5 Things - Flames vs. Jets

1. Last Time Out

For the first three-quarters of the opening frame, the Flames did everything right.

Unfortunately, when you have nothing to show from that early pressure and let the other team hang around long enough to find their game, the tide can turn in a hurry.

And it did.

Sixty-one seconds was all it took for the visitors to ring up a 2-0 cushion, despite the Flames putting up 33 attempts and 12 shots, total, along with the 10 chances they registered in the opening nine-and-a-half minutes, alone.

Patrick Kane, J.T. Compher, Dylan Larkin, David Perron and Lucas Raymond supplied for the offence for the Red Wings, while James Reimer made 38 saves to record the shutout in a 5-0 victory.

“It’s disappointing,” said Blake Coleman, whose group has now dropped six of its last seven on Saddledome ice. "Ideally, in this league, your home record’s generally better than your road record, but obviously that’s not the case for us right now. We’ve had spurts where it’s been good, but it’s not consistent enough. If we capitalize on a few chances in that first 15 minutes, maybe the building gets into it, we start feeling good, maybe it’s a different script.”

Jacob Markstrom was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots. Dan Vladar came on in relief and stopped eight of nine the rest of the way.

The Flames have now lost three straight after tying their season-high win streak at four in the penultimate game of their Stateside road trip last week.

For whatever reason, they haven’t been able to carry that success away from the ‘Dome into their last two homestands.

“That’s not acceptable. We want to play well in front of our fans, we want to win games and if you want to be serious about playoffs, we’ve got to win games at home,” said captain Mikael Backlund. “We can’t be .500, or below .500 team at home to make the playoffs.”

Head Coach Ryan Huska was critical of his team’s “competitiveness” in a 6-3 loss to the struggling San Jose Sharks on Thursday, but thought that part of his team’s game was “better” on Saturday, despite the unflattering puck line.

“Consistency’s important; within a game, from game to game, practice, and all that stuff, and that’s one area that we haven’t found,” the skipper said. “I think we’ve ridden that wave a little bit too much, and that’s why you’ve seen some of the streaks that you have.”

2. Know Your Enemy

We’re still about eight weeks from the spring dance, but with the fireworks we saw Saturday? 

Consider this the opening bell. 

In a battle between two of the NHL’s top teams, the Jets – led by their cornerstone pivot, Mark Scheifele – knocked off the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Saturday at Rogers Arena. 

Scheifele had a goal and three helpers to lead the way, while fellow top-liners Gabe Vilardi (2G, 1A) and Kyle Connor (2A) were equally clutch, and former Flame Sean Monahan nabbed his first as a Jet in the victory. 

A playoff-style one, at that.

“Those are the games you dream of playing in,” Vilardi, who was acquired from the Kings, along with Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari for Pierre-Luc Dubois in the off-season, told Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press. “It was a good atmosphere. It was great. Hockey Night in Canada, it was cool.”

“It was awesome,” added Scheifele, who tied a career high with his tidy, four-point effort. “You've got two Canadian teams going at it – that’s what everyone wants to see and it was an absolute blast.”

Vezina frontrunner Connor Hellebuyck had another superb night between the pipes, turning aside 35 shots to improve to 26-10-3, along with a .927 save percentage and a miniscule, 2.14 goals-against average.

In game featuring all sorts of pent-up emotion – accentuated by Calgary native Adam Lowry levelling Nils Aman in the neutral zone, before dusting Phillip Di Giuseppe in a one-sided bout only seconds after – Scheifele has to be credited with the Highlight to Rule Them All.

No. 55 took a massive hit from Canucks blueliner Noah Juulsen near the benches, but in the process, made a sublime bank pass to Connor off the side boards, creating a 2-on-1 that Vilardi cashed off the winger’s backdoor feed.

Take the hit. 

Make the play.

“That’s what it’s going to be like from here on out,” Head Coach Rick Bowness told reporters. “Teams fighting for playoff spots, positioning in the league. There are only 30 games to go for us and every game is going to be a battle. That was a hard-fought win. That’s the type of hockey it’s going to be from here on out.”

The Jets (33-14-5) have now won three straight are only four points back of the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central with three games in hand.

3. Quick Hits

Pelletier Close To Returning

Jakob Pelletier left Monday’s game against the Rangers early in the first period with an upper-body injury.

While at the time, many feared he re-aggravated his surgically repaired left shoulder following a hit from Jacob Trouba, that was not the case – and it sounds like we’ll see the Ball of Energy back in the Flames’ lineup soon, possibly on Thursday when the team closes out a four-game homestand against the Boston Bruins.

“He's close,” Huska said. “He's skating. "(We're) not anticipating him being eligible for us (on Monday), but he is close.”

Pelletier missed all 49 games to open the season before returning on Feb. 6 in Boston.

His impact – both on the ice and in the dressing room – is immeasurable with how he helps galvanize the group, even as an apple-cheeked 22-year-old.

“Pace. I think that's the biggest thing that you see with him is that he plays the game with a lot of speed, so that's one thing,” Huska said of what Pelletier brings to the lineup. The other thing is that he's got energy, whether it's on the bench or in the dressing room, he's the same every day. And when he's not around, that's something that we do miss.”

History In The Making

Hellebuyck has now gone an incredible 31 consecutive games allowing three goals or fewer, tying New Jersey Devils legend Martin Brodeur for sixth on the NHL's all-time list.

Cecil 'Tiny' Thompson holds the league's all-time record with 44 straight games of three or fewer during the 1928-29 season, while Flames legend Miikka Kiprusoff holds down the second spot with 37 straight during his Vezina- and Jennings-winning 2005-06 campaign.

4. Quotable

MacKenzie Weegar on turning around their home fortunes:

“We have to get back to that hockey we played on the road. Forget about the last few games and focus on Winnipeg - obviously, a tough opponent. We know we're going to need our best and for a full 60, for sure.”

On facing the high-octane Jets:

“You obviously know that they're one of the top teams in the league and they've got a pretty sound group with forwards and defencemen. They've got a full team there. It's going to take everybody from our group, all four lines and six D, and Marky's going to have a great game for us as well. It's all about the focus and preparation that we've talked about all season long. We've gotten up for the big games, so it shouldn't be a problem for us (Monday).”

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Martin Pospisil

Even in a game the Flames would (mostly) like to forget, Pospisil found a way to have a positive impact.

Once again, he lit up the stat sheet like a Christmas tree with a game-high seven hits and quickly drew the ire of his opponents by constantly mixing things up both between – and after – the whistles.

Pospisil isn’t an overly vocal player on the ice, but getting the skin of his enemies is most certainly his jam.

Jets - Adam Lowry

The Calgary native is in his first year as Jets captain and plays a physical style similar to Pospisil.

This could make for a fun ‘game-within-the-game’-type matchup.