The Flames were great in the first, but weren’t rewarded.
They were even better in the first half of the second, and were rewarded with two goals and a bit of a bulge.
And then the roof fell in.
The Bruins dominated the last half of the game, erased a 3-1 deficit, and missed winning the game in regulation only due to the goaltending of Dustin Wolf before winning the game in overtime 4-3.
Tough loss for the Flames who hit a post early in the third which would have put them up 4-1.
Next up on the homestand, we see the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
The Lineup
Shut out win over the Florida Panthers screams leave the lineup alone, doesn’t it? Clearly Ryan Husky concurs as every line, pairing and goaltender are slotted the same as the win on Saturday night.
No change to the top line with Nazem Kadri between Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil, Mikael Backlund back with Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato, a third line with Connor Zary between Yegor Sharangovich and Jakob Pelletier, and Kevin Rooney with Ryan Lomberg and Walker Duehr.
One the blueline we see Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl. Mackenzie Weegar with Joel Hanley (Daniil Miromanov scratched). And Jake Bean with Brayden Pachal on the third pairing.
Dustin Wolf back between the pipes, coming off his 2nd shut out of the season.
Pre Game Stats Dive
That damn Montreal draft pick option.
The mushy middle.
The bane of the Calgary Flames fan’s existence.
This year there are a few ways to count the campaign a success, but to most the path with the least resistance was to finish in the bottom ten.
The other, less likely way though, was to have unexpected success making the gap between the Calgary pick and the Florida pick less significant. In that scenario you can point to the improvement of young players that got you to that unexpected result as receiving a year of excellent development and with that a good season for a rebuild.
The ugliest is to just miss the bottom ten, miss the playoffs clearly, and have Florida win the cup creating a 21 pick gap, the good pick going to Montreal at 11th overall, and Calgary drafting in Florida’s spot at 32nd overall.
Where do we sit now?
The “gap” is only 4 with the Flames at 14th overall in win % and the Panthers at 10th overall. That’s good news.
The record needed to be top ten in the draft? .436 the rest of the way which is 6.6 games over .500 and a final season total of 79.4 points.
Wranglers Update
The Wranglers dropped a game on Sunday, ending another win streak. They remain the #1 team in the American Hockey League with a 19-7-1 record (0.722).
And some young players are starting to really carry the mail.
Rory Kerins never seems to let up; he has 10 points in his last 8 games and 17 in his last 15 contests. Steady point per game player, showing his red hot start may not have been a fluke.
William Stromgren was held pointless in his last two games, but was good for eight points in his previous six games.
Sam Honzek seems to be adapting to pro hockey. He had four points in 10 games in November, but has followed that up with seven points in seven games in the month of December (so far). He had a three point game including two goals on the 11th.
And speaking of adapting; Hunter Brzustewicz is starting to find the production side of his game after an understandable transition to the AHL level. He had two points in 10 October games, one point in nine November games, and now six points in seven games in December. Heating up! He just turned 20 two weeks ago.
Wolf’s Start
Nothing to do in the first seven minutes.
Very little to do in the next 23 minutes.
Too much to do in the last 35 minutes.
So was the night for Dustin Wolf.
The Bruins generate 3.62 in expected goals in all situations, and Wolf gives up the fourth in overtime for an overall check mark.
Honestly don’t think they get a point without his play in the second half of the game.
Odds and Sods
Conroy had a great signing today, inking Brayden Pachal to a two year contract extension. Talk about found money! A waiver pick up that has fit in perfectly as the main guy on the third pairing this year. Literally zero downside to the deal. He’s only 25, he’s playing a steady brand of hockey, and if it hits the skids his contract can be buried in the AHL with zero cap hit for the Flames. Nice piece of business. … Any nostalgic fans out there would appreciate the Flames Alumni X feed this week with numerous interviews from the ’89 team. Lots of great stories, and lots of emotion. … Flames came out hopping tonight, completely owning the first 5 minutes, out shooting Boston 5-0, but didn’t get rewarded. … It’s interesting watching Connor Zary and Jakob Pelletier playing on the same line. They were, of course, on the same roster for Canada on the World Junior team in Edmonton. Now they’ve reversed though. Pelletier was a mainstay and a glue guy for the team, while Zary was the 13th forward. Now Pelletier is looking to stick top nine with Zary being well established. They seem to have chemistry though. … You don’t see a lot of three goal periods from the Flames, but that’s exactly what we saw in the 2nd period tonight. And a fun one too with goals by Matt Coronato and Ryan Lomberg, and an assist from Jakob Pelletier. … Speaking of Pelletier; clearly he’s seizing the moment right now and making those that wrote him off look a little silly, but is there a better bench hugger than this guy? Always all over the moment. … Flames run out of the building in the third. They were lucky to get it to overtime and take the point.
Fancy Stats
The Flames were 50/50 in zone time five on five against the Bruins, but the high quality stuff was much more in Dustion Wolf’s face than Jeremy Swayman’s. The Flames, five on five, had 50% ( 76%/41%/44%) of the shot attempts, 30% of the high danger chances, and 46% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 47% of the shot attempts, 31% of the high danger chances and 42% of the expected goals.
Individually, the Flames were led by Jonathan Huberdeau posting an xGF% of 72% on the night. Eight players were in the 60s; Jakob Pelletier, Nazem Kadri, Martin Pospisil, Connor Zary, Mackenzie Weegar, Joel Hanley and Jake Bean. Walker Duehr and Kevin Rooney with 2% nights based on their creation of literally nothing, their expected goals against wasn’t all that bad.
