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Adapting Playstyle — Forward Lines Shuffled — Shane Wright |
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In the wake of what some might call “a third period collapse” against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday — head coach Darryl Sutter has opted towards a reconfiguration of the forward lines. Here is the foreword group they ran with for the first seven games of the season.
Huberdeau-Lindholm-Toffoli
Dube-Kadri-Mangiapane
Coleman-Backlund-Lewis
Lucic-Rooney-Ritchie
And here is what the team practiced with yesterday. Courtesy of Pat Steinberg. @Fan960Steinberg
Huberdeau-Kadri-Mangiapane
Lucic-Lindholm-Toffoli
Dube-Backlund-Coleman
Lewis-Ruzicka-Ritchie
Rooney
Weegar-Tanev
Hanifin-Andersson
Zadorov-Stone
Mackey
Markstrom
Vladar
Take a moment to process that lineup before we get into some of the changes.
Adapting Strategy
Sutter pointed out that with the subtraction of two 40 goal scorers from the roster came the need to change the team’s style of offence towards more shots and more net front plays. So far this year, the Flames are third in shots on net per game.
October 2022 – Over Seven Games
Shots For/GP: 37.4
Shots Against/GP: 27.6
Shots Differential/GP: 9.8
Honestly not a huge difference from last year, but the change in differential is encouraging.
October 2021 – Over Eight Games
Shots For/GP: 35.4
Shots Against/GP: 30.3
Shots Differential/GP: 5.1
Whether the 2022-23 Calgary Flames are a more talented group than the season prior is debatable, but you can see Darryl’s systems are still working. Fun fact, the Calgary Flames have outshot their opponents in every game so far this season. They are the only team in the NHL to do so.
What was that? Ah, yes. The game tonight.
The 4-4-2 Seattle Kraken are in town tonight to play the 5-2-0 Calgary Flames. This will be their first regular season matchup of the season.
The Dave Hakstol led Kraken have been alternating winning and losing for six games now. The good news? They won their last game. A 3-1 triumph over the sliding Pittsburgh Penguins, who are on a four game losing streak.
The Flames, meanwhile, are looking to get back on track after an ugly loss to one of the league’s weaker teams in terms of depth. That being the Edmonton Oilers.
A few points of note.
You Put What Where?
Moving Milan Lucic to the second line with Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm is going to be a trip. The big man has looked faster this season, but you have to wonder if Connor Zary or Jakob Pelletier would be a better fit.
Release the Slavs
Slovakian pivot Adam Ruzicka gets into his first game of the season tonight. He’ll be centering Trevor Lewis and Brett Ritchie. While that may not sound ideal, it should be noted that Ritchie has a point in each of his last three games. Lewis himself had an assist on Ritchie’s second period marker last game.
Czech goaltender Daniel Vladar will also be starting tonight in net. The 6’5” backup has work to to get his .896 save percentage above .900.
Special Teams
Hakstol’s group enters the game with an embarrassing 66.7% success rate on the penalty kill. Good for 30th place in that category. Allowing a goal every third powerplay against is no recipe for success.
The Flames meanwhile boast a 26.9% powerplay. It’s unlikely this game results in a low scoring affair.
The Wright Call?
Much controversy has surrounded the deployment of the 4th overall pick in the 2022 NHL. Once viewed as the consensus first overall pick, Wright has only found his way into five of Seattle’s ten games this season. He also sits last on the team in ice time per game.
TOI/GP — Shane Wright
6:51 (20th on the roster)
Many fans want to see more of what they were sold on as a future franchise cornerstone.
Emphasize “future”. His game isn’t quite up to snuff just quite yet.
While his top speed looks NHL quality, he has some lateral work to develop. A common occurrence with prospects.
Another common occurrence with newly drafted players is strength. Wright isn’t there yet. He’s getting overpowered both on the boards and in the faceoff dot.
Faceoffs — Shane Wright
5/17 or 29.41%
The Kraken — well the Seattle Kraken simply can’t afford to lose more faceoffs. They already sit dead last in the NHL. A glaring 41.0% over ten games.
Practicing with professional players is more beneficial than many realize, but one has wonder when the Burlington, Ontario native is headed back to the Kingston Frontenacs.
New Look First Line
Who else likes the idea of Nazem Kadri and Andrew Mangiapane getting a shot on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau? The rangy left wing did his best work with the speedy Sam Bennett and Anthony Duclair during his time on the Panthers. Tonight will be an interesting one for the Flames’ highest paid player.
Game time is 7:00pm mst.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via naturalstattrick.com and nhl.com.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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