Jets top Flames, maintain Central lead

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets maintained their lead for first place in the Central Division with a 2-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Bell MTS Place on Saturday.

Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for his 30th win, and Mark Scheifele and Mathieu Perreault scored for Winnipeg (42-25-4), which is one point ahead of the Nashville Predators.
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"They tried to open the game up," Scheifele said. "They want to stretch (pass), they want 2-on-1s and breakaways. We didn't allow them to do that, and that's a big thing when you're playing against the likes of (Calgary forward) Johnny Gaudreau."

Mark Jankowski scored, and Mike Smith made 19 saves for the Flames (43-21-7), whose three-game winning streak ended. Calgary is one point ahead of the Sharks for first place in the Pacific Division. The Flames could have clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs if they had earned a point against the Jets or if the Minnesota Wild had lost to the New York Rangers on Saturday, but Minnesota won 5-2.
"I think the effort was good," Flames defenseman Mark Giordano said. "We hit three or four posts in the first period and then we gave up one late. Obviously, just a little breakdown. Other than that, I thought it was a good effort. I thought both teams were playing pretty tight and pretty well defensively. … I thought we generated some chances. We just couldn't find a way to put the [tying goal] in."
Scheifele gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead with nine seconds left in the first period, tapping in a cross-ice pass from Ben Chiarot.
Jankowski tied it 1-1 with a shorthanded goal at 7:16 of the second period, converting on a tic-tac-toe play from Elias Lindholm and Mark Giordano.

"I thought it was a tight game, a full 60 minutes," Jankowski said. "Both good teams, we knew it was going to be a good game, and a tight one, not a lot of space out there, time or space for either team."
Perreault made it 2-1 on the power play at 10:18 when he poked in a loose puck in the slot.
"That was huge," Perreault said. "That's the difference in the game, really."
Flames forward Sam Bennett (undisclosed) was a late scratch. Coach Bill Peters said he was "banged up" and that the injury got worse overnight. Calgary played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

They said it

"It's what it's all about. You find out about your team. You find out about your guys. I like a lot of the things we did here tonight. I liked our push. I don't know what we gave up for shots in the third (three) but it wasn't much. We generated as much as we did at any point in the game in the third when the game was on the line. We had to win a third to win a game and we've done it, for the most part, this year. Tonight, we just couldn't find a way to get it." -- Flames coach Bill Peters on the value of playing tight games down the stretch
"The 2-1 games, you know, this is playoff-type hockey. That's what we want. We're not looking to score five, six goals and make it like an open game. We like the 2-1 games where we defend hard and bury them when we get a chance." -- Jets forward Mathieu Perreault

Need to know

The Flames lead the NHL with 17 shorthanded goals. … Jets forward Blake Wheeler has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in his past 12 games. … Hellebuyck is 30-20-0.

What's next

Flames: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, SNW, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Jets:At the Los Angeles Kings on Monday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, TSN3, NHL.TV)