That’s three straight games on this trip with third period leads, and three straight losses.
Not the best recipe for a team looking to dig themselves out of a hole and into the mix in the West standings.
At least the last two blown leads resulted in points as the Flames lost back to back extra time games; this one a 3-2 shoot out loss in Minnesota.
Calgary returns home to play the Lightning on Saturday night.
Need a streak … stat!
The Lineup
No change from the loss in Vegas.
Elias Lindholm with Andrew Mangiapane and Yegor Sharangovich, Nazem Kadri back with Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil, Mikael Backlund with Jonathan Huberdeau and Blake Coleman, and finally Adam Ruzicka between AJ Greer and Dillon Dube.
One the blueline it’s Tanev and Illya Solovyov out, creating three new pairings. The go to pairing will be Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson. Mackenzie Weegar gets Jordan Oesterle, and finally Dennis Gilbert with Nick DeSimone.
Back to Dan Vladar in the the cage.
Line Metrics Coming In
xGF%
Mangiapane – Lindholm – Sharangovich 42.0%
Huberdeau – Backlund – Coleman 49.7%
Zary – Kadri – Pospisil 67.9%
Greer – Ruzicka – Dube 44.3%
Oesterle – Weegar 42.9%
Hanifin – Andersson 40.7%
Gilbert – DeSimone 64.3%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +2.2
Vladar -7.2
Wolf -5.2
Trend Tracker
With lineup changes and various combinations we can arrive on certain players expected to do certain things.
The Backlund Coleman pairing tends to lift all boats, though they struggle with Jonathan Huberdeau as a winger over say Andrew Mangiapane. It makes sense, and certainly passes the eye test.
So why does the Lindholm line continue to have such brutal underlying numbers?
Elias Lindholm has been a Selke nominated center, and a known elite two way center for years in Calgary. Andrew Mangiapane is a glue guy and a winger that drives the play. Yegor Sharangovich is a key member of the penalty kill and known for doing the job in his won zone.
But as a trio they are at 42.0%.
Head scratcher.
Vladar Start
I thought Dan Vladar was solid tonight.
He had to be at his best in the first period where the Wild were the dominant team. Escaping down just a goal was a victory in itself.
The rest of the way the Flames were much better, but so too was Vladar in keeping his team in the game.
Stats say 3.33 goals against and Vladar steers it to a shoot out with just two against.
Give him credit; solid start!
Game Flow
Pretty pensive first period for the Flames. They didn’t generate much by the way of high danger chances against Gustafsson in the Wild net. The Wild get up when Dan Vladar turns the puck over, and then Jonathan Huberdeau does the same. Calgary stabilizes but never really gets much done offensively the rest of the way through the first. 1-0 Wild.
Very very solid second period for the Flames. They pretty much dominated the whole 20 minutes. The Flames tie the score when Yegor Sharangovich tipped in an Elias Lindholm cross ice pass on a Calgary powerplay. Yes they scored on a powerplay! All tied up through two periods.
You’d think the Flames would run out of gas in the third with their third game in four nights but they continued to bring it. Calgary goes ahead on a shorthanded goal when Blake Coleman tried to center the puck to Yegor Sharangovich; the puck going in off a Wild defener. The Wild tied it up again 45 seconds later and we’re going to overtime.
Odds and Sods
Not sure what Eriksson Ek thought Martin Pospisil did towards the end of the first period when the puck went in to Gustaffson to cover. He went to the net sure, but didn’t touch the goalie and certainly didn’t warrant the scrum afterwards. You’d never expect it, but by the book that’s a Calgary powerplay. … Another point for Connor Zary, this time a second period second assist on the Calgary powerplay. Just keeps on rolling. … Speaking of rolling, another goal for Yegor Sharangovich. His 10th of the season has him ticking towards a 30 goal pace. Quite the fourth liner! … How can they call that Zucarello goal legit in the shoot out when Vladar touched the puck between touches? Not how I understand the rules … Loved seeing Pospisil agitating the Wild and especially Maroon. …
Special Teams
Everyone please sit down.
The Flames take the special teams battle.
I’ll say it again … the Flames take the special teams battle.
Calgary scores a powerplay goal on three chances and kills off all three of the Wild chances.
It can happen!
Standings and Record
The Flames remain in that 6th lottery spot, but now they’re tied with the oh so disappointing Sabres.
There seems to be three teams that won’t be caught downward so it’s a 4-6 spot look for the Flames as it stands.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 37 Wild 32
Face Offs: Flames 58% / Wild 42%
Powerplay: Flames 1-3 / Wild 0-3
Fancy Stats
The Flames were certainly the better team in the last 40 minutes when it came to possession time and carrying the play. But overall the Wild had the better chances and the better looks in tight to the goaltenders. Five on five the Flames had 48% of the shot attempts with period splits of 41%/52% and 52% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 53%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 63%, with a 10-6 split.
In all situations the Flames had 46% of the shot attempts, 49% of the expected goals, and 48% of the high danger splits. The all situations expected goal totals came out at 3.14 to 3.33.
Individually the Flames were led by Yegor Sharangovich with a xGF% of 76% on the night five on five. Andrew Mangiapane, Dilon Dube, Elias Lindholm and Dennis Gilbert were all in the 60s. Connor Zary was at the bottom of the pile with 13% on the night.
