Flames too hot for Jets

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This article was published 27/12/2018 (2445 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Their intentions were good, but the Winnipeg Jets couldn’t get the job done Thursday night in their first game back after the Christmas break.

Calgary scoring leader Johnny Gaudreau fired a hat trick — his 17th, 18th and 19th goals of the season — to power the visiting Flames to a 4-1 victory at Bell MTS Place.

The diminutive left-winger scored twice in the middle frame — one pretty, one putrid — to spark the visitors to a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. And then, goalie David Rittich did the rest, thwarting a number of great chances for the Jets. He finished with 35 saves on the night.

“It was a little sloppy at times. The puck was bouncing, and both teams definitely had some mistakes. We had a lot of good chances, a lot of good looks and their goalie played really good. It was one of those nights,” Jets centre Bryan Little said.

“They played well, too. But, yeah, we had some really good chances and (Rittich) was standing on his head in there. He was making some big saves at important times of the game, too. You’re going to have those nights.”

The Pacific Division-leading Flames (23-12-3) trail the Central-leading Jets (24-11-2) by a single point for top spot in the Western Conference standings.

Funny how things go. Prior to the break, Winnipeg posted back-to-back victories in San Jose and Vancouver, despite getting badly out-shot in both. But home after the holidays, the Jets were the gunners but couldn’t find the twine behind Rittich — save for Adam Lowry’s second-period tally, his sixth of the season.

Little and Patrik Laine were Rittich’s regular victims. The duo combined for nine shots, most generated from tantalizing locations, but had nothing to show for some sizzle down low.

Indeed, a decent effort did not produce the intended results for the hosts.

Rittich’s best stop came midway through the final period, when he slid across to stop a wide-open Little from in tight to preserve a one-goal lead. Laine hit the post with just over five minutes left in the period, and then the athletic puck-stopper snared another quick drive by Little just seconds later.

“I think we had some good chances. Maybe it wasn’t the best third period, for sure, but he made some huge saves. The one off Little, it’s a 2-1 game and he made some incredible saves. I think if we’d have been able to get one to tie the game, it might have been a different game,” Lowry said.

The Flames caught a flight to Winnipeg on the morning of the game, thanks to league rules that give all NHL players a three-day break.

“You’ve got to tip your cap, (Rittich) played extremely well. The Flames, they did, too. They had to travel (Thursday). You’ve got to give them credit, they came in and played a real solid road game,” said Lowry, who returned to the lineup after missing a pair of games with an upper-body injury.

Lowry managed to sail a shot past him in the second period after an egregious giveaway by Flames forward Alan Quine to tie the game 1-1. But Calgary regained the lead just 54 seconds later, when Gaudreau stuffed in his second goal of the period after a nifty give-and-go with Elias Lindholm.

In the third, the Jets earned a late power play, but Mark Jankowski wired a shot past Hellebuyck for a shorthanded tally at 15:38 and a 3-1 advantage.

Calgary has netted 10 short-handed goals this season, just one back of the league-leading Arizona Coyotes.

Winnipeg was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

“You gotta execute, and if you don’t they’re going to get their chances,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “But you wouldn’t change your power play to defend against their (penalty kill).”

Earlier in the second period, Gaudreau snapped a scoreless tie at 1:04 on a weird one. Laine takes heat at times for a low reading on the “try” meter, however, he busted his tail to try and break up a two-on-one but wound up the goat on the play.

The Finnish right-winger reached out to intercept a pass from Gaudreau to Lindholm and inadvertently poked the puck behind Hellebuyck.

Yet another example of a positive exertion, but poor execution.

“We’re not going to fool ourselves and pretend we played a great game and their goalie stole it,” captain Blake Wheeler said. “But he played well. They capitalized on their looks, and we didn’t. But we’ve got another level.”

Gaudreau’s empty-netter with just over two minutes remaining closed out the scoring. He took a firm slash from blue-liner Dustin Byfuglien just before he sailed it in and headed to the dressing room.

Winnipeg is now just 3-8-0 when trailing after two periods.

Five minutes into the middle period, Hellebuyck took a knee to the head from Noah Hanifin, who was crossing near the crease. His helmet was knocked off and he was clearly shaken up, but stayed in the game. He blocked 25 shots.

The Jets host the division-rival Minnesota Wild on Saturday at 3 p.m. and close out 2018 in Edmonton with a New Year’s Eve game against the Oilers.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell