Flames use four-goal second to surge past Jets

CALGARY, AB - The Jets have no choice but to put this one behind them - right now - and regroup for another big game in less than 24 hours.
It wasn't pretty.

The Flames exploded for four goals less than 10 minutes apart in the second period before adding another two in the third to blow out the Jets 6-2 on Saturday at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Dougie Hamilton scored twice, while Sam Bennett, Mikael Backlund, Lance Bouma and Sean Monahan chipped in with one goal apiece to lead the charge offensively.

Nikolaj Ehlers broke the shutout with 6:01 to play in the third, snapping a 15-game goal drought with his fifth of the year - a power-play marker. Jacob Trouba scored with just a few tenths of a second left to rebound out the scoring.
Michael Hutchinson, who looked sharp early on, suffered the loss with just 25 saves through two periods. Connor Hellebuyck came on relief to start the third.
"We were behind the game the entire night," said Head Coach Paul Maurice, whose post-game scrum lasted only 57 seconds.

Winnipeg had a strong start to the middle frame, recording seven of the first nine shots overall, but it was all downhill from there. The Jets, who were a step or two behind for the final 13 minutes or so, were soon engulfed by the speed and transition of this confident Flames team, and it showed on the scoreboard.
Hamilton opened the scoring at 8:29. The defenceman jumped up in the rush to become the trailer in a 3-on-2, and after getting a drop pass from Matthew Tkachuk and backing everyone in, he fired a shot top shelf to give Calgary the all-important first goal.
Bennett put the Flames up by a pair at the 13-minute mark, finishing off a great feed from Johnny Gaudreau, who's been on fire with seven points in four games after returning from injury . Bennett, the fourth Flame up on the rush, took a pass in the high slot and wired a wrister on the high glove side.
The Flames took a 3-0 lead at 15:21 as Hamilton bombed a long shot right point through traffic after the Flames won the offensive-zone faceoff.
Hutchinson never saw it.
Backlund padded the lead with a power-play goal at 17:52, sneaking a shot short side after getting a pass Tkachuk at the bottom of the right circle.
The Jets had only one shot in the final 12-and-a-half minutes of the period, while the Flames had eight - and all four goals - in that same span.

"We didn't play hard enough and we didn't play smart," Ehlers said.
"We just weren't good enough. That's just something we've got to change."
Bouma chased down a loose puck split the defence and chopped a weak backhander short side on Hellebuyck to put Calgary up by five early in the third.
After Ehlers broke the shutout at 13:59, Monahan restored the five-goal lead at 16:28, until Trouba scored his first of the year at 19:59.

Asked if he was relieved to score his first in 15 games, Ehlers deferred. "A little bit, but in a game like this, you don't care about that goal."
Shots on goal favoured the Flames - who were aided, in part, by the period's only power play - 16-8 after one, but the Jets answered back with a strong second half after their goalie kept them in with a number of big saves early on.
Bennett took a centering pass from Johnny Gaudreau after the Jets failed to clear zone midway through, but was unable get much of a shot off, putting it right in the breadbasket of the challenging Winnipeg netminder.

Then, with the Flames on a 3-on-2 after the Jets gave the puck away in the neutral zone, Mikael Backlund got a free look from 10 feet out, but Hutchinson stood tall, making a great save at the top of the blue paint.
At the other end, Flames goalie Chad Johnson did his part, too, going post-to-post to rob Bryan Little at the side of the net to keep the game scoreless.
- Ryan Dittrick, WinnipegJets.com