It was an entertaining game right until the end, but the Calgary Flames could not get the last goal in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

It’s a Team Game – Vegas is a very good hockey club and showed it frequently in this one. Calgary, who were fairly disciplined in their own zone, had a rough first period. High danger chances were 5-0 in favour of the Golden Knights – Calgary was struggling. After each period ends the Flames do have an ability to move on and refocus quickly. That happened as they put more pressure on Vegas, but still were giving up a lot in their own zone. Getting the first goal from Hanley to end the second period – followed by Coronato scoring early in the third – the Flames were able to shell-shock the Golden Knights. Things opened up significantly but the goaltending (mixed in with a few posts and crossbars) stood strong up until overtime. The unlucky end where the puck goes off Weegar’s skate and off Wolf’s back sure does stink, but the only thing anyone can do now is move forward. Six games to go – four points back of Minnesota.

Corsi King – Joel Hanley (57.94 CF%) had himself one heck of a night. The goal off the gorgeous touch pass from Nazem Kadri (42.35 per cent) was great, he was active in transition all night long and wasn’t out for any goals against. Even outside of the goal he stood out multiple times as a guy to make a key play – especially with how much he handled the puck in overtime. I was very impressed with everything from him in this game. Adam Klapka (48.67 per cent) continues to find ways to remain noticeable with quality plays every game. He’s either finishing a check or making moves in the neutral zone to get the puck in the attacking zone with possession. The consistency has improved and it’s providing value, nightly, to the Flames fourth line.

Taken By Chance – The two primary veterans had a rough go in terms of high danger chance disparity. I would like to point out that even though the first goal wasn’t classified as a high danger look, the pass Kadri (31.26 SCF% || 0 HDCF%) made was fantastic to set it up. Kadri and Huberdeau (31.26 per cent || 0 per cent) were both out for seven high danger chances against 5v5. A lot of quality looks were given up in their pursuit of offence – Dustin Wolf was more than up to the task of handling that added challenge – and it did eventually pay off. Calgary needs goals and it seems like only Kadri and Coronato (35.08 per cent || 44.93 per cent) can finish off anything consistently. Even then Coronato had been quiet for a week – hard to say anyone else (not named Kadri) have been more consistent of late though.

xGF% – Morgan Frost (71.85 per cent) has this nice, inflated percentage that can occur when both the quality chances for and against are quite limited. 0.28 for to 0.11 against does mean Frost barely saw anything dangerous against at 5v5, but it also means he only barely contributed on offence as well. Meanwhile Joel Farabee (53.81 per cent) keeps getting at least one decent chance each match and he can’t turn them into points. The former Flyers are doing okay – I was indeed hoping more offence would have materialized at this point.

In The Crease – Dustin Wolf added another quality performance to his Calder Trophy profile. The last goal is just bad luck, prior to that Wolf was the best Flames on the ice. That’s typically the case when he plays, nobody really has the offence to outshine his shutdown performances each game. Even on the odd games where he lets more than three goals in Wolf stays on task in case the team comes back. Always displays top level athleticism, tonight showcased tremendous anticipation and even had one clutch zone clear in the last minute on the penalty kill. He’s a superstar – and he’s a Calgary Flame.

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