Back to backs … with start times 22 hours apart … in a building where you haven’t fared well … against arguably the best team in the National Hockey League is a tough set up for a hockey game.
So it comes as no surprise that the Flames dropped a 3-0 game in Vegas on Sunday night.
But that wasn’t the full story.
The game was close, very close, until the final five minutes when Vegas turned a 1-0 game into a two goal lead and then added an empty netter.
The Flames were full marks for the effort and for hanging in with tired legs.
The Lineup
A few changes to the Flames lineup despite the win in San Jose last night. Post turkey is a thing, and so to is back to back games starting 22 hours apart. So a change in goal (Vladar in for Wolf), on the blueline (Daniil Miromanov in for Hanley), and up front (Andrei Kuzmenko in for Walker Duehr).
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 a new fourth line of Kevin Rooney with Ryan Lomberg and Kuzmenko.
One the blueline we see Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl. Mackenzie Weegar with Daniil Miromanov and Jake Bean with Brayden Pachal on the third pairing.
Dan Vladar back in the net, his last start on December 19th against the Senators, an overtime loss.
Pre Game Stats Dive
Interesting to dig into the goaltending roles for the Flames this year.
Both goaltenders have made 17 starts, with Dan Vladar to go ahead in that battle tonight with the start in Vegas.
Wolf has had 10 of his 17 starts on home ice, to Valdar’s eight.
But where it really starts to break apart is in terms of quality of opposition. If you look at each team’s record on home ice and on the road, and then count the number of games for each goalie in each “class” they are very dissimilar.
Vladar hasn’t had any starts against teams with a situational win percentage below .300; Wolf has had three.
Vladar hasn’t had any starts against teams with a situational win percentage between .300 and .400; Wolf has had one.
Vladar has six starts against teams with situational win percentages in excess of .600; Wolf only three.
Dan Vladar is set to start his fourth second half of a back to back game tonight. Wolf hasn’t had to start one.
Very little doubt which goaltender has had the more difficult starts.
2024 Draft Pick Update
Anyone paying attention to Henry Mews?
The “other” OHL defenseman is lighting it up in the last half dozen games for his Ottawa 67s.
Mews has 18 points in 11 games in the month of December to move into a top ten spot in overall OHL scoring. That’s nuts!
Here is the updated year over year point per game pace of 2024 draft picks.
| GP | Pts | PPG | PPG 23/24 | YoY | |
| Parekh | 29 | 37 | 1.28 | 1.45 | 88% |
| Gridin | 30 | 36 | 1.20 | 1.38 | 87% |
| Basha | 23 | 29 | 1.26 | 1.35 | 93% |
| Battaglia | 33 | 43 | 1.30 | 0.97 | 134% |
| Mews | 33 | 45 | 1.36 | 0.94 | 145% |
| Misa | 33 | 49 | 1.48 | 1.23 | 121% |
Misa has slowed somewhat in the last ten days, and Zayne Parekh may be brooding somewhat with being left off Team Canada.
Vladar’s Start
Quite the first ten minutes!
By my count it could have been four nothing Vegas in the first ten minutes of the game without acrobatics of the Flames’ goaltender. Huge difference maker, allowing his teammates to settle down.
He has zero chance against that four way pass play from Vegas in the second period, to open the scoring. He had zero chance on the powerplay one timer in the third to put things away.
All told the Knights generated 4.17 expected goals in all situations and Vladar only gave up the two.
Excellent goaltending tonight.
Odds and Sods
The Flames came out flat as a pancake and were more than lucky to not completely give the game away in the first ten minutes of the hockey game. Great goaltending from Dan Vladar. … Glad to see Howden get the double minor for that swing on Jonathan Huberdeau. The follow through rule can be a little silly, and certainly in this case with the puck never struck you shouldn’t get carte blanche to tomahawk a player in the face. I say this every year at least twice, but change the rule; two for a mistake, four for being careless and five and a game for intent. Why do we care so much about blood? … Give the Flames some credit for the effort tonight. After the tough start they settled in and played a pretty solid road game. Once again they don’t have the finish, and playing against a great team it’s an uphill battle. No issue with the effort though. … How does Connor Zary do it? The dude isn’t big, but he protects the puck on the rush, and wins more battles than most players on the team. Great positioning with limited size. … Watching Matt Coronato with the extra man on an extended shift in the last two minutes was eye opening tonight. The player has really changed. The game has slowed down and he’s becoming a hockey IQ player with hands before our eyes. Great to see.
Fancy Stats
The Flames put in one hell of an effort on back to backs tonight, sticking with the Knights after a rough start and almost finding a way to get a point or two. The Flames, five on five, had 46% (41%/49%/50%) of the shot attempts, 45% of the high danger chances, and 50% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 48% of the shot attempts, 45% of the high danger chances and 45% of the expected goals.
Individually, the Flames were led by Matt Coronato posting an xGF% of 81% on the night. His linemates Blake Coleman and Mikael Backlund were next in the 70s. Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl were in the 60s. The rest of the team was under water with Kevin Rooney, Ryan Lomberg, Jake Bean and Jakob Pelletier all under 30%.
