Beyond the Boxscore: Calgary Flames embarrassed on home ice by San Jose Sharks

Taken By Chance – In a very “of course they did that” way the Backlund (34 SCF% // 100 HDCF%) line didn’t surrender a single 5v5 high danger chance against. At least Huska has one line he can rely upon no matter the level of competition that strolls through the Stampede gates. Also not being subjected to a day of misery from the 35-point Sharks was Kevin Rooney (55.22% // 100%) and what I’m going to call the Lego line. It’s pieces change so constantly it’s hard to get a sense of what they’re going to be the next game – different pieces on different days. Cole Schwindt (50.59% // 100%) certainly deserves to keep playing he did nothing wrong in that one.

xG Breakdown – 

xGF% – The first period being all Flames is going to skew the overall quality share in favour of the whole roster. So, due to that, anybody finishing well below 50% of the share really had a bad night. Rasmus Andersson (44.08%) and MacKenzie Weegar can’t turn in a performance with that many failed zone clears. On a plus note Andrei Kuzmenko (70.15%) continues to be a sparkplug of offensive chances. He’s clearly rejuvenated here in Calgary and already has the C of Red falling in love with his personality. He found success getting chances in his brief time away from Huberdeau (59.32%) and Sharangovich (59.32%). Is he the next 200-foot king? Not a chance, but the man knows his way around the offensive zone.

Game Flow – 

Game Score –

Shot Heatmap – 

In The Crease – I’m a huge Dustin Wolf fan, but he was not himself in this game. He wasn’t coming out to challenge shots, playing back on his heels in the crease, and couldn’t track down pucks he maybe should have. The first two goals against he may have had some questionable 2-on-1 choices, but the defenceman should have never handed the puck to the Sharks on a silver platter to begin with. Throw in some deflections and I could probably make a case, but after watching Markstrom play at a Vezina level for the last few months it’s clear there was a major drop off. I do believe that if given more consistent NHL opportunities he could get himself into a rhythm, but alas – that was not the case Thursday. 1.63 expected goals against at 5v5, 4 medium danger and one high danger goal against.

The Goals – 

Flashalytic’s 3 Stars – 

1) Mikael Backlund

2) Andrei Kuzmenko

3) Nazem Kadri

(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)