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On strong 5v5 numbers, Czarnik's role, and Hanifin's penalty killing |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
1) The Calgary Flames have to be really happy with where they're at right now. There have been some rocky performances, of course, but through 18 games they sit just one point out of top spot in the Pacific. They'd surely have signed up for that prior to the year. What's really encouraging is the team has found a way to have success despite horrendous goaltending from their starter. Mike Smith owns a .877 save percentage and has appeared in 66% of Calgary's games. That's not exactly a recipe for success and, again, the Flames have done quite well anyway.
At 5v5, they rank 4th in Corsi For%, 10th in Expected Goals For%, and are trending upwards. They also draw more penalties than they take. They have a lot of traits necessary to be a very good team.
If the goaltending holds up, there is no reason this team can't seriously contend for home-ice come April.
2) I'd really like to see Austin Czarnik get more opportunity moving forward. Not necessarily in terms of big minutes, but consistent minutes. In other words, a regular spot in the lineup. He leads the team with a 60.19 Corsi For%, 65.69 Scoring Chance For%, and his rate production has actually been solid. Despite finishing zero (0) of his 21 chances thus far, he's still averaging 1.74 points per 60 minutes at 5v5. That ranks him 5th on the roster behind Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, and Mikael Backlund.
He has been very good and yet already had to sit out numerous times so the likes of Garnet Hathaway and Anthony Peluso can play. It just doesn't make sense to me, especially after Calgary fought off a handful of teams – including Edmonton – to get Czarnik's signature. Might as well use him.
3) Small sample size, etc, etc. but Noah Hanifin has played very well on the penalty kill thus far. Six different Flames defenders have logged at least 20 minutes on the PK and Hanifin ranks 1st in Corsi Against/60 and High-Danger Corsi Against/60. He's known more as an offensive defender – and he hasn't killed penalties for Bill Peters in the past – so it's interesting that he's fared so well in that game state. We'll see if it continues.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and Corsica.Hockey.
Recent posts:
Strong showing from Smith not enough for two points in San Jose
On penalty killing prowess, Lindholm’s scoring, and goaltending
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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