Johnny Gaudreau is a wizard: Flames vs. Jets Stat Recap

Hoo boy, what a Christmas present for us Flames fans. The franchise record-tying tenth win in a row at home and a Johnny Gaudreau hat trick. What more could you ask for (goaltending, another second pair defender, Joe Colborne healthy scratches)?

Corsi Charts

From hockeystats.ca

All

Well isn't that rare! A wire-to-wire dominant performance by the Flames. Now that's what we like to see!

5v5

Buuuuuuut we also must remember that the Jets are one of the least disciplined teams in the NHL. If the Flames had a functioning powerplay, this game could've gotten ridiculous.

5v5 score adjusted

Though scoring two goals early will help.

Shot plot

From war-on-ice.com

Goals are in red. Misses are in black. Blocks are in green. Saves are in blue.
Rush attempts are larger and italicized.
Rebound attempts are larger.

I'm a fan of how the Flames were able to generate most of their offence in the home plate area. Also, curious to note how many misses come from the left defensive side, and how only one of those was from Dennis Wideman.

Individual corsi chart:

	CF% All	OZS% All	CF% EV	OZS% EV
Jiri Hudler	75.56	71.43	64.29	45.45
Sean Monahan	73.91	71.43	62.07	45.45
Johnny Gaudreau	71.43	71.43	58.06	45.45
Dennis Wideman	68.29	65.22	57.14	41.67
TJ Brodie	60.78	57.89	50	33.33
Mark Giordano	57.78	53.33	45.71	36.36
Micheal Ferland	57.14	25	50	14.29
Dougie Hamilton	56.76	35.71	51.52	30.77
Mikael Backlund	55.88	25	48.28	14.29
Kris Russell	53.49	29.41	57.5	31.25
Joe Colborne	51.85	14.29	50	14.29
Markus Granlund	46.67	60	46.15	66.67
David Jones	45	10	45	10
Mason Raymond	45	70	38.89	66.67
Sam Bennett	44.44	66.67	44.44	66.67
Lance Bouma	42.86	10	47.37	10
Deryk Engelland	41.18	40	41.18	40
Matt Stajan	37.5	9.09	42.86	10

Player Spotlight(s)

I was originally planning to look at Lance Bouma's return, had it not been Johnny's night, so we're going to look at both. Let's start with Bouma, who looked solid considering his abysmal zone starts. He is a defensive player, similar to Matt Stajan, so it's no surprise the two work well together (50.00CF% together in 8 minutes of icetime, 33.33CF% apart for Bouma, 20.00CF% apart for Stajan). When he is TSFLB (top six forward Lance Bouma), he drags down players. If Bob Hartley knows that this is Bouma's ideal role, then he can be a more effective player last year without scoring 16 goals.

And now it's time for Johnny. What a wonderful man. Individually, he had two high danger scoring chances, five scoring chances, and 11 shot attempts. If you haven't heard already, he also did score a hat trick, his first, on December 22nd 2014 against the Kings. That game, he had six high danger scoring chances (nearly half of the team's total), seven scoring chances, and eight shot attempts. The kid loves Christmas.

The good:

• Bob Hartley created his own Christmas miracle by reuniting a loving family. This is the first time in a while that Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler played almost exclusively together, and the result is wonderful. If Michael Frolik wasn't hurt, the Flames could have a very solid top six.
• A lot of people were very good tonight, especially considering zone starts. Yes, that even includes Kris Russell, frequent punching bag for these articles. It wasn't even Dougie's work this time, as Russell was better away from Dougie at both EV and in all situations.
  

The bad:

• Much is being made of Sam Bennett's drop in icetime, but it's kind of deserved. I would certainly argue that taking him away from Backlund is a bad decision, but you'd expect him to do just fine with Raymond and Granlund, who have both been serviceable this season. The impact of Frolik's injury runs deep.

The ugly:

• No one really. It's a Christmas Miracle!

Up next:

The Flames get a break until the 27th, where they'll face the hated Oilers. I hope for a game just like this one, but double the score. The Oilers don't get a Christmas miracle.