Some off-day thoughts as the Calgary Flames prepare for a four-game home stand starting against Tampa Bay on Tuesday night:
1) In the early going of the season one of the bright spots for the Flames was the play of Markus Granlund.
With Granlund on the ice the Flames were controlling play at full-strength and, by all accounts, they were enjoying more success with him than without him; although the sample size wasn't large (seven games).
In 10 games since that point his play has fallen off a cliff.
With Granlund on the ice the Flames are being caved in at 5 vs 5 as they're allowing the vast majority of the shot attempts and scoring chances.
Of late Bob Hartley has shown more confidence in Granlund at evens and hasn't hesitated to use him against opposing team's better offensive players (just a couple games ago he spent more time against Ryan Getzlaf's unit than any other). That has clearly not worked out, although I'm not sure that's the lone explanation for his struggles.
Whatever the reason(s) may be I think Hartley might be smart to take a step back with Granlund and ease up on his usage/make a more concentrated effort in getting him out against lesser opposing players until he regains his form.
2) Since the beginning of December Karri Ramo has turned a corner as he is 8-4-0 with a .922 save percentage.
Despite Ramo's improved play the Flames still sit dead last in 5 vs 5 save percentage as their goaltenders have stopped just .904% of the shots they've faced in that game state. The Flames aren't exactly a force to be reckoned with but imagine how much higher they'd sit in the standings if they had league average goaltending this season.
I mean, they're a point of a divisional spot despite dealing with worse goaltending than any team in hockey.
3) How crazy is it that the Vancouver Canucks, who are tied for last in wins with 15, currently sit in a playoff spot? I know they've pushed a plethora of games to overtime but that just doesn't sound right.