A gutsy effort by the Flames and their goaltender Dan Vladar on the second half of back to backs.
Down a goal just a minute into the game, the Flames grind it out to the point where they tie it up in the third period, and then lose on a turnover with about eight minutes to play in a 2-1 loss to the Blues.
The loss snaps the Flames three game win streak, but they stay in a playoff spot with the Vancouver Canucks losing in Winnipeg.
The Flames have the Blues again on Thursday night, once again in St. Louis.
The Lineup
Back to back games after a big win. The Flames make one change; Dan Vladar back in the nets for the first time in five games with Dustin Wolf having played last night.
No change at the top; Nazem Kadri between Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil, Mikael Backlund back with Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato. A third line with Yegor Sharangovich between Rory Kerins and Jakob Pelletier, and a fourth line of Kevin Rooney with Ryan Lomberg and Walker Duehr.
One the blueline zero change as it appears the Flames have found a six they’re really happy with. So it’s Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl, Mackenzie Weegar with Joel Hanley and Jake Bean with Brayden Pachal on the third pairing.
Dan Vladar gets the short end of the stick again, he’s now 5 for 5 in starting games where the Flames played the night before.
Pre Game Stats Dive
Back to back games, so why not back to back expected stats dives, but tonight … the weak sisters on the team.
Starting with the defensemen, here are the rankings backwards (with only 7 in the mix, the top five and bottom five contain three of the same players).
| Player | xGF60 |
| Daniil Miromanov | 2.11 |
| Joel Hanley | 2.33 |
| MacKenzie Weegar | 2.35 |
| Kevin Bahl | 2.40 |
| Brayden Pachal | 2.42 |
No shock that Joel Hanley is near the bottom in expected goals when on the ice, but not a good sign for Daniil Miromanov to be behind him. Makes sense that we’ve seen a long run of Joel Hanley in the lineup when he beats out his competitor in the part of his game where he doesn’t excel.
In goal prevention, once again the blueliners are really a tight knit group.
| Player | xGA60 |
| Rasmus Andersson | 2.49 |
| Daniil Miromanov | 2.47 |
| Kevin Bahl | 2.45 |
| Jake Bean | 2.41 |
| Brayden Pachal | 2.35 |
Up front you see a different list of players with a bigger body count.
Offensively, you see the fourth line primarily in not driving play up the ice. All five members of the bottom five club have been on the fourth line this season.
| Player | xGF60 |
| Walker Duehr | 1.69 |
| Kevin Rooney | 1.70 |
| Justin Kirkland | 1.87 |
| Ryan Lomberg | 1.88 |
| Adam Klapka | 1.89 |
On the goal prevention side, sadly you see the same fourth liners, which isn’t a good sign!
Joined by Zary and Pelletier that have a little work to do in their own zone.
| Player | xGA60 |
| Adam Klapka | 2.97 |
| Justin Kirkland | 2.62 |
| Kevin Rooney | 2.60 |
| Connor Zary | 2.47 |
| Jakob Pelletier | 2.43 |
Vladar’s Start
Not the way he’d want to start with a Pareyko goal beating him high early from a tight angle.
Pretty good shot though.
Settled down the rest of the first period, and really for the rest of the game.
Didn’t have a chance on that third period tip on the Blues go ahead goal.
The Blues with 2.15 in expected goals in all situations, and Vladar gives up the deuce.
Solid game for that other goalie.
Odds and Sods
Not a terrible start for the Flames, they had the first rush chance of the game after all. But then caught in their own zone and beaten for the first goal of the game with Kadri line on the ice. Calgary bounced back though and was likely the better team five on five through the rest of the first period. … Another good start for Rory Kerins in game two of his career. He didn’t get the scoresheet action he got last night in Chicago, but had a solid first period moving the puck, being part of the rush, and keeping cycles going. Doesn’t look out of place at all. Led the Flames in five on five expected goals split; that will get you game number three! … Man I don’t think I’ll ever get over the way Nazem Kadri quits on plays that don’t go his way. Popular player in the room from all accounts, but the body language is atrocious. … The Flames really hit a wall in the 1/3 mark of the second period. About eight minutes into the middle frame they were generating chances and looking good. Then they wilted like Pacman caught by a ghost. Back to backs are tough. … Speaking of Kadri, I’m a little amazed the fanbase in that city would continue the boo parade against the player from that Colorado/St. Louis series a number of years ago. With the racist crap that came out in that feud they shouldn’t have the stones to continue the hatred. … Funny sequence towards the end of the second with the Flames on the last moments of a powerplay. Walker Duehr and Joel Hanley both showing very clearly they’d rather not have the puck, moving it back and forth to each other. Neither guy has a lot of offensive skill, and neither wanted to do anything substantial with it. … Give the Flames a tonne of credit for their third period. Looking dead in the second, they rebound both in energy and on the scoreboard with Bahl tying it up in the first half of the period. … Another game where you really notice Kevin Bahl. Sure he scored, but it’s the other stuff that piles up. Great stick in his own zone, mobility, and now becoming a beast on the pinch in the offensive zone. What a trade. …
Fancy Stats
Funny game for the Flames. They had all kinds of zone time, won the simple shot metrics test, but gave up more of the ten bell stuff and with that they put less pressure on the Blues goaltender, than the Blues put on Vladar. The Flames, five on five, had 57% (61%/50%/61%) of the shot attempts, 27% of the high danger chances, and 50% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 54% of the shot attempts, 27% of the high danger chances and 44% of the expected goals.
Individually, the Flames were led by Rory Kerins! posting an xGF% of 84% on the night. Mackenzie Weegar, Joel Hanley, and Kevin Rooney were all in the 60s. Brayden Pachal with a rough night at only 12%. Ryan Lomberg, Jake Bean, Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier under 40%.
