After a first period where hardly anybody played defence the Calgary Flames spent 45 minutes going shot-for-shot with the Minnesota Wild. Coming into the game the newest Flames player via an off-season trade – Yegor Sharangovich – was on a bit of a scoring tear. He showed up and showed out again in this one – scoring a goal, adding an assist, and sniping one in the eventual shootout loss. Calgary may have scored what could have been the difference making goal, but the video evidence couldn’t prove the puck had gone in on a goal mouth scramble. Not like any fanbases have been screwed by not being able to see if a puck went across the line or not in the past, right? (’04 #ItWasIn)

It’s a Team Game – The first period the Flames failed to register any 5v5 high danger chances. NaturalStatTrick only had them with just 4 chances of any variety on just 16 attempts. The entire first was also played at 5v5 as well so no special teams excuses – Calgary once again was not ready to play from the start. The teams play did pick up in the third period, but right when they snag momentum, they give it up with a crushing goal against. 60 minutes on a consistent basis would be nice, but I’ll settle for them always making It a game worth watching in the third period.

Corsi King – Andrew Mangiapane (61.57%) has really been getting up there in numbers on the shot attempts. He has struggled next to Lindholm (53.80%) for a while but ever since Sharangovich (56.06%) started his run of great offence he’s started to get more scoring chances. I still think Mangiapane can be maxed out next to either Backlund (47.43%) or Kadri (38.93%), but they both have other wingers that need them more right now. Dennis Gilbert (59.29%) and Nick DeSimone (56.04%) have some great chemistry together that has shown to work well at the NHL level. Not a top pair shutdown the other team’s best player for 30 minutes level, but constantly not a liability while aiding in getting shot attempt surpluses In their time on the ice sort of level.

Corsi Clown – Blake Coleman (33.15%) was dinged the most on the number of shot attempts against. Later we’ll see that most of them were high quality too. The Wild really did find space in front of the net for the first half of the game and it seems the “third” line is the one that suffered the most. Jonathan Huberdeau (37.45%) is probably going to be the one discussed the most in the off time between games after his turnover led to the first goal of the game.

Taken By Chance – Spurred by Yegor Sharangovich (63.64 SCF% // 61.86 HDCF%) the Lindholm (54.28% // 62.50%) line were the best trio on the night for the red team. Credit where it is due, Jordan Oesterle (48.55% // 77.37%) led the Flames in HDCF%. That’s the good side of this. On the flip side we have a game where Kadri (28.74% // 31.31%) and the kids got caught with a lot of dangerous looks coming back against them. Nobody is perfect for 82 games which is why it’s good another line picked up the pace from their normal level of play to cover for the off day from the Flames most consistent 5v5 line this year.

xGF% – Want to take a guess who led here or is it too obvious? Sharangovich (76.22%) for the last 2 weeks has done nothing but find himself in scoring chances. He’s creating a lot of them himself which is a major difference from the start of the season to now. He’s finding his own space to either utilize his shot or great offensive puck sense to make smart plays. He’s stepped up and has appeared as Calgary’s first true game-breaker of the year. Kadri (32.79%) has been the most consistent on offence this season, but it’s in little chunks every night. Zary (14.01% – oof rough 5v5 night there) has been the most electric and fun to watch with his creative ways to find space and his knack for producing offence – Sharangovich is challenging him for that title. He’s shown everybody in this city he can score with the best of him, so now comes the next question: Can he do it for the majority of a full season?

In The Crease – Left to dry on the first goal I thought it was going to be a long, rough night for Dan Vladar. He did see a lot of rubber in this one but he dialed in and put one hell of a show on after the early goal. 2.06 expected goals against at 5v5 with only 2 against. He didn’t let in any weak ones and gave his team a chance to win. On a bit of a run here now after he faced a night of hefty criticism earlier in the season. I love to eat my own words because it means the result is some success somewhere I was once cynical. He’s not out of the woods yet though – this play needs to continue through for a large portion of the season to show true value. Great performance from Vladar in this one.

Today’s Specials – They may have finally found a PP1 personnel grouping that works, and it came at the cost of the highest paid Flame for a player on a rookie contract. Connor Zary understands the modern-day way to play the flank on the point. A lot of perpendicular movement to force the defenders to cover multiple passing lanes through the middle – freezing the defence – giving the guy you then dish it too even more options because the defenders feet are standing still. Playing with it off the boards as much as you can and not being afraid to make that gutsy pass. Andersson back on the other side to balance the handedness and give the passers safety outlets should they get pressured too aggressively. There was a lot I liked about what I saw and it was initiated through Connor Zary.

Player Spotlight – Martin Pospisil – My favourite moment of the night was when they had the camera feature on Maroon getting into it with Pospisil. At one point Pospisil bumps him – quite aggressively – while Maroon was going off for a change. Then came the smile from Maroon as he enjoyed watching Pospisil fill a role he so greatly has filled himself for so long. Calgary’s been missing a true pest that can get under the skin of the other team since Tkachuk moved his talents to south beach. Against the Wild he was in everyone’s grille whether it be through petty things or some solid physical play. I loved it, and I think Maroon appreciated it for a second too.

The next ones not a real goal, but the shot is so dirty I need to air it out.