The Calgary Flames ended up on the wrong side of a comeback as they fell 5-3 to the Utah Hockey Club Thursday night.

It’s a Team Game – It was a decent game played by both clubs. It was a little light on high danger looks compared to what usually happens, but it was a lower amount on both sides. Calgary themselves failed to get past the Utah defence and get a bunch of anything. Calgary was their usual hard-working selves, trying everything they could to win puck battles and compete. The problem is the offence seems like it comes a little too infrequently. Anytime the Flames surrender four goals or more it feels like it’s gotten too far away from them. There has been some offensive spark from Huberdeau and Kadri, but if they can’t find the scoresheet it usually comes at the cost of time spent in their own zone. A balancing act that went the wrong way this time.

Corsi King – Jakob Pelletier (60.80 CF%) and his line continue to find some chemistry. His motor never stops, and he finds himself in favourable situations because of it. I think Pelletier belongs at the NHL level – what role remains to be seen. Even in a fourth line based, energy job Pelletier can bring it. He’s smart enough to kill penalties and fast enough to make people pay if they turn the puck over. Is he the guy that’s going to help Zary (52.70 per cent) break out offensively? As of right now that answer is no, we’ll monitor how things go as everyone gets more settled in. Someone will come along that can work with Zary off the rush and can adjust as he makes his dangles – when that happens the offence will start to come more consistently.

Taken By Chance – This was where Calgary was slacking all night. The team registered a season low two high danger chances as a team at 5v5. They were fortunate to score on one of their medium danger chances, but that’s not something you can rely on with this squad every game. The only line that gave up a significant amount of looks the other way was the Kadri (7.83 SCF% || 0 HDCF%) one, they gave up four high danger looks and generated none. After a month of being the primary offensive option they’ve earned a couple off games. Here’s hoping they re-find what they had soon.

xGF% – Pelletier (82.71 per cent) being significantly above everyone else was a result of him being out there for next to no chances against. Both linemates saw a few more chances in their minimal time apart, but it was enough to have Pelletier stand out. The defence pair that finished the best was Bean (51.91 per cent) and Pachal (49.21 per cent). Positive because Pachal’s goal was a nice use of open space from a guy who doesn’t jump in to the play that much, negative because neither of the minute munchers were able to beat him out. There was a lot of special teams and neutral zone play in this one.

In The Crease – Not a banner night for Vladar who gives up four on the night. Three of those goals coming at 5v5 makes it worse. His numbers are starting to slip as he always lets in that one extra goal of late. He’s got next to no room for error with Wolf being a top 10 goaltender at 5v5 this season. We can argue about the difficulty of stops all day long, but the results are still all counted the same at NHL headquarters. Only 1.44 expected goals against with an 0.850 5v5 save percentage. Not good enough to win.