of the ice at an increased rate, which directly is correlating to the increased ability to score. This plays in to Jonathan Huberdeau’s strengths. His ability to make quick reads on the rush and put the puck in areas many others couldn’t backs up the defence giving the pure shooters more time to work their magic. Matt Coronato (37.39 per cent || 56.78 per cent) has had his best offensive stretch in months next to Huberdeau and I believe their two dynamics pair perfectly with each other. Coronato has developed the confidence to be the guy that shoots the puck now too – something that was missing earlier in the year – and the result is nothing but a benefit to the Flames. I’d much rather see Coronato rip it from distance than pretty much every other player.

xGF% – Rasmus Andersson (57.31 per cent) became the talk of the FlamesNation work Slack on Tuesday because of the contract signed by Jacob Chychrun of the Washington Capitals. In this game he displayed all of his massive positives – offensive skills, booming shot, willingness to block anything – while also losing positioning on Eberle to allow the tying goal. There was an instance where he could not catch up with a forward who broke away from him for a good scoring chance as well. I think Andersson still does enough good that he should be considered as a piece for this team, I just do not believe the cap number that properly represents his contributions needs to be anywhere close to Chychrun’s number. With an inflating cap the number should be higher, but nobody on the blueline has shown to be more valuable than MacKenzie Weegar (53.35 per cent). Using his percentage as the blueprint for where to go with Andersson’s contract should be the play in my opinion.

In The Crease – Dustin Wolf let in a goal I didn’t like, and it did not worry me for a second. I think the third goal he needs a better box out from his defence in front, but the second goal by Kartye I thought he lost his net a bit. Then again, the defence were in the area and failed to get a stick in the way or interfere with the shooter, but I felt Wolf has stopped those 99% of the time all year. Nobody’s perfect and it didn’t lose them anything, so it’ll be forgotten by the time I start to cook dinner the next day. 1.31 expected goals against at 5v5 with one goal getting past him.