Terrible score, but a better effort is my summary.
The Flames didn’t get the save tonight, and didn’t have the finish, but they team as a whole was much better shift to shift than they were against San Jose on Thursday night.
Bottom line is another loss though, their third in a row moving them further and further out of the wild card discussion.
The team has already started selling, but if there was ever any doubt the signal is bright now.
The Lineup
A tough night against San Jose has a few changes; on on the fourth line and a bit of an eye brow raiser in net.
So look for Yegor Sharangovich between Jonathan Huberdeau and Adrei Kuzmenko, Nazem Kadri with Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil and Mikael Backlund with Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman and finally a fourth line with Kevin Rooney centering Dryden Hunt and Walker Duehr.
On the blueline it’s the usual top two pairings; Noah Hanifin with Chris Tanev and Mackenzie Weegar with Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington lining up with Brayden Pachal.
Seemed like a late change on Thursday night having Wolf play ahead of Markstrom. Today back to Jacob Markstrom in net suggesting that Jersey deal isn’t imminent.
Line Metrics Coming In
xGF%
Huberdeau – Sharangovich – Kuzmenko 75.8%
Mangiapane – Backlund – Coleman 55.5%
Zary – Kadri – Pospisil 56.2%
Hunt – Rooney – Duehr NA
Hanifin – Tanev 53.4%
Weegar – Andersson 47.9%
Kylington – Pachal 48.0%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +18.4
Vladar -6.7
Wolf -8.8
Trend Tracker
Now that we’ve seen five games from Andrei Kuzmenko in a Calgary uniform, lets take a look at where he sits in statistics / ice time.
Points / 60 – 4th at 1.98 (behind Coleman, Kadri and Zary)
Goals / 60 – 1st at 1.98 (ahead of Zary and Sharangovich)
Individual Expected Goals / 60 – 1st at 0.98 (Pospisil 2nd)
Individual Scoring Chances / 60 – 4th at 7.93 (behind Kadri, Pospisl and Mangiapane)
Individual High Danger / 60 – 1st 7.93 (no one close)
xGF% – 1st at 65.85%
It’s very very early, but offensively he’s certainly stirring the drink to start his career in Calgary.
Jacob Markstrom’s Start
Biggest news is the guy in net at all with things between Calgary and Jersey seeming very close Thursday and Friday.
But not his best.
Pulled halfway through the second period with four goals on 12 shots.
Not his night, and the numbers support it with the Flames the better team in terms of chances.
Out goaltended tonight.
Something we haven’t seen a lot of of late.
Game Flow
Kind of an odd first period for the Flames. They carry the play through the first 2/3 of the period but don’t get rewarded, and then give up back to back goals in a tight span. Not they’re chasing the game from the 15 minute mark. Red Wings lead 2-0 through 20 minutes and the Flames with some work to do.
Second period sort of a continuation. The Flames with more of the territorial time, but nothing to show for it. The Wings without a lot of zone time but with two goals. Markstrom pulled after the fourth goal and the Wings lead 4-0 after 40 minutes. Seemed doubtful the Flames were going to dig their way out of this one.
Kind of a mailed in third period with neither team really pushing the case. The Wings get a late goal to add insult to injury in a game that was pretty much a runaway. Flames just not good on home ice of late. Wings win 5-0.
Odds and Sods
Is this Jacob Markstrom’s last start as a Calgary Flame? Certainly could be. If it is he goes down as the third best goaltender in Flames history? Or fourth? Clearly we have Kiprusoff and Vernon, but where does Reggie Lemelin fit vs Jacob Markstrom? Good debate. … Another game with Martin Pospisil deeply involved. Have to love the way the player defends teammates and injects himself into the fabric of the game. Eric Francis after the first period said he won’t fight, he’s had 6 concussions, but he has to continue to muck it up and force the issue anyway.
Special Teams
Flames soundly beat on the special teams docket with the Wings scoring two powerplay goals and the Flames coming up empty in five chances.
The Wings were 2/5 the Flames 0/5.
Not the difference maker in this one, as the Flames were out played five on five as well, but certainly the icing on the cake.
Standings and Record
The Flames lose.
The Blues lose.
So there’s that.
But in the grand scheme not good news as the Flames now need to climb over four teams once again with a three game losing streak.
Calgary likely has a max loss total of around seven now.
Not looking good.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 38 Wings 21
Face Offs: Flames 40% / Wings 60%
Powerplay: Flames 0-5 / Wings 2-8
Fancy Stats
Five on five the Flames were the better team, but they couldn’t get the save nor the finish to get off to the start they needed. Five on five the Flames had 61% of the shot attempts with period splits of 67%/50% and 63% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 71%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 67%, with a 6-3 split.
In all situations the Flames had 62% of the shot attempts, 76% of the expected goals, and 59% of the high danger splits. The all situations expected goal totals came out at 5.50 to 1.78.
Individually the Flames were led by Walker Duehr posting a xGF% of 91% five on five. Brayden Pachal, Dryden Hunt and Kevin Rooney were in the 80s. Only Andrew Mangiapane was under water on the night, and he was 48%.
