An inability to draw penalties and score goals down the stretch of games led the Flames to struggle on home ice last season and ultimately miss the playoffs.
Advantage Margin: -37
One reason for the Flames' struggles at home was their inability to draw penalties. Calgary had a League-low 132 power plays at home, while surrendering 145.
Special Teams Goal Margin: -5
This number would have been worse without the eight shorthanded goals generated by Calgary's penalty-killers. The power play scored just 43 times, though at least it surrendered only two shorthanded goals.
Goals by defensemen: 36
Dion Phaneuf had 10 of those goals before he was dealt to Toronto at the end of January. Ian White, who came from the Leafs in that deal, had 4 goals in 27 games and a career-high 13 for the season.
Overtime Record
Total: 5-3-7 • OT: 2-3 • SO: 3-7
The Flames have never been an especially good shootout team, a trend that continued last season. Most of the problems came at the defensive end, where opponents scored on 17 of 31 attempts.
Times Scored First: 50 • Record: 33-11-6
The Flames scored first more than any team other than Chicago and Washington, but had only a middle-of-the-pack .660 winning percentage in those games. The bigger problem came when the opposition scored first; Calgary was just 7-21-4 in those games.
Best 09-10 Number: 10-2-2
Calgary's record in November, the best of any team in the League. Unfortunately for the Flames, the next time they were better than .500 in a month was March (9-6-0), and that was followed by a 1-3-1 mark in April.
Worst 09-10 Number: 55
Goals scored by the Flames in the third period, the fewest of any team in the Western Conference and the next-to-last total in the League.
Scheduling
Calgary has the chance for a fast start -- the Flames open in Edmonton, then play eight of their next 11 games at home. November is the opposite; they have a stretch of nine of 11 on the road. A five-game homestand in February includes the Heritage Classic against Montreal at McMahon Stadium on Feb. 20.