The Calgary Flames went up against the Winnipeg Jets – the team with the best record in the NHL – and claimed a 3-1 victory.

It’s a Team Game – The Winnipeg Jets are very, very good at hockey. Calgary’s win in this game is a testament to a full team buy-in and a never say quit attitude. It’s becoming ingrained into the nature of the team and will allow them to remain in every game they play in because of it. In this one the Jets were excellent in the second period, smothering the Flames with an abundance of chances, but Dustin Wolf was better. The Flames star rookie was sensational on a night when Winnipeg gave the Vezina frontrunner – Connor Hellebuyck – the night off. It was enough of an advantage for a strong defensive team like Calgary to have the game play into their hands. The Jets still found their opportunities; to tell the truth they found a lot of opportunities, but the Flames goaltending paved the way for the two points.

Corsi King – Blake Coleman (53.16 CF%) and Mikael Backlund (51.24 per cent) have been quite consistent in their play since they were reunited on the same line. Coleman specifically has been gaining a lot of offence of late. His three points in this one get him up to eight points in his last eight games. Calgary’s depth got roasted by the Jets – most players seeing around twenty shot attempts against and half the team also seeing under double digit totals in shot attempts for. The Winnipeg Jets had the puck on their stick for the majority of this game.

Taken By Chance – Naturally, the top defencemen play against the best players on the other team. It often results in nights and numbers like they got in this one – especially against top end teams. I personally thought Rasmus Andersson (19.62 SCF% || 0 HDCF%) played a decent game. Active in the rush and extremely knowledgeable of how he was playing defensively. Unfortunately for him he was not the one that devised and adopted a neutral zone trap as a strategy to protect the lead. He’s a good leader, does what the coach wants, and never gives it a second thought to give the team anything and everything he could possibly give when over the boards. It’s not just Andersson though, MacKenzie Weegar (30.55 per cent || 25.74 per cent) has all those same attributes. Of the eight guys regularly deployed this season, keeping those two around to aid Parekh, Brzustewicz, Mews, Morin, Grushnikov – or anyone else that happens to make it through – in becoming functioning and competitive professionals is my preference.

xGF% – The Flames welcomed two guys back into their lineup on Saturday night. Daniil Miromanov (28.42 per cent) replaced Joel Hanley and Andrei Kuzmenko (23.33 per cent) came in for Walker Duehr. Kuzmenko was able to at least score a power play goal – it ended up being the difference maker – but was once again next to invisible at 5v5. It was his first goal in three months, I’m not sure he’s still here by the end of the next three month stretch. Miromanov does provide more of an offensive upside than Joel Hanley but taking out the steady defensive presence of Hanley for the chaotic converted forward, against the team with the most points in the NHL, did not seem like the right move. Miromanov also had not played since Dec. 29 – again why throw him in against the best team in the league? All of these questions after a win are because I do believe the Flames can rally together and make the post-season.

In The Crease – It is not often that somebody plays Winnipeg, in Winnipeg, and has their goaltender be the more impressive one. Connor Hellebuyck did not play, instead Dustin Wolf went up against Eric Comrie. For what it’s worth Comrie was no slouch and played a great game himself, but with the workload and quality of stops Dustin Wolf had to make it was not a particularly close goaltending battle. Dustin Wolf continues to show he’s one of the best on the planet at his position and because of that he has his team firmly in the chase for a seat at the playoff table. He’s clearly taken over number one goaltending duties and continues to steal points. 2.87 expected goals against at 5v5 with just the one deflection goal beating him.