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SNAPSHOTS: Flames' win streak snapped by Jets

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Darryl Sutter had a feeling this could happen.

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The Calgary Flames head coach didn’t buy the narrative that the Winnipeg Jets were arriving in the city road-weary playing the second half of a back-to-back and experiencing some adversity. They’d lost five straight and only scored five goals over that span.

He also paid no mind to the fact his own club was entering Saturday’s game from a position of strength — on a four-game win streak, with points in seven straight games and becoming the talk of the NHL with their stingy, suffocating play. 

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So in lots of ways, a 4-2 Flames loss to the Jets on Hockey Night in Canada was a predicable result. Ditto for the bounce-back game from Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who made 34-of-36 attempts from the Flames. 

“I’ll tell you this about Connor Helleybuck,” said the Flames head coach. “He was pulled in the first period (Friday), and he’s probably the top two or three goalies in the league. He had a pretty good game. 

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“You knew that was coming.”

Matthew Tkachuk put the Flames on the board just 26 seconds into Saturday’s game, a fantastic finish on a slick feed from Johnny Gaudreau. This after Tkachuk had won a rare face-off against Adam Lowry when linemate Elias Lindholm was kicked out of the offensive zone circle. 

But, really, the quick strike should be no surprise as the Flames have now scored the first goal an NHL-best 17 times this season. They have also out-scored opponents 26-10 in first periods. Later, Lindholm gave the Flames a two-goal cushion on the power play. 

The Jets stuck around as their powerhouse line of Blake Wheeler, Connor and Mark Scheifele hemmed Calgary’s fourth line in their own zone. Connor eventually connected with 3:34 remaining in the opening frame before Paul Stastny tied the game 2-2 with 4:50 elapsed in the second.

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It turned out that Connor would be the slump-buster in the end, scoring his second goal of the night with 4:51 remaining in the third period.

The Flames kept pressing after that, despite their early lead being frittered away. But their fate was sealed when Rasmus Andersson lost the puck in a battle at the blue-line and Andrew Copp fired it into the empty net.

“At the end of the day, we have to find a way to get that one to overtime or try to get two before that,” Tkachuk said. “We can’t lose that one in regulation — those ones hurt. Those are the games that don’t sit too well.” 

Full credit to the visitors who were coming off a tire fire 7-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Friday who pressed and battled and made life difficult for Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom. 

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Markstrom, who suffered his first regulation loss since a 4-2 decision on Nov. 11 in Montreal, stopped 24-of-27 shots.

Andrew Mangiapane had six shots on net and was held off the scoresheet completely — one example of how the Flames simply left too many opportunities on the table.

“We still need four lines to score, and we still need our defence, especially our young guys, to handle the physical part of big teams,” Sutter said. “That’s a veteran offensive team over there (the Jets) that’s going to compete like hell to score. You’ve gotta have guys that can play that same way against them.”

The Calgary Flames’ Matthew Tkachuk scores against Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck at the Saddledome in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021.
The Calgary Flames’ Matthew Tkachuk scores against Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck at the Saddledome in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021. Photo by Brendan Miller /Postmedia

UNDER REVIEW

Right after Markstrom produced an incredible blocker save on Kristian Vesalainen with less than five minutes left in the second period, the ensuing play on the other end resulted in the Flames’ Milan Lucic sending the Jets’ Dylan Demelo into the boards. 

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It wasn’t a great angle, and the referees agreed, slapping Lucic with a five-minute major and ejecting him from the game forcing the Flames to roll with 11 forwards for the third period.

To their credit, they burned off the penalty kill — making it three straight games without allowing a power-play goal from the opposition. 

Meanwhile, there’s a good chance Lucic could face supplementary discipline for his hit.

BITE-GATE

While the Flames were amid their game with the Jets, Tkachuk’s brother, Brady, was involved in an ugly incident with Los Angles Kings forward Brendan Lemieux. 

Brady, clearly rattled, got up with a bloody hand and indicated to the officials that he’d been bit by Lemieux during a scrum.

Matthew addressed it on Hockey Night in Canada’s ‘After Hours’.

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“I’d be furious, too,” Tkachuk told CBC’s Scott Oake and Cassie Campbell-Pascall. “That’s little kid s*** there.  

“I don’t know if they’ve played them twice already, but I’m sure that guy — if he’s still in the NHL by then … I know he’s not a very well liked guy, and it shows it right there if he’s still in the NHL then — I’m sure most of Brady’s team is going to be going after him all night.”

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck makes a glove save with pressure from the Calgary Flames’ Trevor Lewis at the Saddledome in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck makes a glove save with pressure from the Calgary Flames’ Trevor Lewis at the Saddledome in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021. Photo by Brendan Miller /Postmedia

SURPRISE! IGGY’S IN THE BUILDING

Earlier this month, former longtime Flames captain Jarome Iginla was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame — a monumental achievement which was recognized on the Flames Energy Board during a TV timeout.

The cheers began growing as soon as the camera panned to the 44-year-old in one of the lower bowl suites, along with his son, Joe, and the RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna under-15 prep team Iginla coaches. 

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It also didn’t take long for the “IG-GY, IG-GY” chants to pick up, an old staple at the Dome.

“That was pretty cool,” said Tkachuk during his post-game media conference. “I haven’t heard the building like that in a while. He’ll need to come to games more.”

ICE CHIPS

The Flames scratched D Juuso Valimaki, D Michael Stone, and C Adam Ruzicka … It’s been 25 years for Mister Beesley as the in-house public address announcer at Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames recognized the long-time man at the microphone, highlighting his career which kicked off with a game against the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 6, 1996 … in a classic game of ‘This Or That’ during a commercial break at the Saddledome — where fans cheer whether or not they prefer one thing over another — they pulled up an old-school picture of then-Jets captain Keith Tkachuk followed by a photo of his son, the Flames’ Tkachuk … The Calgary club continues its three-game homestand with Monday’s clash against the Pittsburgh Penguins before heading on a four-game road-trip to California. 

kanderson@postmedia.com

www.twitter.com/KDotAnderson

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