The Calgary Flames had their good shooting sticks out in full force, beating up a former Flame in the other crease on a way to a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders.

It’s a Team Game – I would not be one to say that was a well-played game from the Flames, but they were quite opportunistic with their chances. It’s been a lot of grinder style goals of late but in this one they got some goals from distance. Yan Kuznetsov specifically had the goal of the night with a snipe just under the bar. The Islanders still got plenty of looks and Wolf had to make some high-quality saves – especially in the first period. By the time the third period hit the Islanders looked out of gas and the Flames looked content to ride their comfortable lead out until the final horn. It was a bit of a sombre afternoon as it appeared longtime defenceman Rasmus Andersson was prepping to say goodbye to the squad. He got his 30th point of the season in the contest and will be missed by many.

Corsi King – Morgan Frost (64.24%) continues to be okay, but nothing above and beyond. I’m done holding my breath for an explosion of consistent offence from that source going forward, but it is good to see him almost double his total shot attempts in this game. Same thing can be said about Jonathan Huberdeau (61.63%) – who’s having more off games than good, but those good games still pop up. They just aren’t being paired with points, but he does have some games where he’s still on the positive side of the puck. Justin Kirkland (28.42 per cent) took his one good look of the game and made it count.

Taken By Chance – Kevin Bahl (35.61 SCF% // 32.73 HDCF%) stood out amongst the guys as someone making things happen. Good puck movement and not afraid to hold the puck a little longer to have things open up for him. He’s going to be the most directly affected by Andersson’s (42.97 per cent // 27.90 per cent) departure as he’s been his steady partner on the blueline since he came over from New Jersey. He’ll get someone new, whether it be a younger guy whose already there like Brzustewicz (0 per cent // 0 per cent) or possibly someone coming back in the trade. Either way that’s a large chunk of significant minutes going to someone new is on its way.

xGF% – Yegor Sharangovich (28.99 per cent) was another player who let ff one of those nice shots today. He’s at double digit goals on the season now and has been a decent depth scoring option for a couple of months. Not by any means a player in anybody’s long term top 6, but as a third line scorer he still has some appeal. Just another guy who I wish there was more out of him consistently, but I’ll take him finding any sort of groove for however long it lasts. He’s not going anywhere with his contract anytime soon. Other than that, it was pretty stagnant. Flames attack wasn’t anything to get the crowd excited, but their timely snipes were all that was required against David Rittich and the Islanders.

In The Crease – Dustin Wolf with some rest is one of the best. Have him play at home and it just gets even better. Rebounds, angles, reads, and even his puck playing just come out at a high level. The Islanders got some quality looks, but Wolf was there for them all. A major reason they earned their two points on the day. I honestly have confidence in both goaltenders to put up a decent showing in every game this year.

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