Perhaps, but that kind of stuff averages out over the course of a season, IMO. And other teams go through the same thing, that's not something that's exclusive to just the Flames.
In general stuff does usually average out over the season... but... who would have thunk that Neal would end the season with a 5% shooting percentage or that Jankowski wouldn't score his first goal until the season was more than half over. Sometimes stuff just doesn't average out. Sometimes you just end up with a long run of bad luck. Why are the Flames having such a poor season this year compared to last when the roster is virtually identical? Frankly I think the team is just experiencing a long run of bad luck and I don't have very high hopes that they will now experience a long run of good luck to average things out.
Did the Flames have a better than they should have regular season last year? Possibly. Are the Flames having a worse than they should have season this year? I think so. I think with the way the season is going so far, and the bad luck that the team has experienced, that the Flames are going to have to fight and scratch for every point they get from now until season end. The team is better than the points show but I don't expect a bunch of easy wins, in the next 30 games remaining, to make up for all the tough losses so far, to average out the record.