On Wednesday night, the Calgary Flames took on the Buffalo Sabres in the second half of a back-to-back after being blown out by the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Flames’ 5-2 Loss to the Blackhawks
Through the first 20 minutes against the Sabres, the Flames got only their second multi-goal lead of the season on the road, scoring two first-period goals. However, in the middle frame, they fell flat, allowing the Sabres to score and tie the game with two unanswered goals of their own. However, the Flames re-gained momentum in the third again, scoring four goals to close out the 6-2 victory.
Here’s what we can take away from this dominant Flames victory.
Snake Bitten Flames Get on the Stat Sheet
Through the first quarter of the NHL season, the Flames have been one of the worst offensive teams. While this won’t come as a surprise to most, their offensive output has still been much worse than expected.
Much of this can be attributed to the Flames’ top offensive weapons struggling. In this game against the Sabres, we finally saw Joel Farabee snap an eight-game goalless drought with his third of the season and Morgan Frost snap a six-game streak without a goal. Yegor Sharangovich also snapped a five-game pointless streak with a two-assist night.
We also saw Rasmus Andersson score his second goal in back-to-back nights, as he continues to heat up after scoring only one goal in his previous 10 games this season. This was his third straight game with a point, which is an encouraging sign with the Flames getting very little offence from their blue line.
While Nazem Kadri has four points in his last two games, he is the leading player the Flames need more production from, as he has failed to score in seven straight games, and is only on pace for 15 goals and 52 points, which would be his lowest totals since the 2021-22 season.
The other two the Flames need more from are Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar. While Huberdeau had two assists in this game, he is still working on an eight-game streak without a goal and has also only managed two points in his last seven games.
It is encouraging to see these guys get on the stat sheet, but the consistency from all needs to improve drastically.
Flames Starting to String Strong Performances Together
Before the Flames laid an egg on Wednesday against the Blackhawks, they had lost to the Winnipeg Jets in a shootout and snapped the San Jose Sharks’ four-game winning streak with a 2-0 shutout victory.
If you ignore the Flames’ 4-12-3 start to the season, and only had these last four games to look at, despite the 2-1-1 record, people would likely be quite satisfied with what the Flames have shown over this stretch.
However, the Flames have not gotten much credit for how well they have played over the past week, as they are in a situation where it will be nearly impossible to salvage the season.
The Flames have now won the expected goal share battle in three of their last four games, and in five of their previous seven. They have also started generating more high-quality scoring chances, winning the high-danger scoring chance share in three of their last four games.
While the results aren’t necessarily showing it on the surface, the Flames are playing their best hockey of the season over the last week. It is still nowhere near consistent enough, but they are showing signs of life.
Devin Cooley Deserves More Trust
Devin Cooley has not had the chance to get in the net often this season, with Dustin Wolf leading the NHL in starts. However, he has been making the most of his opportunities.
Wednesday night was Cooley’s fourth start and sixth game of the season. In this win over the Sabres, he saved 28 of 30 shots for a .933 save percentage (SV%), only getting beaten on two perfectly placed shots from Mattias Samuelsson and Tage Thompson.
Now through six appearances, he has a 1.80 goals-against average (GAA), a .935 save percentage (SV%), and has saved 4.56 goals above expected. That compares to Wolf, who posted a .892 SV%, a 3.08 GAA, and a negative-4.56 goals saved above expected.
This isn’t to say Cooley is coming for Wolf’s job. But I am suggesting that Cooley has been good enough to warrant more starts to take some of the load off Wolf, as starting him in 82% of games has not worked out well so far this season.
What’s Next for the Flames?
The win closed out a short two-game road trip. They will now return home for one game against a red-hot Dallas Stars team. Following that, the Flames will head out on the road for five straight games.
In addition to most of it being on the road, five of the Flames’ next seven opponents made the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. This could be their most brutal stretch of games this season.
