The Flames played about as good a game as you can against one of the best team’s in the circuit.
They settled in and pretty much carried the play five on five from about the five minute mark of the first period through to the end of the contest, but didn’t have the finish to tie the game and secure a point.
The Caps win 3-1 with a third period breakaway by Protus to put it away.
The Flames have now lost two in a row in that tight West Wildcard race.
Up next is the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
The Lineup
With the loss in Winnipeg there was bound to be some change, and change there is with two callups, two healthy scratches and a different goaltender.
The top three lines don’t change; Nazem Kadri between Jonathan Huberdeau and Jakob Pelletier, Mikael Backlund back with Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato and a third line with Yegor Sharangovich at center between Andrei Kuzmenko and Martin Pospisil. The fourth line tonight is Clark Bishop between Ryan Lomberg and Adam Klapka.
On the blueline more change in an attempt to plug the sizeable hole left by the the injury to Kevin Bahl. Mackenzie Weegar with Tyson Barrie, Rasmus Andersson with Joel Hanley and a third pairing of Jake Bean with Brayden Pachal.
Barrie and Klapka up from the farm, and healthy scratches to Daniil Miromanov and Kevin Rooney.
The red hot Dustin Wolf is back in the nets trying to thwart Alexander Ovechkin.
Pre Game Stats Dive
The Flames are 48 games into their improbable season, which means eight games into segment five with a 5-3-0 record.
The 5th segment has been their 2nd most successful ten game segment of the season, this despite some alarming trends in the team’s five on five play.
Segment | Win % |
1-10 | 0.550 |
11-20 | 0.700 |
21-30 | 0.400 |
31-40 | 0.600 |
41-50 | 0.625 |
Through eight games they’ve had the worst xGF60 of any segment, and the second worst xGA60. Their high danger generation for is almost non existent, and they are giving up 20% more high danger chances per 60 than we’ve seen at the worst of the previous four segments.
Their high danger splits have been around 50% all season. In the last eight games they sit at 40%.
Segment | SH% | SV% | CF% | SF% | GF% | xGF% | HDCF% | PDO |
1-10 | 8.7% | 93.3% | 47.0% | 44.9% | 51.4% | 47.8% | 50.3% | 102.0 |
11-20 | 5.8% | 95.2% | 52.6% | 52.9% | 57.7% | 48.7% | 49.7% | 101.0 |
21-30 | 6.3% | 88.8% | 53.8% | 51.9% | 37.8% | 52.1% | 51.5% | 95.1 |
31-40 | 7.8% | 95.0% | 54.5% | 51.3% | 62.1% | 53.5% | 49.4% | 102.8 |
41-50 | 8.4% | 92.0% | 48.6% | 47.0% | 48.3% | 46.4% | 40.6% | 100.4 |
That can’t continue … or else ….
Wrangler’s Beat
The Wranglers have managed to keep their heads above water using a rotating cast at the top of the roster due to Flames recalls.
That continued this week the recall of Adam Klapka and Tyson Barrie (who helped the Wranglers in two conditioning starts), but alleviated with the return of Rory Kerins.
The hottest player going right now is 2nd year forward and former 2nd round pick William Stromgren.
Stromgren had a torrid finish to his first AHL season, and many were anticipating more of the same from the Swedish winger this season. So it was somewhat disappointing to see him put up only two goals and five points in the team’s first 10 games of the season; especially with the Wranglers running over the opposition.
But then he found it.
Month | GP | Goals | Assts | Points | PPG |
10/1/2024 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.5000 |
11/1/2024 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 0.8000 |
12/1/2024 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 0.9000 |
1/1/2025 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 1.2500 |
A November with 0.8 points per game.
A December with 0.9 points per game.
And then January … through 12 games Stromgren has four goals and 11 points for 1.25 points per game.
He sits 2nd on the team in scoring behind Dryden Hunt.
Back on the radar; if he ever left.
Wolf’s Start
Didn’t face much action in the first period with only 4 Cap shots in the twenty minutes.
Got beat when Mackenzie Weegar inadvertently slid the puck over to a wide open Dubois, who beat Wolf glove side.
A little more to do in the second period for Wolf, and he stands tall. The Caps break through for their second of the night on a five on three with Strome beating with a backhander to the far side. No chance.
In the third Wolf has to stone Alex Ovechkin not once, not twice, but three times. That has to be a huge moment for a young goaltender.
Wolf is beaten again in the third on a breakaway seconds after a Washington penalty expires.
The Caps generated 3.31 expected goals in all situations, and Wolf was ahead of the curve giving up three.
Odds and Sods
The Flames were a little loosey goosey early, giving up a quick goal to the Capitals in the process. But then they settled down and were by far the better team the rest of the first period. All told the Flames had 78% of the all situations expected goals in the first period. Complete dominance. … The Sharangovich line was the team’s best in their mini two game road trip, and they had some good moments in this one too. But they were victimized on the Capitals first period goal. … Really happy for Tyson Barrie to get back into an NHL game, and play a role with a big powerplay assist in the second period. Such a good dude. Probably hasn’t turned out like he hoped this season, as far as role, but you just never know in a long and winding NHL season. … You know you’re a threat on the powerplay when a team alters their three man defense in a two man disadvantage to take away the shot of one player. Rasmus Andersson cheating out to take away the Ovechkin one timer and low and behold Strome is open by the net (where Andersson would normally be). … The Flames had so many chances on that third period powerplay to tie things up. They just can’t finish when presented with huge opportunities. It’s been a theme all year. … I thought Adam Klapka was fine tonight. To be fair he’s playing on the fourth line with another AHL guy, and a tiny tough guy, so he’s not getting a lot of rope. But once again it felt like the game was a bit fast for him. Took a silly cross checking penalty in the third after hitting Tom Wilson. … And speaking of that hit, Rasmus Andersson was none too quiet about letting Wilson now he embellished the injury/impact of the cross check. Later in the period the two players collided and Andersson started screaming in pain and grabbing his side, getting quite a reaction.
Fancy Stats
The Flames were the better team overall, generating more high danger chances and shot attempts five on five but didn’t have the finish to make the Capitals pay. The Flames, five on five, had 61% (67%/61%/50%) of the shot attempts, 64% of the high danger chances, and 51% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 58% of the shot attempts, 52% of the high danger chances and 46% of the expected goals.
Individually, the Flames were led by Matt Coronato posting an xGF% of 76% on the night. Four players were in the 60s; Andrei Kuzmenko, Mackenzie Weegar, Jake Bean and Blake Coleman. Tyson Barrie was at the bottom, his thorn for sure with a 30% night.