It’s a Team Game – At least in their last two losses the Flames have shown a decent number of fundamentals in their game that really improve their defence. Unfortunately, for them that does very little to help generate their own offence. From how they break-in through the neutral zone to the execution after establishing possession – all around the offence is flawed and unable to keep up pace. The Flames had a lopsided shot advantage, but the attempts at 5v5 were all from distance. They only got near the crease 3-4 times at 5v5 all game. Most of their quality attempts came on the power play – I mean, they should – but nobody had the ability to finish off any chances up a man either. Overall, we saw good process, it’s just that the Flames “process” is flawed all over the place.

Corsi King – I wonder about the need for Joel Hanley (71.76 CF%). He’s been great and deserves to play third pairing minutes, but with where Calgary is, and with who they have ready on the blueline for youthful options, is having Hanley play nightly the best option. Hunter Brzustewicz (58.26 per cent) deserves to stay in the NHL and Zayne Parekh HAS to play in the NHL now. With both of them needing, yes – needing, to have NHL minutes they need to come at the cost of someone. I think if a contending team wants to give you a mid to late round pick for Hanley, the former waiver claim, you take it and run.

Under Pressure –

Taken By Chance – Kevin Bahl (65.28 SCF% // 70.76 HDCF%) is a whole new player. With the turnovers that are abundant in MacKenzie Weegar’s (24.13 per cent // 100 per cent) game this season it really seems like Bahl has become the Flames de facto number one defenceman. Ever since Andersson left, he’s found a new gear and has kept that level of play up in every game so far. It was a genuine concern of mine how that blueline would be able to move the puck, but Bahl put those to rest immediately. The team as a whole actually did really good here. The only egregious mistake really was Morgan Frost (44.69 per cent // 32.09 per cent) completely losing where Yurov was on the first goal against, but he scored to make up for his mistake later.

xG Breakdown –

xGF% – We can sit here and talk about how Jonathan Huberdeau (58.84 per cent) has had more pop the last couple of games, but I want to point out that the “pop” these days means he looks like a competent middle-six winger who normally should get third line minutes. That’s only when he’s looking good these days too. Long gone are the moments and flashes of high-end skill that made me wonder if he could recover his former glory and now all I see is a very rough 5 years remaining in this relationship. The Flames would be better off locking up a retention spot with $3-4 million just to have him play elsewhere because a buyout is impossible here. The other veterans, you can move them, but with Huberdeau something else needs to happen. Him playing nightly is not a benefit to this roster anymore – I’d legitimately rather see Stromgren learn the ropes rather than watch this for 15 minutes every night.

Game Flow –

Game Score –

Shot Heatmap –

In The Crease – Devin Cooley is the MAN. Wow was he ever good in this one. May you never go back to the minors again with how you’re playing this year. The 5-on-4 power play the Wild got had Cooley moving through his motions like a madman, he was doing everything he possibly could to prevent the eventual goal that went in. Remember, we don’t typically blame goaltenders for power play goals here at BTB because they didn’t put themselves down a man. To truly help your goaltender you need all 5 mean covering their zones (or playing with little gaps in man-to-man) to make their lives easier knowing where the shooting lanes are going to be. In conclusion, Cooley rocks and you should play him more often – he deserves it.

The Goals –