Balanced Attack Keeping Flames in Playoff Race

Calgary is tied with Carolina for second most players with 30+ points

What the Flames lack in highly productive individual offensive output, they make up for with balanced scoring. Calgary has eight players with 30 or more points (Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman, Yegor Sharangovich, Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Andrew Mangiapane, Noah Hanifin, Rasmus Andersson), which is tied with Carolina for second most.

It would be nine if Elias Lindholm still plied his trade in Cowtown, but that ship left the dock over three weeks ago. There are a few eye-popping individual numbers to write home about. Weegar leads all defencemen with 15 goals, the Flames’ current claim to statistical fame. Connor Zary is tied for fourth in rookie scoring with 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists), while Sharangovich has six shorthanded points, tied for second with four others.

MacKenzie Weegar, Calgary Flames (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Kadri leads the team with 50 points (20 goals, 30 assists) in 57 games, which is the NHL’s joint-50th most. Kadri and Huberdeau sit atop the team’s power-play point list with 10. If you’re wondering, that’s tied for 117th. The Flames won’t be mistaken for having a superstar at the centre of most offensive forays and contributing to the lion’s share of goals.

However, Ryan Huska’s men dole out more than their fair share of deaths by 1,000 cuts.

Do the Flames Have a Bona-Fide Top Line?

The offence is so balanced it’s almost impossible to decipher which is the first line. Like Calgary’s weather, it changes daily.