The big difference maker will be if the team can start capitalizing on the chances that Huberdeau is starting to generate.
This team plus an extra goal a game or so will be dominant.
an extra goal/game from their October/November average plus vladar & markstrom allowing ~2 goals against on more nights than not is going to alter the Flames record dramatically
that's the direction they appear to be heading and the encouraging thing is how comfortable they appear to be in 1 goal games
rather than playing to pad stats like the Oilers have, they're wholly committed as a group lately to sealing the result
that mentality and commitment is going to win them more games when it matters
Location: I'm somewhere where I don't know where I am
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Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent
an extra goal/game from their October/November average plus vladar & markstrom allowing ~2 goals against on more nights than not is going to alter the Flames record dramatically
that's the direction they appear to be heading and the encouraging thing is how comfortable they appear to be in 1 goal games
rather than playing to pad stats like the Oilers have, they're wholly committed as a group lately to sealing the result
that mentality and commitment is going to win them more games when it matters
Exactly
They looked better last night winning 3-2 than the oilers did the night before winning 7-2.
Coleman had a great game. So did Dube. Still no luck for Mangiapane.
The backlund, coleman, mangiapane line is starting to gel it looks like.
Agreed. Coleman was on fire and Dube was dominant all game long. Best game of the year for both players. Mangiapane continues to be the biggest disappointment on the team this year. Really hasn't been doing anything well. If he can step his game up in the second half of the season the Flames will become a bigger threat.
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Ritchie looked like a shoulder injury.
I expect to see Rooney or Zahorna called up to backfill his role. Depends on how Sutter wants to shuffle the deck.
Agreed. Coleman was on fire and Dube was dominant all game long. Best game of the year for both players. Mangiapane continues to be the biggest disappointment on the team this year. Really hasn't been doing anything well. If he can step his game up in the second half of the season the Flames will become a bigger threat.
Mangiapane (other than taking stupid penalties) has actually been quite good offensively this year ... just snake bitten.
1st on the team in xGF%
1st on the team individual expected goals
Just isn't scoring.
He's right on his career average in individual high danger chances / 60
Guessing it will just shake loose one of these days.
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Mangiapane (other than taking stupid penalties) has actually been quite good offensively this year ... just snake bitten.
1st on the team in xGF%
1st on the team individual expected goals
Just isn't scoring.
He's right on his career average in individual high danger chances / 60
Guessing it will just shake loose one of these days.
This is more of an indictment of xGF% than it is an endorsement of Mangiapane's play. He's been pretty terrible this year - getting better, but a ways to go yet.
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I am now understanding why Treliving didn’t want to go super long term with Mangiapane.
He scored a lot of goals last year during a couple of heaters, so I don’t think it is too unexpected that he isn’t on pace for 35 again, but I thought 20-25 was an easy target for him. With the way things are going, it is going to be a struggle to meet that benchmark as well.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 01-01-2023 at 11:32 PM.
I looked at the league leaders in that category last year (minimum 800 minutes) to see if there is some correlation with what I would expect.
Some interesting results:
Mangiapane was high in this category last year as well, 32nd in the league.
Sam Bennett was 10th.
Tkachuk 4th.
Pool party 37th
Lots of good players are among the leaders in xGF/60 so there is some correlation with traditional expectations. But I just don't see Mangiapane looking all that dangerous out there so I'm not convinced by that statistic. There are some very average players among the league leaders too.
Seven game run of divisional opponents, and the Flames went 5-1-1. And they deserved a better fate with the loss.
Also, 8-3-4 in their last 15 overall now, which is a .667 pace - it's slowly building, and I think they will be much better in the 2nd half.
Goaltending and defensive mistakes have certainly been shored up. Could still use more consistent finishing. That might require some help from outside of the current roster closer to the trade deadline.
It’s crazy how stark the difference is from last years team in that our leading scorer currently is 53rd in the league and the next leading scorer is 82nd. Pretty clear indicator of how different this team is compared to last year.
Probably also an indicator as to how good of a job the coaching staff has done to have them in a similar position in the standings minus the scoring horsepower. Quite an accomplishment.
