That one hurts.
The Flames seemed to be back to their defense first system against the Kraken on Saturday night, riding some tight defense and a great game from theri goaltender Dustin Wolf to a 2-0 third period lead and what looked like a snap of their losing streak.
But then the house caved in.
Seattle with two third period goals in two minutes, forcing overtime, and then a Seattle game winner on an overtime powerplay to move the Flames skid to three games heading into the Four Nations break.
With Vancouver winning today over Toronto things are not shaping up favourably.
The Lineup
More change with a baby due and back to back losses. Changes to all four forward lines and a top pairing.
Nazem Kadri with wing Jonathan Huberdeau and Matt Coronato. Mikael Backlund with Blake Coleman and Dryden Hunt. Morgan Frost with Yegor Sharangovich and Joel Farabee. And finally a fourth line of Kevin Rooney between Ryan Lomberg and Martin Pospisil. Will Pospisil be enough to lift that duo?
On the blueline it’s AHL call up Ilya Solovyov into the lineup to play with Rasmus Andersson, Mackenzie Weegar with Daniil Miromanov, and Bean moving back with Brayden Pachal.
In goal Dustin Wolf gets the start, despite losing three straight.
Pre Game Stats Dive
Mikael Backlund has taken a lot of flack on the site in the past few weeks.
The guy is 35, soon to be 36 and for sure he’s slowing down. But don’t look past his underlying numbers if you’re quick to shuffle the guy to the fourth line.
He gets all the nasty matchups.
Here is the minutes played against elite opposition in the NHL before tonight’s game.
| Player | Minutes |
| Mikael Backlund | 261 |
| Blake Coleman | 238 |
| Matt Coronato | 220 |
| Nazem Kadri | 198 |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | 198 |
His line, as expected is at the top of the list when it comes to minutes against high end opposition, with Backlund at the top.
But how do they do against the elite opponents?
| Player | Possession |
| Mikael Backlund | 48.5 |
| Matt Coronato | 44.9 |
| Nazem Kadri | 44.9 |
| Martin Pospisil | 43.6 |
| Jakob Pelletier | 43.6 |
Once again, Backlund at the top of the list with 48.5%, and a fair gap against the next closest teammate.
Toughest matchups, and best results against said toughest matchups.
He’s a long way from the fourth line.
Wolf’s Start
Didn’t this feel like a Dustin Wolf shout out?
Sure did to me.
With less than ten minutes to play Dustin Wolf was in the zone and cruising, but it then beat on back to back goals in just over two minutes sending the game to overtime.
Seattle with 2.57 in expected goals in all situations, and he gives up three.
Odds and Sods
Flames with a master class first period on the penalty kill, as the Kraken go 0/3 including a long five on three. Probably fair that the opposition gets a two man advantage as the Flames have had said advantage in three straight games coming into tonight’s game. … Too early to call it definitive, but it looks like Martin Pospisil on the fourth line might be a difference maker for a trio that has been hemmed in pretty much for all their minutes in recent games. Some chances in the offensive zone, and certainly less time chasing it in their own zone in first period shifts. … More of the same for the fourth line in the second period, some good zone time. Thank God! … Out of the all new lines, I thought the fourth line (as discussed) was good, and the Frost line was good. Didn’t think the top line with Coronato had a lot of chemistry, and the Backlund line was missing Coronato. … Love me some Morgan Frost; such a cerebral player. He manages the puck well, sees the ice, and drives play. Fun player to watch. … What a pass by Jonathan Huberdeau to Nazem Kadri in the third period. Elite vision. And well timed too as the Flames were playing far too much in their own zone with a perilous 1-0 lead. … Equally bad play by Huberdeau on the game tying goal. Good coverage on the pinch, but tries to do too much and turns it over. … Pretty sketchy call in overtime in my opinion. There wasn’t much there.
Fancy Stats
Pretty even game overall. Calgary the better team in the first and second period, and then they pay for sitting on it in the third period. The Flames, five on five, had 53% (52%/68%/35%) of the shot attempts, 60% of the high danger chances, and 48% of the expected goals. In all situations they had 50% of the shot attempts, 55% of the high danger chances and 43% of the expected goals.
| Time | xGF | xGA | xGF60 | xGA60 | xGF% | |
| 5 on 5 | 51.4 | 0.45 | 0.33 | 0.53 | 0.39 | 57.7% |
| 5 on 4 | 4.0 | 0.37 | 0.10 | 5.55 | 1.50 | 78.7% |
| 4 on 5 | 3.3 | 0.00 | 0.28 | 0.00 | 5.14 | 0.0% |
| Other | 4.4 | 1.75 | 1.27 | 24.05 | 17.45 | 57.9% |
| Total | 63.0 | 2.57 | 1.98 | 2.45 | 1.89 | 56.5% |
| PP/PK | 7.3 | 0.37 | 0.38 | 3.06 | 3.14 | 49.3% |
Individually, the Flames were led by Martin Pospisil with an xGF% of 89% on the night. His linemates Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Rooney were 2nd and 3rd on the night with 88% and 78%. Daniil Miromanov and Joel Farabee were also in the 70s. Four players under 30% on the night; Jake Bean, Ilya Solovyov, Brayden Pachal and Jonathan Huberdeau.
