Generally, this season, games have gone one of three ways for the Calgary Flames. Either they are drastically not good enough to win, they are just good enough to win, or they look well on their way to a loss before they remember they can be really good at hockey sometimes. You’ll never guess what last night’s game is classified as.

The Flames looked like they hadn’t truly rested from their road trip, which makes sense because they haven’t physically had time to. It doesn’t help that Arizona has thrived this season on being a boring, structured team since they’re lacking a true superstar, but it was like cutting a steak with dental floss in the very beginning. Thankfully, they evened out about halfway through the period, and were able to limit the damage to only a single goal against.

Their rollercoaster ways continued on into the second, at least at 5v5. However, their special teams showed up, and finally this game it wasn’t just their penalty kill that decided to make a difference. Since half the second period was played on special teams (honestly, the middle 30 minutes of the game was just penalties galore), the Flames needed their special teams to make a statement. Going 2/6 on the powerplay and 5/5 on the penalty kill feels like that kind of statement.

What impressed me most about the comeback was that they weren’t deflated by Vinnie Hinostroza’s goal. Perhaps it’s because it wasn’t a fluke, or that Hinostroza truly earned it with how lethal that snipe was. Game recognizes game, and it really felt like the Flames looked at that and said “yeah, okay, we can do that.” Granted, it’s not like Mark Giordano’s tying goal was a thing of beauty, but when he takes nine shots with the intent of making them count, sometimes the ugly ones go in. No one is complaining about that.

The Flames don’t deserve to be let off the hook, because you’d hope that they can dig themselves out of a hole they got themselves in. They probably also deserve to have a full examination of their game warts and all, because they still have yet to play a full, convincing game nearly a quarter of the way through the season.

However, if they can sort out their issues while continuing to deliver performances off the backs of their stars like they did against Arizona, it softens how harsh people not named Bill Peters need to be. No one wants to be down 3-1 with five minutes left to Arizona, but if you can come back and win, then you can clearly do something right.

Quite frankly, the good news is that the players that were supposed to be great came through. Matthew Tkachuk kept silencing critics of this season with his performance, Johnny Gaudreau snapped his 12-game goalless drought, even David Rittich came up large when he needed to. Does Calgary get a comeback without the back-to-back saves on Michael Grabner and Hinostroza? Thankfully, we didn’t need to find out.

Also, it needs to be reiterated, it’s incredible how much a powerplay that scores can actually increase your chances of winning. It helps stop the bleeding in the second period, and then sparks some tangible hope in the third. The passing was beautiful on the first goal, and that had to be a palpable sense of relief for both players and fans. The second powerplay unit still needs some work, but this is good news, so whatever.

Sam Bennett continues to string together good games without hitting the scoreboard, and last night wasn’t for lack of trying. He led the Flames by generating two high-danger scoring chances, and had an absurd 57.42 xGF%Rel to go with a 30.15 CF%Rel at 5v5. Granted, those numbers don’t mean much when Bennett can’t push those into tangible stats, and lord knows that I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for Bennett to break out, but he made it very difficult for the Coyotes to score against him seeing as he utilized the puck so much tonight. That’s someone who is bringing value to depth.

The new defensive lines worked for me. I don’t know if I’ll feel the same in three games times, but Peters pushed the right buttons tonight.

He’s definitely not getting the ice time he’s used to, and I’m sure that Alan Walsh will have something to say about it, but Michael Frolik has really brought a stabilizing presence to Mark Jankowski and Tobias Rieder. One of those two are going to get bumped with Milan Lucic returning next game, but this has been the most positive I’ve felt about them both in a while. It’s nothing that absolutely blows me away, but it’s enough that I’m pleased enough with what they bring to the table. I attribute that to what Frolik brings, just as he always has for Calgary.

Stop trailing in hockey games, yeesh. Even though he redeemed himself, that first goal by Arizona came because Giordano couldn’t clear the puck properly. That’s basic.

Stop taking so many penalties in a game. It’s great that the penalty kill is now ranked fourth in the league. The Flames don’t need to keep constantly taking opportunities to prove that to other teams.

Stop needing your goalie to bail you out. Rittich faced three times as many high-danger shots as Antti Raanta had to at 5v5. That’s not a winning strategy.

These are all fairly common themes throughout the season so far, because if there’s one thing the Flames have been consistent about, it’s inconsistency.

This team could be great. They are their biggest obstacle right now. Even though this is a great comeback win, they can’t afford to see this as a good sign.

56% – The Flames face-off percentage last night. I generally don’t put too much stock into faceoffs, but that’s a marked improvement over where they’ve been this season (below 50%).

2:12 – Phil Kessel’s shift length in overtime. It was smart of Backlund, Tkachuk, and Rasmus Andersson to take advantage of that, even if they scored on a shot that Raanta should have had.

28:22 – Giordano’s ice time, a full four and a half minutes more than the next player, Elias Lindholm. My feels about Mark Giordano burnout are slowly going stronger, even though I don’t see a great alternative yet.

1 – Just a single high-danger shot attempt on the penalty kill last night, as the Flames continue to search for their first shorthanded goal this season. It seems the magic of last season is full up dead and gone.

With New Jersey coming into town next game, this is a great chance for the Flames to take advantage of a team that is currently tied for last in wins this season. Let’s hope the next Embers isn’t an angry look back at what should have been.