What's working for the Flames this year?

[voyageur]

I have only seen one Flames game this year against the Jets, and a couple of preseason stints. What's working for the Flames this year? Does it start in net? Skating of the defense? I would call them one of the early surprises out of the gate, a team that was supposed to be rebuilding, that's staying ahead of the pack.

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[Bjornar Moxnes]

Dustin Wolf. The Flames aren't a good team and should be a bottom feeder.

 

[Rowlet]

Desperation

 

[Lunatik]

I have only seen one Flames game this year against the Jets, and a couple of preseason stints. What's working for the Flames this year? Does it start in net? Skating of the defense? I would call them one of the early surprises out of the gate, a team that was supposed to be rebuilding, that's staying ahead of the pack.

A few things:

• Dustin Wolf is 3rd in the NHL in SV% of any goalie with 7+ starts, .002 behind Stolarz and .001 behind Gustavsson.... .002 ahead of Hellebyuck
• Rasmus Andersson is playing like a legit #1 defenseman. He leads the team in scoring, and is 21st in the league among defense scoring with just 1 PPP (which came tonight), he's t-4th in ESP w/ 12, the 3 tied for first have 13. And he's playing nearly 25 minutes a night.
• Kevin Bahl... he's really stepped up and been excellent with Andersson, I might even argue he's been better than Weeagr this year so far, and that's not a knock on Weegs
• Young forwards are having impacts... while they're not the best nightly, Zary, Coronato and Pospisil have all had positive impacts for this team.
• Dan Vladar to the surprise of most is playing above average right now, maybe that hip surgery was really needed.
• Ryan Huska. He's got the team playing hard and has them believing in themselves, so they never quit.

But it is prudent to acknowledge this team is also a game under .500 since the game their 5-0-1 start, so that start is still skewing our record.

 

[HighLifeManIsHigh]

Desperation

Weird comment

 

[MNRube]

They have 3 2nd lines and a couple top pairing D to go with a hot goalie. Teams have made the playoffs with less.