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Things are quickly going from bad to worse for the Calgary Flames.
A day after suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Coyotes, the Flames looked to get back on track against a Vegas team going through a similarly disappointing run of play. Suffice to say, they failed.
Backup goaltender Cam Talbot was left completely out to dry as the Flames no-showed in front of him. They allowed six goals and were full marks for it, giving up a season-high 41(!) scoring chances in the process.
There were countless turnovers, transition defense was horrible, and they rarely sustained pressure in the offensive zone.
It was an embarrassing performance, really, and led to some pretty telling post-game quotes from Matthew Tkachuk.
These kinds of performances happen once in a while to everyone. No big deal. What’s concerning is they’re being stringed together. That’s not normal.
This Flames team – almost identical to the group that won the Western Conference a season ago – now ranks 25th in points percentage. 25th!
A year ago they were dominant at 5v5. This year? They’re scoring 41.46% of the 5v5 goals, good for 29th in the NHL – ahead of a tanking Detroit team and a San Jose side dealing with .870 goaltending in that gamestate.
It’s not just the defense that is failing to get the job done; the offense is even worse right now. Calgary actually ranks dead last in terms of 5v5 goals per game.
I guess that shouldn’t be overly surprising considering only Tkachuk has out-scored Derek Ryan(!) in that gamestate. The big guns simply aren’t carrying their weight, and there’s not enough secondary scoring to make up for it.
With all due respect to Dillon Dube, who I think has a bright future with the team, I’m not sure his presence is going to make a world of difference.
If things don’t improve, and fast, in Flames land, GM Brad Treliving is going to make some real changes.
numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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