The thing is - as Text Critic pointed out above - the Flames are improving as it relates to PDO increasing their shots for and cutting down shots against. So it may well be that the PDO regresses towards the mean but the Flames are also trending towards better possession stats.
It doesn't take advanced stats to establish that the Flames stole some games early in the year, against Chicago in particular. And the Flames have built confidence, have started believing in themselves and have played better and better as the year goes on.
I like what I see when I see the Flames play. I don't expect them to win the President's Trophy and the Cup but I can't imagine a total collapse either. I would have been more inclined to accept Mirtle's analysis and predictions ten games in looking at the next ten but much much less so now.
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