The Calgary Flames are five games into 2024 and showing early signs of improvement. After a rocky start to the season, including a six-game losing streak in late October, the Flames struggled to gain traction. Players weren’t putting up the numbers that were expected of them, and the season seemed like a loss. In these first five games of 2024, however, they are showing signs of life.
Since the start of the new year, the Flames have played the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Ottawa Senators, earning a 3-2 record — losing to the Flyers and Blackhawks. Although it would have been nice to go 5-0-0 during that stretch, the improvement in their play is enough to give some hope for the future.
Flames Put Up More Shots
Through those five games, the Flames put 162 shots on net, for an average of 32.5 shots on goal (SOG) per game. Notably, every member of the team contributed to the SOG. Forwards Mikael Backlund and Yegor Sharangovich had 21 and 17, respectively, while defenseman Rasmus Andersson put up 11, including five in the Flames’ loss to the Flyers on Jan. 6.
Blueliner MacKenzie Weeger added 10 more SOG to his season total in the first five games of 2024, bringing his number up to 99. Although he’s only scored nine goals, his tenacity is what the Flames have needed — he scored the overtime winner against the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 27 (from ‘THE MUFFIN MAN’: Despite MacKenzie Weegar’s scoring success, teammates chirp on’, Calgary Sun, Dec. 4, 2023).
Related: Flames Continue Strong Play With 6-3 Win Over Predators
The blueliners especially stepped up when the team was struggling, but it’s good to see everyone contributing. There is no hierarchy within the team, nor is there one sole player who they need to rely on to score goals.
Huberdeau On The Rise
Jonathan Huberdeau’s name has come up often because of his struggles this season. He finally snapped an 18-game goal drought against the Wild on Jan. 2. Before that, his last goal came in the Flames’ overtime win against the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 20. Against the Wild, Huberdeau spotted an opportunity to get open in front of the net and took it with confidence. He controlled the pass from Elias Lindholm and slid the puck past a sprawling Marc-André Fleury.
Although he is nowhere near earning his eight-year, $84 million contract with his current production (six goals and 21 points in 41 games, he is taking steps in the right direction. Huberdeau also scored against the Flyers and has three assists in his last five games, including two against the Blackhawks and one against the Senators.
Flames Are More Cohesive
Even when they lost, the Flames still looked like a cohesive unit on the ice. Both losses were by one goal, while their wins were by two or more. Now that they’ve found lines that work up front, the Flames will hopefully see more output from their forwards. One of the best examples of this is the line of Nazem Kadri, Connor Zary, and Martin Pospisil. The rookies have performed excellently — demonstrated by their combined 13 goals during the season — while the veteran forward has benefited from playing with them, as he has 13 goals and 19 assists of his own.
With the forwards finding their footing and putting up better numbers up front, the defensive unit can focus on supporting their goalie. The blueliners will not have to constantly leave Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar hanging to constantly cover the holes left by the underperforming forwards. This new balance will be good for the Flames as they try to salvage the rest of the season.
Flames Looking Forward
The rebuild has been rough for the Flames. Between a new coaching staff, constant line changes, and key players slumping, 2023 wasn’t easy. Based on the opening games of 2024, though, the team could be heading into a more favourable second half.
There is no guarantee that the Flames will make it into the playoffs. They rank third from the bottom in the Pacific Division. However, they have also experienced bouts of success before a stretch of unfortunate losses this season, and they go could through something similar in the coming weeks. Slowly but surely, the Flames are figuring out how to play good hockey again.
