I’ll take the point.
Down two goals to a desperate Vegas team, Flames come back to tie it and then have to kill off 90 seconds of powerplay to secure overtime. I’ll take the point.
In overtime the Flames had the first half of the four on four period, the Knights the second half, with Vegas winning on a flukey own goal off of Mackenzie Weegar’s skate.
The overtime loss moves the Flames to within four points of the Wild with a game in hand and a huge match up in six days.
Huge point. Keeps the season interesting for a few more days.
Gravy!
The Lineup
Third straight game with no changes in net, in the 18 skaters or any of the trios or pairs.
Nazem Kadri with Martin Pospisil and Joel Farabee (moving up from Backlund’s line), Morgan Frost with Jonathan Huberdeau and Matt Coronato, Mikael Backlund with Yegor Sharangovich and Blake Coleman. And finally a fourth line of Kevin Rooney with Adam Klapka and Ryan Lomberg.
On the blueline Joel Hanley with Mackenzie Weegar, Kevin Bahl with Rasmus Andersson, and Jake Bean with Brayden Pachal.
Second straight game for Dustin Wolf who was huge in the first period against Anaheim.
Stats Dive
Lets dig into the two forwards form Philly.
Neither have filled the net since coming to Calgary, that we know. Five on five Joel Farabee is 15th in skaters in the 25 games since the trade with a 0.80 points / 60. Morgan Frost is 18th in that stat at 0.55 / 60. (Adam Klapka is number one with his recent production, how about that?)
But how are they playing?
Joel Farabee makes pretty much everyone he plays with better. Of the six forwards that have played with Farabee at least 50 minutes since the trade only one player; Nazem Kadri, is worse with him than they are without him. The other five players; Yegor Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Jonathan Huberdeau and Morgan Frost all benefit from his presence. Sharangovich with a 17% boost.
With Morgan Frost more of mixed bag. The experiment with Martin Pospisil and Yegor Sharangovich was an abject failure as those two players are 12% and 15% respectively better without Frost. On the plus side Jonathan Huberdeau and Matt Coronato both receive a boost when playing with Frost; Huberdeau almost +10%. So clearly a good fit with that new line.
In fact the Frost-Huberdeau-Coronato line is the second best line with 50 or more minutes for the Flames this season with 56.7% in expected goals.
The Backlund-Coleman-Farabee line is 51.6%.
Production isn’t there, but there are some positive signs.
Wolf’s Start
Without Dustin Wolf this wouldn’t have been much of a hockey game.
The Flames started slow putting all kinds of pressure on their rookie goaltender. High danger chances were 5-0 for Vegas, but only 1-0 on the scoreboard due to his blood, sweat and tears.
Second period was better for Calgary, but Vegas still had the majority of the play. Calgary with 24% of the expected goals through two periods, but 33% of the goals.
In the end it’s 3.33 in Vegas expected goals all situations and three against for Wolf (really two).
Great game. He got the Flames a point tonight.
Odds and Sods
Calgary received some wiggle room with the Wild lost on Long Island last night. If the Wild continue their pace (after the loss) the Flames at puck drop tonight could go 6-1-0 instead of the 6-0-1 that was the case before the Wild loss. … There are two teams playing of course, and the Knights are one of the best. But the Flames couldn’t have started this game worse. Skating in sand, a powerplay that gave away momentum, and no real scoring chances. Terrible for a huge game. Except one guy; Dustin Wolf was amazing. … The Flames were actually better in the final third of the period but it’s the Knights that score on a third line turnover, catching the D on a change …. Zayne Parekh eliminated tonight so it will be interesting in the next few days to see the plan. Would think he joins them on the road in California but doesn’t play until next weekend? … The Flames were considerably better to start the second period. Nothing to show for it but considerably better. … How about that fourth line? They believe now. All three players are handling the puck better and working of each other on the forecheck. Fun to see, and unexpected as hell … Goal wouldn’t and shouldn’t count anyway, but how do you have two pucks stop with a whisker touch of the back of the red line in one week? That’s nuts. … What a huge goal to come with 8 seconds left in the second period. With Kadri clanking it off the iron with about 15 seconds left you felt the eye rolling. Set up a more interesting third period. … Midway through the second period Huska juggled three of the four forward lines by moving around wingers. Jonathan Huberdeau to Kadri’s line, Adam Klapka to Frost’s line and Yegor Sharangovich to Rooney’s line. Seemed to work, and interesting for Klapka. … Is there a guy on the Flames that makes your blood pressure rise more than Matt Coronato with shooting space? That game tying goal was pretty much the “Coronato”. So good to see. … Man that linesman was either a spotlight seeker or way too engrossed in the structure of a face off. Tough to watch … Feel for Weegar and Wolf on the overtime goal. Terrible luck.
Fancy Stats
Honestly the Vegas Golden Knights were the better team, pretty much start to finish. The Flames had their pushes, but Calgary won the goalie battle and with that secured a big point. The Flames, five on five, had 48% (45%/57%/42%) of the shot attempts, 31% of the high danger chances, and 30% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 48% of the shot attempts, 33% of the high danger chances and 32% of the expected goals.
Individually, the Flames were led by Morgan Frost with 75% in xGF% on the night. No one else was even close. One other player was above the 50% mark on the night, Joel Farabee with 7%. Eight players were under 20% on the night with Kevin Rooney and Ryan Lomberg at the bottom under 10%.
