Beyond the Boxscore: Devin Cooley kept things close, but not enough to topple visiting Senators

The Calgary Flames offence couldn’t generate much against the visiting Ottawa Senators, losing 4-1. 

CF% – 38.52%|| SCF% – 27.06%|| HDCF% – 18.02%|| xGF% – 28.49%

It’s a Team Game – The game last night was truly uninspiring from the Calgary Flames side of things, and yet, after trading MacKenzie Weegar that sits perfectly alright with myself. No, I don’t think it’s acceptable to have a losing culture and accept losses regularly, but they are easier to swallow when your team makes an active attempt towards securing a better future. Instead of forcing a roster too flawed to compete to push for the playoffs the Flames finally took a step back, smelt the flowers, and came to the realization that they are the 31st team in the league and need to act as such. They need elite reinforcements to be competitive (and possibly a switch in how they attack in the offensive zone), something they’ll get if they keep putting in team performances like this one. 

Corsi King – For the second straight game nobody finished above 50% in terms of their shot attempts. Blake Coleman (47.83%) with a 14-15 for/against ratio led the team, with Joel Farabee (44.76%) and Zayne Parekh (44.44%) behind him. It wasn’t a good game for the Flames in any aspect outside of their goaltending. They failed to stop chances, they failed to transition the puck, and they failed to generate anything at all – even with the goaltender pulled on a late powerplay for a 6-on-4 advantage. I do not think this roster should have this much of an issue generating offence, but until something structurally changes into how the team approaches their attack this will continue to occur. 

Under Pressure – 

Taken By Chance – Only one forward earned multiple high danger chances, earning a solid 2. Matt Coronato (44.71 SCF% // 25.94 HDCF%) was that guy, a player who is going into the end of this season. I am really hoping for some form of an offensive burst. Something that shows me he can produce goals independently without needing to be pasted next to a certain type of centreman. Showcase to me some playdriving skills and the potential you showed last year to make me believe he’s going to be a 30 goal scorer. To be honest, the last few months have really affected my opinion of Coronato – I’m nowhere near as high on him as I used to be, but a solid stretch of production over a couple weeks could get me back there. 

xG Breakdown – 

xGF% – I am getting quite tired of hearing how much every person related to, or with an ear focused on the team, relentlessly talking about “leadership” as an excuse to not trade some veterans. What a crock of propaganda. If Mikael Backlund (29.30 per cent), your captain, and your 10 million dollar veteran in Jonathan Huberdeau aren’t enough for a transitioning team I don’t know what to tell you. There isn’t a single older professional who can relate to the skillset Zayne Parekh (30.06%) possesses. Pardon me for thinking I’d rather have him model his game after Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes rather than Zach Whitecloud (20.55 per cent) or Olli Maatta. Keeping around veterans, whose value most likely does nothing but go down with time, because you are worried that Joel Farabee (50.79%) or Kevin Bahl (37.72 per cent) can’t step up into that void is ridiculous. I loved him here, and he was one of the most consistent Flames i’ve ever seen in my life, but if Blake Coleman (37.18 per cent) is still a Flame after the deadline this team has failed. Nadem Kadri (21.39 per cent) at his age and cap hit I can see being something that has to wait until the summer, but Coleman is one that needs the trigger to be pulled before teams pivot and spend their assets on something else. I know the reports are the offers “aren’t good enough” to consider trading Coleman, I just simply don’t believe that. No way teams in this league will let a player of his championship calibre just sit there for too long. If they do, this entire league needs a rehaul of the braintrusts. 

Game Flow –

Game Score –

Shot Heatmap –

In The Crease – The star of the evening without question was Devin Cooley. He made highlight reel saves regularly and kept his team right in it up until the end. The score may have read 4-1, but the two empty net goals skew things for those that did not watch. Was the game actually as close as a 2-1 game? No, Ottawa was way better and deserved more goals. Does that matter to Devin Cooley in the slightest? Not at all. The most comfortable crease the Flames have ever had since Kiprusoff retired, and yet they sit 31st. At least they know they don’t have to worry about the crease for two more years. 3.19 expected goals against at 5v5 with just one getting behind him. 

The Goals –

Flash’s 3 Stars –

1) Devin Cooley

2) Matt Coronato

3) Kevin Bahl

(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)

PRESENTED BY VIVID SEATS