<p>With 15 games remaining, the Calgary Flames still find themselves very much wrapped up in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/03/18/instant-reaction-flames-battle-to-victory-over-the-rangers/">After a huge 2-1 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday</a>, the Flames find themselves two points back and nipping at the heels of the Canucks and Blues for the final Western Conference wild card spot.</p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
<p>With new look line combinations, the Flames out-shot the Rangers by a margin of 35-13 and much of the Flames attack seemed to have newfound confidence. As of this writing, the Flames have one game at hand over Vancouver, and two over St. Louis. While the Flames have been doing their best to play playoff hockey leading up to what they hope is a playoff berth, the remaining schedule will be demanding in many ways. If they are to secure a playoff spot after game 82, the Flames forward scoring depth will continue to be challenged, and some players will be required to step up in big moments down the homestretch.</p>
<p>The most difficult thing to do in the NHL is score goals. It is even more difficult when the season is inching closer to the first round of the playoffs and teams begin playing tighter and transitioning into their playoff brands of hockey. For the Flames, goals have been at a premium for the nearly the entire season, and the last few weeks have been no different. The Flames currently sit 31st in the NHL in goals scored this season with 173, and in the 10 most recent games after the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Flames have scored 1.8 goals per game on average. In terms of goal production, much of the recent heavy lifting for the Flames has been done by a small collection of players.</p>
<p>In particular, Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, and MacKenzie Weegar have been carrying the mail. Over their last ten games, Huberdeau (3G, 4A), Kadri (4G, 3A), and Weegar (1G, 8A) have scored eight of the team&#8217;s 18 goals. In the forward ranks over the last 10 outings, it is Huberdeau and Kadri leading the pack with seven points each. The Flames&#8217; two highest paying forwards are have been producing recently, however the other skilled forwards that are supposed to make up the next wave of offence have left more to be desired.</p>
<p>The next highest point totals belong to Joel Farabee (2G, 1A), Matt Coronato (2G, 1A) and Connor Zary (2g, 1A), who each have three points over the Flames&#8217; last ten games. It should be noted that Zary has only played eight of the Flames&#8217; last ten games after missing two games due to suspension. Morgan Frost (0G, 2A) and Yegor Sharangovich (1G,1A)  seem to be the most snake-bitten of all of Calgary&#8217;s forward attack, with only two points each over the same time span. Sharangovich&#8217;s struggles have been hard to ignore lately, with him even being a healthy scratch against Carolina on Mar. 2.</p>
<p>While some members of the Flames really need a friendly bounce or a break to go their way, the performance against the Rangers on Tuesday should be encouraging for the entire team. As far as encouraging statistics are concerned, Coronato and Frost both had an outstanding 84.46% expected goals percentage on the evening as per Natural Stat Trick. <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/03/18/calgary-flames-hoping-for-boost-from-returning-connor-zary-against-rangers/">Connor Zary was re-inserted into the lineup</a> following suspension and recorded an assist and a 74.40% expected goals percentage as per Natural Stat Trick.</p>
<p><a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/03/17/calgary-flames-road-trip-matt-coronato-homecoming/">Matt Coronato</a> scored a power-play goal which served as the game winner, Morgan Frost has a great outing amid new forward lines, and Connor Zary looked like his usual shifty self against the Rangers on Thursday. This Flames performance against an Eastern Conference foe who was also desperately fighting for their playoff lives displays that there is room for optimism moving into the final push for the playoffs.</p>
<p>Next up for the Flames is a date with the Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Thursday evening.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365:</strong></p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="328" data-promotion-id="19111" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>


With 15 games remaining, the Calgary Flames still find themselves very much wrapped up in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/03/18/instant-reaction-flames-battle-to-victory-over-the-rangers/">After a huge 2-1 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday</a>, the Flames find themselves two points back and nipping at the heels of the Canucks and Blues for the final Western Conference wild card spot.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
With new look line combinations, the Flames out-shot the Rangers by a margin of 35-13 and much of the Flames attack seemed to have newfound confidence. As of this writing, the Flames have one game at hand over Vancouver, and two over St. Louis. While the Flames have been doing their best to play playoff hockey leading up to what they hope is a playoff berth, the remaining schedule will be demanding in many ways. If they are to secure a playoff spot after game 82, the Flames forward scoring depth will continue to be challenged, and some players will be required to step up in big moments down the homestretch.

The most difficult thing to do in the NHL is score goals. It is even more difficult when the season is inching closer to the first round of the playoffs and teams begin playing tighter and transitioning into their playoff brands of hockey. For the Flames, goals have been at a premium for the nearly the entire season, and the last few weeks have been no different. The Flames currently sit 31st in the NHL in goals scored this season with 173, and in the 10 most recent games after the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Flames have scored 1.8 goals per game on average. In terms of goal production, much of the recent heavy lifting for the Flames has been done by a small collection of players.

In particular, Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, and MacKenzie Weegar have been carrying the mail. Over their last ten games, Huberdeau (3G, 4A), Kadri (4G, 3A), and Weegar (1G, 8A) have scored eight of the team's 18 goals. In the forward ranks over the last 10 outings, it is Huberdeau and Kadri leading the pack with seven points each. The Flames' two highest paying forwards are have been producing recently, however the other skilled forwards that are supposed to make up the next wave of offence have left more to be desired.

The next highest point totals belong to Joel Farabee (2G, 1A), Matt Coronato (2G, 1A) and Connor Zary (2g, 1A), who each have three points over the Flames' last ten games. It should be noted that Zary has only played eight of the Flames' last ten games after missing two games due to suspension. Morgan Frost (0G, 2A) and Yegor Sharangovich (1G,1A)  seem to be the most snake-bitten of all of Calgary's forward attack, with only two points each over the same time span. Sharangovich's struggles have been hard to ignore lately, with him even being a healthy scratch against Carolina on Mar. 2.

While some members of the Flames really need a friendly bounce or a break to go their way, the performance against the Rangers on Tuesday should be encouraging for the entire team. As far as encouraging statistics are concerned, Coronato and Frost both had an outstanding 84.46% expected goals percentage on the evening as per Natural Stat Trick. <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/03/18/calgary-flames-hoping-for-boost-from-returning-connor-zary-against-rangers/">Connor Zary was re-inserted into the lineup</a> following suspension and recorded an assist and a 74.40% expected goals percentage as per Natural Stat Trick.

<a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/03/17/calgary-flames-road-trip-matt-coronato-homecoming/">Matt Coronato</a> scored a power-play goal which served as the game winner, Morgan Frost has a great outing amid new forward lines, and Connor Zary looked like his usual shifty self against the Rangers on Thursday. This Flames performance against an Eastern Conference foe who was also desperately fighting for their playoff lives displays that there is room for optimism moving into the final push for the playoffs.

Next up for the Flames is a date with the Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Thursday evening.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365:</strong>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="328" data-promotion-id="19111" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>

Examining the Flames’ middle six forwards and the playoff push

Recent articles from Evan Lennon

Breaking News