The Calgary Flames and the Los Angeles Kings went back and forth at each other all night on Saturday with the Flames coming out on top, 2-1 in overtime.

It’s a Team Game – A goaltending duel that saw Darcy Kuemper a little busier than Dustin Wolf. The first period would see the Flames jump out to the advantage across the board. Shots, possession, and high danger chances were all in their favour after one, but LA eventually found their footing enough to push back. The second would go by with both teams trading about the same in quality before the LA Kings jumped out to an advantage in the third. Both teams got some almost goals too, with the Flames Beecher hitting the iron at one point. In summary this was just a darn good hockey game. Not a lot of offence, but two teams evenly matched going at each other with everything they had. Impressive divisional win for the Flames.

Corsi King – The Flames only goal scorer in regulation, it came shorthanded, was that of the Texas Tiger himself in Blake Coleman (75.81 CF%). Great anticipation on the jump gave him all day on a breakaway to pick his spot. Coleman just continues to be a model of consistency and has been nothing short of worth every penny he signed for when coming to the Flames. There’s been quite a few free agents that don’t pan out, especially with 6 years of term. That hasn’t been Coleman, not one bit. The leader in shot share on defence was Hunter Brzustewicz (60.20 per cent). He still got a massive dose of just offensive zone deployment, but it’s clearly working well for him and the team.

Taken By Chance – Kevin Bahl (53.93 SCF% // 67.83 HDCF%) was noticeable at times in the offensive zone. Not in terms of creating chances, but there were multiple instances where he kept the play alive with good puck protection and cycling instincts. Usually I praise his partner, but when defensive ability is the story of the day why not give him a shout-out instead. It was another night of give and get with Nazem Kadri (46.86 per cent // 46.57 per cent) who gave up as much in high danger as he was able to achieve. I’m fine with this, so long as those offensive opportunities stay present in his game. Calgary needs him to produce offence almost nightly. Wolf can’t stop everything, every night – they need goals and they need Kadri to get one a game.

xGF% – I thought that was John Beecher’s (86.67 per cent) best game in a Flames sweater. With a possible injury to Captain Mikael Backlund (82.39 per cent) the Flames really thin centre depth is going to be tested. I’ve got no faith in Beecher to produce high levels of offence, but at least he can functionally do the little things like face-offs and support the play in the defensive zone. They did not really have that depth prior to the waiver claim. I do wonder if they give Rory Kerins another look in the top 9 with an injury to someone, but that might be a dream for myself that’s not shared with the coach. Someone has to play up the middle though.

In The Crease – Just another casual day at the office for Dustin Wolf. Going toe-to-toe with what should be a Canadian Olympian at the other end of the ice in Darcy Kuemper. Wolf won’t get love in that department this go round, not with Hellebuyck, Swayman, and Knight all playing lights out hockey. He can build up a case for 2030 though simply by just being himself. When the team figures out how to increase it’s all-around offensive skill Wolf’s play will naturally start to look even more impressive.

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