The Flames don’t have the most talent laden lineup.
Playing the way they need to play to win games is a taxing experience. If the opposition matches their work ethic they can get themselves in trouble and chase the game.
Tonight the Oilers came out roaring and the Flames couldn’t get a handle on the game before it was 2-0 Edmonton, leaving the Flames chasing the game the rest of the way.
They tied it up in the third period before giving up the game winner on a late Edmonton powerplay on the way to a 4-2 Edmonton win on Sunday night.
Still can’t believe these teams only play three times … and in back to back seasons. Head scratcher.
The Lineup
Solid 60 minute effort, and with that zero change to the lineup or the lines.
Nazem Kadri between Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil, Yegor Sharangovich between Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Mantha (promoted from the fourth line). Mikael Backlund between Matt Coronato and Blake Coleman. The fourth line is Kevin Rooney with Ryan (speedbags) Lomberg and the demoted Andrei Kuzmenko.
No change on the blueline change as well. A top pairing with Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl. Mackenzie Weegar with Daniil Miromanov and Brayden Pachal with Tyson Barrie.
The biggest news is no change in goal as the team breaks up the recent rotation and goes Vladar in back to back games. Deserves it after a shutout. Dustin Wolf will have to wait for his first game against Edmonton.
Pre Game Stats
The Flames certainly aren’t leaning on special teams to be two games over .500 in the early part of the season.
Their powerplay is ranked 25th and their penalty kill is ranked 26th.
Key penalty killers for the Flames year are Kevin Bahl, Rasmus Andersson, Blake Coleman and Mikael Backlund. Mackenzie Weegar is just behind in shorthanded minutes per game.
Mikael Backlund has the lowest xGA60 shorthanded with 7.48, Brayden Pachal is next at 7.89. Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson are just over 8.0.
The Flames have a pretty even powerplay minutes split with six players between 3 and 4 minutes a night (Weegar, Sharangovich, Huberdeau, Kadri, Kuzmenko and Zary). Zary may slide with Sharangovich back in the fold.
Nazem Kadri has the highest xGF60 on the powerplay for players with 15 or more minutes at 8.73, Huberdeau, Zary and Weegar are just behind.
Vladar’s Start
Tought start.
Your team leaves Draisaitl parked in front of the net unchecked just 20 seconds into the contest.
His team got better in front of him though, as the night went on, and Vladar had himself a pretty good game when all was told.
Statistically the Oilers had an expected goal total of 2.19 in all situations, with Vladar giving up the three.
He was 3-1 against Edmonton coming in but that record moves to 3-2.
On the Farm
The early season goalie battle in the AHL is clearly between Calgary’s Devin Cooley and the recently acquired San Jose Shark’s Yaroslav Askarov.
Askarov has a .950 save percentage through 6 games, Cooley a .946 mark through 7 games. Only one goaltender ahead of them in the stat have played 4 games.
Walterri Ignatjew is off to a solid start with a .927 save percentage in 3 games.
The Wranglers as a team have the 6th most goals per game, and 2nd best goals against per game. They have the 5th best differential at +1.60.
They have the 12th best powerplay and the 9th best penalty kill.
Odds and Sods
Not the way you draw up the first shift as the Flames turn the puck over on an innocent play and are down 1-0 just 20 seconds into the game. They didn’t recover all that quickly as well, as they spent much of the first 10 minutes in their own zone and only found their game towards the middle of the period. … Two things on the Kuzmenko demotion. One, good for Ryan Huska, I think you need to send a message when a player doesn’t show up. We’ve seen it with Mantha and now we’ve seen it with Kuzmenko. And secondly, I thought Kuzmenko handled the demotion really well. His feet were moving and he was driving that fourth line early in the game. … Mantha was really effective tonight in how he went to the net. Scored the first goal on a tip, and provided the screen on the second goal. … Speaking of benchings, it sure looked like Kuzmenko was elevated and Zary demoted for the third period. Zary turned the puck over a few times in the middle period. … Edmonton didn’t generate much after the mid point of the first period. … Not too down on Martin Pospisil’s third period penalty in the offensive zone. A cross check, or trip is one thing inside the enemy blueline but an accidental high stick just happens. Resulted in a big goal though. … What a time for a too many men on the ice penalty. Ouch. …
Fancy Stats
The Flames started on their heels, righted the ship midway through the first and then were likely the better team the rest of the way, but they couldn’t tip the scales from the rough start. The Flames, five on five, had 56% (57%/54%/55%) of the shot attempts, 71% of the high danger chances, and 53% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 57% of the shot attempts, 71% of the high danger chances and 48% of the expected goals.
Individually, the Flames were led by Tyson Barrie with an xGF% of 77%. He was joined in the 70s by Anthony Mantha, Kevin Rooney and Andrei Kuzmenko. Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil with miserable nights at 21%.
