The Islanders weren’t goalie’d like the Predators were on Friday night.
The Flames had a pretty good five on five game, had the better chances, and stuck with it through 60 minutes.
But damn if the little guy (Dustin Wolf) didn’t hold the fort when things were in the balance setting up his team to tie it up in the third and eventually win the game in the shoot out.
Incredible young season from the Flames led by their goaltending, and Ryan Huska coaching.
Time to get on board? Can they actually do this?
The Lineup
Zero change from the shut out victory over Nashville. Same 18 skaters. Same starting goaltender.
Connor Zary continues his audition up the middle and lines up with Jonathan Huberdeau and Sharangovich on the wing. The second line is Nazem Kadri between Pospisil and Andrei Kuzmenko. The third and fourth lines remain the same; Mikael Backlund with Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato, and Kevin Rooney with Justin Kirkland and Ryan Lomberg. Adam Klapka sits.
One the blueline we see Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl. Mackenzie Weegar with Daniil Miromanov. And Jake Bean remains in the lineup with Brayden Pachal on the third pairing.
Dustin Wolf gets the start in goal, his first back to back of the season.
Pre Game Stats
Tonight lets take a look at how the Flames are trending in some five on five stats, comparing the team’s first ten games to their last eight (game nine in the second segment tonight).
Simple shot attempt metrics (CF%) – 47.0% in the first ten games / 51.1% in the next eight CHECK
Shots on goal (split) 44.9% in the first ten games / 52.4% in the next eight CHECK
Expected goal splits (xGF%) – 47.8% in the first ten games / 46.7% in the next eight
High danger splits (xHDCF%) – 50.3% in the first ten games / 48.7% in the next eight
Overall that suggests a better overall split in shot volume, but a disturbing trend towards giving up more than they generate.
And that’s reflected in the team save percentage which has gone from 93.3% in the first ten games to 95.6% in the last eight. Is that sustainable?
Shooting percentage has eroded, going from 8.7% in the first ten games to 6.6% in the last eight.
I love the Dustin Wolf story, but this team is still heading for a correction.
Wrangler’s Beat
Don’t look now, but another Wrangler’s forward is making an impact and getting noticed!
William Stromgren, a player that looked to have sputtered before an excellent second half to his first AHL season last year, seems to be finding his stride once again.
The big winger has ten points in his last eight games, including two games with three points. He now has 11 points in 16 games and sits 6th on the team in scoring.
No change from the top three in recent games as all of Rory Kerins, Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier continue to stay at or above the point per game pace.
A charge from Sam Morton as well, as he’s up to 12 points in 16 games.
The Wranglers have been a juggernaut.
Wolf’s Start
Pretty quiet first period by and large, as the Flames didn’t give up a whole lot.
But still Dustin Wolf was full marks for making some key stops and keeping his doughnut run rolling through another 20 minutes.
Shut out string is finally snapped at just over 80 minutes on an absolut snipe from Envall. Certainly couldn’t fault the goaltender.
Crazy third period as the first half is all New York, but Dustin Wolf keeps it a one goal game, and giving his team a chance to dominate the second half of the period and eventually tie things up.
Oh and then he’s perfect in overtime and the shoot out too.
What more can you ask for?
Final stats suggest 2.49 Islander goals in all situations, Wolf gives up just the one.
Cinderella story continues.
Odds and Sods
Have to hand it to Ryan Huska for his consistency with his goaltenders. Dan Vladar got a second start when he shut out the Devils, getting the net against Edmonton in a 4-2 loss. Now tonight we see Dustin Wolf in back to back games after shutting out the Predators on Friday night. … Another very low event start in this one, featuring a first period with very few shots, and even less high danger chances. Not a bad brand of hockey for these retooling Flames to play. … Cool to see Matt Coronato playing against his childhood hockey team. Has to be such a pinch me moment to look up and see those jerseys on every turn on the ice. … Daniil Miromanov had a solid first period for the Flames. Really jumping up in the play and creating offence. There is more in there. … Speaking of Miromanov, I think he may surpass Matthew Tkachuk for having his mouth guard the least relevant as possible. Constantly hanging out of his mouth. …. A telling graphic up in the second period with the Flames having gone 15 straight games scoring three goals or less. That’s not easy to do and stay above .500, yet here we are. Things could slide quickly though if they go from elite goaltending to just average. … Rasmus Andersson was looking for an Islander jersey when he scored the third period goal, but couldn’t find a target. … Honestly can’t explain it but I’ve always heard “Brock Nelson” in the tone of classic 80s tune “Rock Lobster” from the B52s. And I mean the high pitched part of the song. Doesn’t make any sense to me either. …
Fancy Stats
The Flames were the better team for the most part through 40 minutes, collapsed for 10 minutes to start the third, and then found their game again to tie things up and force over time. The Flames, five on five, had 58% (67%/61%/49%) of the shot attempts, 63% of the high danger chances, and 55% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 58% of the shot attempts, 61% of the high danger chances and 54% of the expected goals.
Individually, the Flames were led by Nazem Kadri with an xGF% of 68%. A bunch of Flames right behind Kardi with 60+% nights including; Mackenzie Weegar, Yegor Sharangovich, Daniil Miromanov and Matt Coronato. Three players under 40% on the night; Brayden Pachal, Jake Bean, and Connor Zary.
