Not sure the Flames fully deserved that one; they may have had a bit of a steal from their starting goaltender.
But two points is two points. The Flames turned a 1-0 Kings lead into a 2-1 come from behind victory to stack back to back wins after losing two before their road trip.
The Flames were fueled by Matt Coronato who had a goal, and an assist and led the team in underlying numbers.
The win keeps pace with the Canucks who won in Toronto tonight, keeping the standings super tight as the Flames hit the halfway mark on the season.
Just can’t believe how gutsy this team has been this year.
I personally didn’t have them in it in mid January.
Quite the story.
The Lineup
One change, sadly … with Connor Zary out indefinetely with a knee injury. The Flames recalled Rory Kerins, but are incorporating him over the weekend for an NHL debut likely this week. So Walker Duehr comes back into the lineup.
So no change at the top; Nazem Kadri between Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil, Mikael Backlund back with Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato. Then the Zary injury results in a change to the bottom two lines; a third line with Yegor Sharangovich between Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier, and a fourth line of Kevin Rooney with Ryan Lomberg and Walker Duehr.
One the blueline we see Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl. Mackenzie Weegar with Joel Hanley and Jake Bean with Brayden Pachal on the third pairing.
Dustin Wolf with the start in goal, as he gets back to back to back starts.
Pre Game Stats Dive
The win over the Ducks was the Flames’ 40th game of the season and an end to the fourth ten game segment.
Comparing the last ten games to other segments …
Per 60 Stats
| Seg | CF60 | CA60 | SF60 | SA60 | GF60 | GA60 | xGF60 | xGA60 | HDCF60 | HDCA60 |
| 1-10 | 58.9 | 66.5 | 26.3 | 32.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 10.5 | 10.4 |
| 11-20 | 64.0 | 57.7 | 31.1 | 27.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 9.6 | 9.7 |
| 21-30 | 64.2 | 55.0 | 27.0 | 25.1 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 10.6 | 10.0 |
| 31-40 | 63.3 | 52.8 | 28.3 | 26.8 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 10.1 | 10.3 |
In a lot of ways it was the Flames best segment of the season, as they had the best 5 on 5 expected goals of their ten game groups, and the best expected goals against. They were +0.4, which is a season high.
% Stats
| Seg | 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 |
A season high xGF% number, which is a positive.
Shooting percentage has improved.
Goaltending rock solid in the 10 game segment.
Wrangler’s Watch
What a test for the Calgary Wranglers.
With Rory Kerins with the Flames, the team is now missing their top four points per game producers in Kerins, Matt Coronato, Jakob Pelletier and Walker Duehr.
Oh and their head coach.
Kerins was held out for Friday night’s game, with the team expectedly struggling ain a 5-2 loss.
Could be some tough sledding for the Wranglers in the next few weeks.
Wolf’s Start
The Kings had a whopping 2.12 in all situations expected goals … in the first 20 minutes.
Not a good start for the Flames, but Wolf stands tall (height joke) keeping the Kings to one in a period that could have completely gotten away.
Super quiet second period for Wolf, with the Kings looking tired and not generating a lot.
In the third they ramp it up a bit though when Calgary went ahead, forcing Wolf to make some key saves late.
Kings only generate another goal (roughly) after the first period, so LA finishes with 3.21 in total expected goals, and Wolf gives up the single.
Stolen game?
Odds and Sods
Not entirely surprised that the Flames came out as flat as a pancake tonight. Off since Tuesday, and the disruption of the cancelled game, and cancelled 2nd half of the mother’s trip is recipe for being flat footed. So with that the first was all Los Angeles, with Dustin Wolf keeping the game at least interesting through 20. … Can’t blame the Zary line for not having chemistry with Zary out, but man it looks like that line is dead in the water with the engine no longer in the car. … Momentum shifted to the Flames somewhat in the second period, as the Kings playing the second half of back to backs appeared to hit a wall. Calgary tying the game up on a snipe from Matt Coronato. Coronato now has 10 on the season, guessing he’ll be 20 at least next season and going forward if not this season. He’s on pace for 22 if he played all 82 games and 21 with the missing 5 games this year. He’s on pace for 50 points in 82 games as well, 47 with the missed games. The kid has clearly arrived. Guessing he’s 3rd in team scoring when the dust settles on the season in a few months. … I think if you added up all the offsides for every player on the team other than Nazem Kadri, Kadri would still be ahead in comparison. Two in a minute in the second period tonight. Not a great night for Kadri to be honest, a few occasions where he chose to hang on to the puck when they had numbers only to turn it over. … With Jonathan Huberdeau’s third period goal he’s now on a 36 goal 60 point pace this season. It’s not 115 points, but it’s clearly his best season in Calgary colours. What I like is the physicality. He wins a lot of puck battles, and even grabbed Byfield after he swatted Wolf tonight. …
Fancy Stats
Calgary on the wrong side of the play driving stats for the game five on five, and ironically not just in the first 20 minutes (which would have been my guess). Calgary was out high dangered 5-0 in the third period. The Flames, five on five, had 48% (55%/56%/38%) of the shot attempts, 40% of the high danger chances, and 47% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 48% of the shot attempts, 40% of the high danger chances and 45% of the expected goals.
Individually, the Flames were led by Matt Coronato posting an xGF% of 67% on the night, adding to his two point night. He was joined over 60% by Mackenzie Weegar. Only four other players finished above the 50% mark; Mikael Backlund, Andrei Kuzmenko, Joel Hanley and Ryan Lomberg. At the bottom 2/3 of the fourth line with Kevin Rooney and Walker Duehr both posting 0% on the night.
