Entertaining night for a team well out of it.
Nazem Kadri with three points, Andrei Kuzmenko with two more, goals from two rookies in Matt Coronato and Connor Zary and a win from Dustin Wolf in a crazy 6-5 win over the Coyotes on Sunday night.
Tank fans will be stressed with the Flames potentially falling to 9th overall in the draft, but honestly if you were told in November that the Flames would move Lindholm, Hanifin, Tanev and Zadorov for futures and finish in the bottom ten for draft picks I think you’d be happy.
Season winds down with a game in Vancouver on Tuesday and then a game back at home with San Jose on Thursday.
The Lineup
No change at all! Something we haven’t seen of late.
Up front it’s; Mikael Backlund back with Andrew Mangiapane and Yegor Sharangovich, Dryden Hunt with Connor Zary and Jonathan Huberdeau, Kevin Rooney with Matt Coronato and Walker Duehr and Nazem Kadri with Martin Pospisil and Andrei Kuzmenko.
Only one defense pairings; Mackenzie Weegar with Daniil Miromanov, Oliver Kylington back with Rasmus Andersson, and Nikita Okhotiuk with Brayden Pachal.
Dustin Wolf in goal for his second straight start.
Who’s On a Heater?
Flames leaders in the last ten games … wll be updated game by game to get a top 5 in an updated rolling ten game segment.
Points / 60 in all situations?
- Kuzmenko 4.88 (that’s crazy!)
- Kadri 3.88
- Huberdeau 3.05
- Sharangovich 2.73
- Weegar 2.36
Then a big gap down.
Play driving (xGF%)
- Hanley 61.6% (4 games)
- Coleman 59.9%
- Backlund 59.1%
- Huberdeau 59.0%
- Weegar 57.5%
Goaltenders (Save Percentage)
- Wolf .887 5 starts
- Markstrom .876 5 starts
Wolf’s Start
Gave up five goals but got the win.
Coyotes with 3.25 in expected goals, but there has to be an asterisk or two as the Coyotes scored a few goals outside the home plate on one timers that looked more than a little difficult to corral.
Three straight wins for the young goaltender though, which is key for his development.
Matt Coronato’s Season
Ups and downs right?
I think it’s key that he’s had 40 games at the AHL level and over a point per game in those games. That kind of AHL season for a mid round pick would be a huge step forward.
At the NHL level thought it’s been more up and down, but I think it’s ending well.
Great snipe tonight on a puck that he turned over and then finished himself unassisted. On the recent three game trip through California he easily could have had three or four goals but fired his cannon wide with almost every opportunity.
It’s coming.
He looks faster, he’s winning more board battles and he has a 90th percentile NHL shot.
Next year could be fun.
Kadri Goes Off Again
Game 901 was pretty much like game 900.
Three more points, this time with two goals instead of one as the Flames best forward continues to keep it rolling.
He’s now up to 29 goals and 74 points on the season pretty much leaving all doubters in the wake.
Great season in year two of a seven year deal.
Kuzmenko Story Continues
The player’s chemistry with Kadri is incredible.
A goal and two more assists tonight giving him 25 points in 27 games with the Flames and 17 points in his last 9 games.
Crazy.
His off year is now 20+ goals and potentially 50 points.
Won’t revisit the trade details again, but it’s sliding hard against Vancouver.
Odds and Sod
Is this the first time a franchise have moved twice? I think it might be. Quebec to Colorado … stayed. Atlanta to Calgary … stayed. Atlanta to Winnipeg … stayed. I know there was some chaos with the Cleveland Barons merging with the Kansas City Scouts, going to Colorado and then to Jersey, so I think that counts but it’s odd. Second time at least. … Have always hated the font on the back of Coyotes jerseys. I think I’ve wined about this before, but this is likely my last chance. … Had to chuckle at the official yelling “good job there … good job there” to Martin Pospisil when he took a player in behind the Coyote’s net without a suspension worthy hit. …. I would surely be looking to bring Dryden Hunt back again next season. I had my moments this year where I was frustrated with his elevation in the lineup but he’s a good pro and a great plug and play player for a rebuilding team. … Mikael Backlund with his 39th point tonight. Just money for that 40 goal season every year of his career. Such a great all time Flame. … Sharangovich’s 31st goal of the season was also 59th point of the season making him the highest single season scorer in Belarusian history passing his former coach and mentor Mikhael Grabovski. Said it about a dozen times but give Craig Conroy and the pro scouting staff credit, that trade was larceny. …
Draft Position
Not a good draft position night as the Flames pick up two points and deny the Coyotes from picking up any.
Really looked like a cruising Coyotes win for most of the game.
They are now tied with the Seattle Kraken and now would draft 9th overall.
Fancy Stats
Mixed bag of play driving stats for the Flames in a wild 6-5 home ice win. They had 43% of the shot attempts five on five, 59% of the high danger attempts but only 42% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 45% of the shot attempts, 65% of the high danger chances and 44% of the expected goal split.
The Flames were led individually by Martin Pospisil with 65% expected goal splits five on five. Mackenzie Weegar was also in the 60s. Only four other players were above water; Daniil Miromanov, Walker Duehr, Dryden Hunt and Nazem Kadri. Two players were under 10% in a winning result; Andrew Mangiapane who was demoted and Kevin Rooney.
