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Player Grades: Flames Counterpunch Their Way Past Coyotes

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Calgary Flames Arizona Coyotes

On paper, the Flames may not have looked their best on Sunday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Drastically out-chanced at even strength in periods one (40.74CF%) and two (36CF%) and outshot 27-17 after 40 minutes, the boys in red found themselves depending on transition and odd-man rushes to keep Arizona’s 1-1-3 left wing lock from establishing neutral zone dominance.

Although their high-flying system may not have been providing positive results in terms of record since their exodus of big player pending UFAs such as Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, and Elias Lindholm, sticking to the course paid off on Sunday evening as the Flames traded blows to the tune of a 6-5 victory.

The team now sits in 24th place with 79 points and is four up on their vanquished opposition, the Arizona Coyotes.

Team Grade: B+

 

Performances to Like 

Andrei Kuzmenko: A goal and an assist tonight now has Kuzmenko at nine goals and seven assists in his last nine games. The Yakutsk, Russia product is tied for second place in offensive production since his hot streak began against the St. Louis Blues on March 28.

Grade: A

 

Nazem Kadri: The mind behind the play pointed out above, the 33 year old former London Knight scored two goals and potted one assist. The cherry on top was a 57.1% save percentage on 14 draws.

Grade: A+

 

See me after class 

Yegor Sharangovich: It’s hard to be too critical of the Belarusian when he nailed an excellent forehand-backhand deke to bring the Flames within one in the late second period.

That said, Yegor had a rough night in terms of playing defence. The notable LEGO enthusiast was out-chanced 22-10 at 5v5 and outshot 10-6. Plenty of fellow Flames had rough nights in terms of failing to shut down the opposition, but Yegor led the way after two periods by a vast margin. Yegor had a brutal 16.6CF% heading into the third period after being out-attempted 20-4.

Grade: C-

 

Andrew Mangiapane: Mangiapane is still working through something in terms of injury. Zero shots in 12:28 of ice time, terrible shot metrics, and, frankly, hard to notice. It may be time to shut the 28-year-old down for the final two games.

Grade: D

 

Daniil Miromanov: The mercurial defenceman had a chaotic night.

Off-games happen. Miromanov had an off game for the ages. The 6-foot-4 defender seemed to be all over the ice, yet never where he was supposed to be. Things came to a boil when he got caught too high and blew a tire on Coyotes goal number four during the second period. Prior to his spill, he was ineffectively streaking up and down the right side of the neutral zone in an attempt to catch up to the play.

Minutes later, Miromanov failed to block the right side passing lane on a three-on-two. A Jack McBain pass cleared Daniil’s reach and found it’s way to Josh Doan, who hammered a one-timer past goaltender Dustin Wolf.

Grade: D+

 

Reasons to Pound the Table 

For many, a win over the Coyotes couldn’t come at a worse time. An Arizona win would put the two teams tied for points in the standings.

Instead, the Flames are now out of reach to drop below Montreal and Arizona. A bittersweet result despite the game being one of the more exciting to take in this season.

 

More from CHN: 

[Stats Flips: Flames Enter Basement Dweller Territory Following UFA Sell-Off]

Calgary Flames Daily

(AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)

 

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