The Calgary Flames brought a strong effort on the second half of a back-to-back but could not get enough offence to steal a victory from the St. Louis Blues.

It’s a Team Game – Calgary were their usual stingy defensive selves at 5v5. Throughout the whole match – after flying in from Chicago the night before – allowed just seven high danger chances in fifty minutes. Take it from someone whose been writing these for four years, that’s a quality performance. Unfortunately for Calgary their youth couldn’t kick-start any offence in this match. Jordan Binnington was quite good on the opposite side of things as well – certainly making things an uphill task. Kevin Bahl was able to tie things up early in the third, but it wasn’t enough.

Corsi King – Rory Kerins (67.92 per cent) led the way, although he did see a good 2-3 minutes less than his other linemates. Kerins along with Sharangovich (56.29 per cent) and Jakob Pelletier (50.52 per cent) are getting a lot of sheltered deployment. The get offensive zone draws and sent over the boards in positive spots as often as the game situation allows. Huska isn’t throwing anyone to the wolves just yet – he continues to handle his squad with poise and compete. Him giving Kerins an easy break-in period will help not only himself but the whole team – especially if it comes with some consistent offence. The one thing the Flames need more than anything.

Taken By Chance – This was one area where the whole team really struggled. Even on the goal they scored – nobody is classifying a shot from as far out as Bahl (54.58 SCF% || 68.21 HDCF%) took as high danger. The team played solid, tight checking, move as a group hockey. They kept things in formation and made it hard for the Blues to maneuver around them when defending. Throw in the willingness to block anything and everything by Calgary’s blueline and you’ve got tremendous shot suppression foundations. It just is nowhere near enough to score goals consistently. The raw talent of the Flames youth hasn’t arisen quite to the level of consistency as it requires regularly within this campaign, but with how Coronato (46.79 per cent || 25.50 per cent) looks on a nightly basis it’s on its way. Connor Zary was looking like that as well prior to his injury.

xGF% – MacKenzie Weegar (65.62 per cent) continues a strong run of games where he pushes play into the attacking zone. Joel Hanley (63.13 per cent) and his safe, defensive first game help allow Weegar to take a few more offensive risks. He’s nowhere near the level of Andersson (55.64 per cent) in terms of frequency of jumping in the rush, but when he does, he’s a viable threat. Weegar does a great job with the puck along the blue line – he does quite well with keeping plays alive and getting those quick transitional offensive chances.

In The Crease – It was a shame, really, for Dan Vladar. He played so well only to have what little offence the Flames normally create evaporate from existence. He was poised, collected, and only got beat by a deflection late. He had his team in the game right up until the end. Typically only allowing two goals against all night gets you a win – so kind of unfortunate for him there. 1.45 expected goals against with two getting behind him.