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Beyond the Boxscore: Flames give fans something to cheer about despite 4-2 loss to the Ducks

Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

By Flash Stevens

Oct 11, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 11, 2026, 10:57 EDT

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The Calgary Flames gave the fans in the Saddledome something to cheer for Saturday, despite losing 4-2 to the Anaheim Ducks.

CF% – 48.68% || SCF% – 50.59% || HDCF% – 43.34% || xGF% – 49.77%

It’s a Team Game – I’m really happy with the consistency of the offensive attack in the start of this season. No, I’m not saying I’m happy with the output, but ever since game 1 the Flames have been, at least, creating high danger scoring chances. They just continue to suffer from a severe lack of finishing ability. Calgary had 13 high danger chances in this game at 5v5, an expected goal value of 2.67, and got the two scores. The emphasis on the attacking zone is to go low and try to find an opening for a quick shot opportunity from in tight and then a scramble if there’s a rebound. I absolutely adore what I’ve seen – even with the line blender – when it comes to the attacking zone this year. Amidst all the goaltending struggles, coverage slips, and outright bad bounces in their own end the Flames are at least showing a willingness to keep up the efforts to attack the slot on the attack. It’s going to pay off big one night, they have certainly earned it there.

Corsi King – Jonathan Castagna (71.72 CF%) still saw some limited minutes in his second NHL game. Encouraging sign to see him with such a shot attempt disparity. Keeping things turned on the attacking zone more than your own zone is always something I can get behind. Kevin Bahl (63.60%) followed up the good performance with a great one. He was on the ice for a 2-0 goal advantage while having Simon Nemec (56.94%) look increasingly more comfortable.

Under Pressure –

Taken By Chance – This was a massive improvement over the last game up the middle for Martin Pospisil (54.29 SCF% // 48.58 HDCF%). His line did surrender two goals at 5v5, but they also paced the Flames in overall high danger chances too. Colorado was really bad, this was good with some bad moments sprinkled in. So an improvement, and with where the Flames are at right now I’m framing that as a small win. I think Zayne Parekh (33.96% // 23.99%) needs to be split up from Jacob Middleton (42.40% // 29.66%). Not because it’s any one of their own fault, but the minutes they’ve played together through 5 games are not good. It looks like they are struggling and the data supports that observation. The line blender is already in full motion, it doesn’t hurt to shuffle one or both around.

xG Breakdown –

xGF% – I love a good goal, and Morgan Frost (17.29 xGF%) scored an absolute beauty. Check it out below, literally so nice. That was the only real high danger chance he got involved in though. The rest of the evening he was struggling to cover the Ducks and had limited exposure to the attacking zone. Frost is going to gain more and more of the media attention in Calgary as a pending UFA centre. One that teams could possibly look at as a 2C option, but likely as a capable 3 on a real contender. Right now he’s the undisputed number 1 guy to go to for offence up the middle on this roster. Through 5 games it’s not popping off the screen – and without Matt Coronato (34.88%) doing a lot of the hard work he might not have anything. It’s a good situation to keep eyes on, because the Flames have a decision to make on Frost, and his play will be the prime dictator on anything that happens.

Congrats to Aydar Suniev (47.12%) on his first NHL goal. It was a sick one too, from such a sharp angle. I love to see those ones. Suniev was as highly coveted as a third-rounder could be – especially after seeing the positive reactions from the management team. He’s certainly one of the most exciting stories to start the season in Calgary.

Game Flow –

Shot Heatmap –

In The Crease – I am absolutely fine with Dustin Wolf’s performance. 2.47 expected goals against 5v5 with just the 2 against him. The shorthanded breakaway should not get pinned on the guy left hung out to dry. One of the goals was a random deflection, and for the rest of it Wolf looked strong and clearly better than his first games. It’s still a point of emphasis – and the quality of shots against certainly needs to be more limited – but it very well might just be what it is going to be for the near future. Goaltending needs to adjust best they can, it’s all they can do.

The Goals –

Robert Munnich

@Robert_Munnich

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🔥FLAMES GOAL🔥 Simon Nemec, Matt Coronato and Morgan Frost connect for a beautiful goal! 🎥: Sportsnet | #Flames

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2:44 AM · Oct 11, 2026

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Robert Munnich

@Robert_Munnich

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🔥FLAMES GOAL🔥 Aydar Suniev scores his first NHL goal! 🎥: Sportsnet | #Flames

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3:49 AM · Oct 11, 2026

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Flash’s 3 Stars –

1) Aydar Suniev

2) Kevin Bahl

3) Matt Coronato

(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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