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Beyond the Boxscore: Flames win in wild finish over Minnesota
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Photo credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
Flash Stevens
Jan 26, 2025, 10:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 26, 2025, 02:22 EST
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The Minnesota Wild gave a last-minute valiant push in the waning minutes of the game, but the Calgary Flames were able to hold on for the 5-4 victory.
CF% – 58.21%|| SCF% – 47.13%|| HDCF% – 51.45%|| xGF% – 52.93%
It’s a Team Game – I was expecting more out of the Minnesota Wild for most of the game. Calgary was able to keep things even until the second period where they started to surge in chances and possession. That lasted into the third period until the game became a scoring free-for-all. Goals from unlikely contributors in Wranglers captain Clark Bishop and Andrei Kuzmenko (at 5v5!) helped get them enough for the win. A nice change of pace for a team that usually only wins the game if their opponent scores less then 3 goals. Calgary’s on a nice pace right now and playoffs are once again well within sight. The downturn after losing two in St. Louis has already been overcome as the Flames keep working their way towards the postseason
Corsi King – Mackenzie Weegar (74.41 CF%) has been a real driver of positive possession lately. No matter whether his partner is Joel Hanley (45.95 per cent) or Daniil Miromanov (73.19 per cent). He keeps his mojo no matter who is next to him – I wonder if he could handle carrying a younger player in the near future. He seems to be able to play a positive game with anybody. The Backlund (65.00 per cent) line also led the way with over 23 total attempts and seeing less than 12 against. Good to have them back on a hot streak – it got a little cold around Christmas for them.
Under Pressure –
Taken By Chance – Daniil Miromanov (66.16 SCF% || 100 HDCF%) was out for 4 high danger chances for and none against at 5v5. He’s been a lot better after spending a few games in a row in the press box rather than in the lineup. Another blueliner finally found the scoresheet again for the first time in a while. Rasmus Andersson (26.60 per cent || 37.82 per cent) got to do another stare down of an opposing fan – one of the best parts of being a Flames fan this year. Unfortunately, he and Bahl (0 per cent || 0 per cent) have not been playing particularly well against their competition. The shine on how great Bahl was playing to start the year has rusted off – splitting them up to see new combinations doesn’t seem in the cards, but something needs to be done to spark a more complete game.
xG Breakdown –
xGF% – Jonathan Huberdeau (59.84 per cent) and Nazem Kadri (54.59 per cent) may not have scored but they still produced a decent amount of offence. Pelletier (55.05 per cent) has been a nice fit next to them and it helps that Pospisil (38.65 per cent) also found success in this game with a goal and an assist on his new line. New lines sparked some more offence, exactly what Calgary needed. The Wild, in my opinion, were sleeping for a lot of the night – not playing anywhere near their top level as they are now in a slump losing 5 of 6. Marco Rossi led a bit of a comeback in the third, but Kuzmenko (46.47 per cent) finally came in clutch and put the Flames in the win column.
Game Flow –
Game Score –
Shot Heatmap –
In The Crease – It’s a very rare night for Dustin Wolf where he let in more than the number of expected goals he faced at 5v5. It’s been weeks since the last time that happened. 1.78 goals against with just two getting behind him even up – as well as one power play goal and a 6-on-5 goal. He had things in control until late when the Wild really picked up things on their side. It’s hard to spend 50 minutes playing at one pace and then kicking things into a higher gear out of nowhere. Regardless that’s win number 18 for Dustin Wolf – here’s hoping he makes it to 30.
The Goals –
Flash’s 3 Stars –
1) Andrei Kuzmenko
2) Daniil Miromanov
3) Martin Pospisil
(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)
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