The Calgary Flames completed the first quarter of their 2024-25 season on Saturday afternoon, playing their 21st game of the regular season and defeating the Minnesota Wild in a shootout by a 4-3 score.
For a three hour period after their win – and before Vegas completed their victory over Montreal – the Flames were in first place in the Pacific Division. Their record in the first quarter is 12-6-3 and they have earned 27 points.
We dug into some numbers to put the Flames first 21 games into context.

Team metrics

The Flames have scored 55 goals – 2.62 per game, 23rd in the NHL. They’re 26th in five-on-five goals for per 60 minutes. They have allowed 56 goals – 2.67 per game, 9th in the NHL. They’re 2nd in five-on-five goals against per 60 minutes. They have a positive goal differential in the league standings, +1, due to their shootout record (three wins and one loss).
The Flames’ power play has scored 11 goals on 60 advantages, for a 18.3% success rate – 18th in the NHL. They have allowed three shorthanded goals. The Flames’ penalty kill has allowed 15 goals on 60 opposition advantages, for a 75.0% success rate – 26th in the NHL. They have scored one shorthanded goal. In terms of expected goals rates on special teams, the Flames are 20th in expected goals for on the power play and 13th in expected goals against on the penalty kill, but those rates are dragged down by being 23rd in shooting percentage on the power play and 26th in save percentage on the penalty kill.
The Flames are 10th in shots for per game (30.0) and 25th in shots against per game (3o.1). The Flames have a 8.72 shooting percentage overall (28th overall) and a 91.14 save percentage (7th overall).
The Flames have won 44.7% of their face-offs, 30th in the NHL. Of the four players that have taken the most face-offs – Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Justin Kirkland and Martin Pospisil – none have won more than 50% of their draws. The best of the four, Backlund, has won 46.9%.

Five-on-five fancy stats

(All stats via Natural Stat Trick):
  • Shot attempts (Corsi) per 60: 10th for (61.73), 22nd against (61.73)
  • Unblocked shot attempts (Fenwick) per 60: 14th for (42.49), 21st against (42.54)
  • Shots per 60: 12th for (28.64), 25th against (29.58)
  • Goals per 60: 27th for (2.00), 2nd against (1.70)
  • Expected goals per 60: 25th for (2.35), 16th against (2.48)
  • Scoring chances per 60: 12th for (26.88), 23rd against (27.82)
  • High-danger scoring chances per 60: 22nd for (10.03), 9th against (9.98)
If you’re looking for a reason to suspect that goaltending could hold up down the stretch, the Flames’ performance in preventing high-danger scoring chances against could be a big one.
In terms of expected goals percentage (xGF%), seven Flames skaters have percentages of 50% or more:
  • Tyson Barrie – 56.45%
  • Mikael Backlund – 55.30%
  • Anthony Mantha – 55.22%
  • Matt Coronato – 55.02%
  • Blake Coleman – 52.53%
  • Andrei Kuzmenko – 52.32%
  • Brayden Pachal – 51.27%
On the blueline, Pachal’s pairings with Jake Bean (54.75% xGF) and Barrie (50.08% xGF) were effective depth options.
Up front, Backlund, Coleman and Coronato (56.48% xGF) were a beast, as were Backlund, Coleman and Connor Zary (51.06% xGF), Mantha, Huberdeau and Pospisil (55.17% xGF), and Lomberg, Kirkland and Rooney (52.56% xGF). It was, however, challenging to find too many line combinations involving Nazem Kadri that had effective possession metrics, aside from with Kuzmenko and Zary (60.30% xGF). Finding the ideal forward combinations will be a moving target for the Flames in the next quarter, especially with Zary seemingly finding his niche at centre lately.

Individual metrics

The Flames’ skaters have decent enough numbers through 21 games, but they don’t quite stack up well against the rest of the league.
  • The Flames’ leading goal-scorers are Matt Coronato and Jonathan Huberdeau, who are tied with six goals apiece. They’re 10 goals behind the league’s leaders, and their totals put them in a tie for 85th place. (Toronto’s Bobby McMann has scored as much as the Flames’ leaders.)
  • The Flames’ leader in assists in MacKenzie Weegar with nine. He’s well behind the league leader, which is Nathan MacKinnon with 28. He’s tied for 93rd place.
  • The Flames’ points leader is Rasmus Andersson with 13. The league leader, MacKinnon, has nearly three times as many points, with 35. Andersson’s 13 points have him tied for 115th.
Goaltending is a different animal because of Dustin Wolf.
  • He has eight wins, tied for 11th in the NHL.
  • He has a 2.33 goals against average, 10th among the NHL’s leaders.
  • He has a .926 save percentage, 3rd among the NHL’s leaders.
  • Among rookie goaltenders, Wolf leads in wins, goals against average, save percentage and shutouts.
If you’re judging the Flames by their statistics compared to the rest of the league, they’re not generating a ton offensively… but they’re hanging in there by the strength of their goaltending and defensive system.
What’s the most impressive Flames statistic through 21 games? Let us know in the comments!