The Calgary Flames looked a whole lot different last night in their first game back after the All-Star break. Four players were making their Flames debut: Andrei Kuzmenko, Brayden Pachal, Jakob Pelletier, and Kevin Rooney—the latter two making their season debuts.
All four had solid games, but the biggest storyline of the night was the absolute dominance displayed by the Flames’ new-look first line of Jonathan Huberdeau, Yegor Sharangovich, and the newly acquired Kuzmenko.
Prior to the blockbuster Elias Lindholm trade that happened over the weekend, the Flames had deployed a first line of Lindholm between Huberdeau and Sharangovich. After the trade, Ryan Huska made one small, but key change, moving Sharangovich to the middle and putting Kuzmenko on the right side.
In their first game together, the new top line was downright dominant. Let’s dig in. All numbers are from NaturalStatTrick.com.
The old line: Huberdeau-Lindholm-Sharangovich
Analytically, the old first line was actually quite bad. Their underlying numbers were among the worst on the team, and they gave up significantly more than they generated.
| Statistic | CF% | SCF% | HDCF% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old top line | 51.44 | 48.75 | 41.54 |
The line was underwater at 5v5 in all areas except overall shot attempts, giving up many more high-quality opportunities than they created. This line played 144:34 together at 5v5, and this type of stat line is well below what is expected of a top line on any team, regardless of where they are in the standings.
Looking at just goals, it’s the same story, if not worse.
| Statistic | GF% | xGF% |
|---|---|---|
| Old top line | 37.50 | 43.61 |
Despite this trio going on a short run of putting up points, it really was for naught. Their on-ice expected goals share was a dismal 44%, and their actual goal share was even worse at 37.5%.
Plain and simple, this line was getting absolutely buried at 5v5 and was a complete liability on the ice. It was not a good line, and it’s no wonder the production dried up.
The new line: Huberdeau-Sharangovich-Kuzmenko
Now this is what a first line should be doing.
The caveat here is the small sample size, which is fair, but early signs are extremely positive for this trio. Keep in mind they did this against the best team in the NHL (at the time), coming off a week of rest, and a stable roster.
| Statistic | CF% | SCF% | HDCF% |
|---|---|---|---|
| New top line | 56.25 | 71.43 | 100.00 |
It was just 9:43 of 5v5 ice time, but this line put up a strong share of overall shot attempts at 9–7, owned scoring chances at 5–2, and owned high-danger chances 2–0. It wasn’t close.
| Statistic | GF% | xGF% |
|---|---|---|
| New top line | – | 71.27 |
In terms of goals, the new line didn’t score or allow a 5v5 goal, but had the majority of expected goals at 0.31–0.13. The Flames did score two power play goals though, and all three of these players were on the ice for both of them.
The way they were playing, the 5v5 goals will definitely come. Here are a few of the best plays they had last night. First up, Kuzmenko’s goal to open the scoring off a slick feed from Huberdeau.
And then a couple of nice passing plays that led to quality scoring chances for the Flames.
A top line of Kuzmenko and Co. can be a lot of fun
This line has been described as “all gas, no brakes”, but they did a great job in all three zones last night. Of course, they were buzzing in the offensive zone as a top line should, but this could be a preview of the Flames’ top line for years to come.
If they play anything close to how they did last night going forward, this Flames team is going to be a ton of fun to watch.
