They BARELY did it, but the Flames won a road game, the first since Game 3. They also scored more than 3 goals for the first time in over 20 games. They needed the 4th line to chip in 2 goals, and the D 1, but they did it, but barely. Nashville has fallen off the cliff and sits as the league’s worst team. Calgary, although they dominated play, couldn’t put the game away, and scrambled to secure the regulation win.
What’s working thus far?
I don’t think anybody thought the Flames would be doing as well as they are. After losing arguable a #1,#2, adnd #4 defencemen they’ve mananged to keep goals against down by getting team buy-in to their defensive system. It’s stunning to think how many players the Flames lost, but still seem to be around the same mid-tier team they’ve always been. Hot goaltending has also filled the gap playing above expectation.
Out in the past year: Markstrom, Lindhom, Hanafin, Tanev, Zadorov…. that’s A LOT of players. A lot of GOOD players you can’t just replace. But somehow it’s sort of working approaching the Christmas break.
What’s NOT working is the mess on offence. Lean at centre, underperformance by stars like Kadri and Kuzmenko, off-set by a youth movement with Cornato and Zary mainstays.
Where do the Flames go from here? You have to think the offence figures out something in the New Year. They can’t be below average forever. Or maybe they can. And what we all expcet is the nosedive off a cliff. I don’t think the team is led in a way that players will allow a complete collapse. So team Tank will have to wait another season. Heck, maybe a true tank season a la San Jose is not going to happen….Maybe, the Flames are getting better. Maybe they’ll be good enough by the time the new rink is built? A lot of maybes….
