The Calgary Flames got some goals from some snakebitten sources, but the turnovers ultimately led to a 4-3 regulation loss in Toronto.

It’s a Team Game – As a team the Flames should really want that one back. Chance advantages in each frame, goals from sources that have been quiet all season (despite really strong play – looking at you Farabee and Honzek), and a 5v5 structure that was really working. Individual mistakes made in really bad spots led to this loss. Defensive zone turnovers, misplayed coverages, and bad clear attempts all ended up giving the Leafs uncontested looks directly in front of Dustin Wolf. They were able to make Calgary pay dearly for those and as such Calgary lost the game in regulation. Cleaning up those mental mishaps and keeping the same pace of play as the last three games should lead to some more wins, but there’s no guarantee those mistakes disappear.

Corsi King – Morgan Frost (73.23 CF%) has found some great chemistry on the Flames top line. Not only did he score on a classic Huberdeau (62.58 per cent) rush pass for a tap-in, he was also making great little passes to Nazem Kadri (70.44 per cent) who could not buy one. Kadri was all over the ice in his old barn – really set himself apart as a noticeable force for the Flames on the attack. He’s started to let his shot rip a little more and is getting back into the game he was playing during that fire stretch last year where he was producing almost daily. Calgary needs that to continue – the turnovers should limit themselves somewhat going forward – he just has to keep focusing on driving play into the attacking zone and capitalizing.

Taken By Chance – Kevin Bahl (40.12 SCF% // 18.90 HDCF%) wasn’t the guy turning the puck over, but almost every time that did happen, he wasn’t in the right spot to defend properly. The Mikael Backlund (35.80 per cent // 53.55 per cent) that left Knies alone in front with 30 seconds to go was bad, only beat by the terrible clearing attempt that led to the game winning goal with just over 2 minutes to play. For a team that struggles for offence so much tying the game late and then promptly blowing it? Takes a lot of wind out of the sails. The team still fought hard but should have never needed to happen that way.

xGF% – Let’s celebrate the other goal scorers because both of them deserved a geno. Joel Farabee (74.30 per cent) has been raved about in these for 11 straight games now. Incredible start to the season on the process side, but he was met by a high-quality save after high-quality save that kept the goal column a goose egg. I really hope this unlocks some sort of hidden offensive burst, but I’m not going to get ahead of myself there. Before the season I was ready to move on from him, but currently he’s cemented as a top 9 winger that should not see the press box anytime soon. Samuel Honzek (54.44 per cent) also scored his first NHL goal. Similar to Farabee, Honzek had been all around the net. He’s played a very strong, and simple, north/south game that’s kept him in the lineup nightly. Takes his chances in good spots, limits turnovers, and also deserves to play. When Martin Pospisil comes back, he may take some nights off – there’s not enough roster spots for roster players – but he’s shown he can be here regularly. Next step is finding a way to get into even better scoring positions and producing in those areas.

In The Crease – Poor Dustin Wolf. Three turnovers leading to point blank attempts with zero resistance from any skater. I’d be pissed off. All of those left their star goaltender out to dry and those needs corrected immediately. Hard to blame Wolf for what occurred, especially when he is always stealing other goals away with great saves every single period. This teams defensive flaws aren’t going to magically fix themselves, there’s people on that blue line playing in spots they have never played in before. There are guys who have shown to be depth pieces playing big minutes in big spots. Until the blueline gets fixed this may happen more than I’d like, but with Dustin Wolf back there I have a lot of hope.

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