Statistical Breakdown

Team Stats

5v5 SVA CF% SCF% HDCF% xGF% 57% 58% 60% 66% 43% 42% 40% 34%

5v5 Player Stats

Calgary Flames

T.J. Brodie lead the Flames with an incredible 85.71% CF percentage

After scoring a goal against Las Vegas, Noah Hanifin posted a team low 29.17%

Both Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington were on the ice for 3 HDCF chances for

Opponent

Lean Bergmann was the only Shark with a 50% CF in 6:40 of ice time

With 16 Corsi events against, Tomas Hertl posted a team low 38.46% CF

In his first game back at SAP Centre, Patrick Marleau had one assist in the win

Stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick

Thoughts on the Game

Although the score does not show it, the Flames did not look bad for the most part tonight. They had sustained pressure all night long, especially to start the second period, but could not beat Martin Jones who stopped 31 of 32 shots.

Although the Flames allowed three goals against, it’s hard to pin any of them on Cam Talbot. The first one bounced off a foot in tight, the second one was a perfectly placed shot from the top of the circle by Kevin Labanc, and the third was off a shorthanded two on one. Talbot generally looked good tonight, and was able to stop a number of great chances by the Sharks.

3M looked excellent again. All three forwards posted over 80% CF percentages, which is truly incredible. While they managed 13 shots on net, including a Mikael Backlund breakaway, they could not give the Flames the win. Expect this line to stick together to start next game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Milan Lucic and Sam Bennett were the only two bottom six players who were above 50% CF, but neither looked great tonight. While Lucic had a reasonably good game, Bennett gave away the puck numerous times and struggled to make plays. Every time he had the puck on his stick, it took him an extra second or two to make a play, giving the Sharks time to reset and shut him down. It seemed like he was second guessing himself tonight, but he definitely was not good enough.

The rest of the bottom six was also not effective tonight. The fourth line of Andrew Mangiapane, Derek Ryan, and Tobias Rieder was especially bad, posting a collective CF of 37.5% in 8:37 of five on five play. Interestingly, they played more than the third line of Bennett, Lucic, and Austin Czarnik at five on five. Mangiapane, who has been one of the Flames better forwards through the first five games, really struggled tonight against a gritty Sharks team. He did not record a shot on net tonight, and posted a brutal 33.33% CF.

What it really came down to tonight was the 3M line was unable to capitalize on their scoring chances, while the bottom six especially struggled. Cam Talbot looked sharp tonight in the loss, and will be someone to watch as the season progresses. The Flames could not solve Martin Jones, who bounced back after a slow start to the season. A much more complete game tonight from the boys in red, who managed to out-shoot and out-chance the Sharks all night long, but just could not get the pucks into the back of the net. The Flames will be hoping for more puck luck next game against the Flyers

The Gaud, the Bad, and the Beautiful(win)/UGLY(Loss)

Good: 3M had an incredible game tonight. Carrying the team all night

Bad: The Flames bottom 6 was not good enough tonight. Yet another game that the Flames could have used more from them.

Ugly: GIving up a shorthanded two on one is never a good strategy, and it really hurt the Flames in this one.

Next Game

Opponent: Philadelphia Flyers

Record: 2-0-1

Standings: 4th in the Metropolitan

Season Series: 0-0-0

Photo by: Brandon Magnus/ NHLI Via Getty Images