It’s a Team Game – This was not a high event game – it was a gritty defensive battle amongst two teams that have had trouble generating offence at times this season. High danger chances ended up being 6-6 while the expected goals were 1.5 to 1. Just not a lot going on in any given period. My favourite period had to be the first. Calgary had a strong start and finish to the opening frame, generating the most high danger chances in the opening 20 minutes of any of the three periods. A stark contrast from the third period where they weren’t able to generate any. The Bruins only got one in the third themselves in what was one of the lowest event games of the season.

Corsi King – Blake Coleman (69.63 CF%) almost has drug this squad back to a .500 record. One win away from something that seemed impossible after the start the Flames had to the season. His work ethic is something you wish you could clone and insert into every player on the roster, every single night. He’s a multi-time champion for a reason. I do not see the Flames parting ways with him if they are close to the playoffs – which they are – unless it is an absolute mind-blowing package Conroy can’t say no to. Even then… the answer still might be no. Matt Coronato (67.50 per cent) got put with him and Mikael Backlund (60.96 per cent) in a much-needed lineup shuffle. The results were inherently positive – but 27 has hit quite the cold spell. They need to find a way to get through it and get him back on the scoresheet regularly.

Under Pressure –

Taken By Chance – I was happy with the defence top to bottom tonight. Anytime you only surrender 6 high danger chances at 5v5 it’s got to be a quality outing. Kuznetsov (59.91 SCF% // 63.70 HDCF%) and Weegar (53.69 per cent // 63.70 per cent) led the way being involved in two-thirds of the high danger chances. Andersson (51.26 per cent // 63.05 per cent) and Bahl (42.55 per cent // 36.04 per cent) were on for the remaining two. Finally, Brzustewicz (46.05 per cent // 0 per cent) and Hanley (22.15 per cent // 0 per cent) were not able to get any high danger chances in their minutes, but they were the pair out there when Coleman (72.74 per cent // 100 per cent) scored. Positives all around – great stuff from a back-end featuring two rookies and a long-time journeyman seventh defenceman.

xG Breakdown –

xGF% – As of writing this the overtime goal has been awarded to Connor Zary (76.37 per cent), but as the shot pressure shot shows us the league has been bouncing between whether he touched it, or it just bounced in after Yegor Sharangovich (49.03 per cent) shot it. Either way having those two guys involved in the game winning goal is great news for this squad. They had incredibly cold starts, close to frostbite levels of cold, but they kept working at things and are starting to persevere. Consistency outside of a few guys has been the most common issue plaguing this team – getting some regular scoring could send this team farther than many have predicted, myself included.

Game Flow –

Game Score –

Shot Heatmap –

In The Crease – Dustin Wolf had to be sharp in overtime. The Bruins got some great looks prior to the goal being scored. Other than that, he had a relatively light night. It’s mind blowing to me the amount of wins he earns where his team scores less than 3 goals. I know the internet has given Kadri and Coleman some “team MVP” honours at different times this year, but it has and will continue to be Dustin Wolf for the foreseeable future. They will only ever go as far as he takes them. 1.02 expected goals against with one getting behind him.

The Goals –