FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: The floor is yours, Brad Lambert. This is a big game for the 21 year old, who has six career NHL games under his belt and will have a chance to audition for more.
I like what Arniel is doing with the rookie trio of Lambert, Ford and Chibrikov, essentially creating some internal competition to see who might ultimately stick.
Fact is, once injured forwards Cole Perfetti and Adam Lowry are healthy, I’m expecting two of those three young skaters to be sent back to the Manitoba Moose.
Chibrikov and especially Ford have already made strong cases that it shouldn’t be them. Now the onus is on Lambert, the 30th-overall pick in the 2022 draft who seemingly has all the tools.
I also like that he’s getting a chance to play tonight with two savvy veteran linemates in Vlad Namestnikov and Alex Iafallo. That should make life a bit easier for him.
Speaking of Lowry and Perfetti, there was some good news back home in Winnipeg today as they joined injured defenceman Dylan Samberg for a conditioning skate.
Arniel told me Lowry is on track for a return in the next 10-14 days, Perfetti should be back by mid-November and Samberg remains a bit of a mystery as they need to let his broken wrist fully heal.
That’s a nice future boost for a team that is already off to a strong start without them.
“I’m not real happy we haven’t had them (yet), but at the same time we’ve got some new players that have been able to play and gain experience and learn our systems, learn how to play Jet hockey,” said Arniel.
“So it’s worked out that way. I’m probably going to have a headache here somewhere down the road, because I’m going to have a lot of bodies at one time, which is a good thing.”
There’s a lot going on here in Calgary right now, including the drama surrounding the Flames, an ongoing teacher’s strike, municipal elections today and ongoing construction of the new Flames arena, set to open in 2027. I got an up-close view of the work as I walked to the Saddledome this morning, as it’s being built on adjacent land.
Put me down as one of the folks looking forward to a new barn. This place is far beyond its best-before date and has a press box that is the stuff of nightmares, complete with a terrifying catwalk and a low ceiling I’ve probably hit my head on at least 20 times over the years.
Last, but certainly not least: Go Blue Jays!
KEN SAYS: Boy, the concern about the lack of secondary scoring didn’t last long. And while we’re quick to remind folks the sample size is still small, it’s just not as small as it was after two games, when the concerns quickly grew from a whisper to a roar in some circles.
The Jets’ top line continues to roll, but the complementary offence has been readily apparent during this four-game winning streak.
Need proof? Morgan Barron continued his hot start with five points in five games. Nino Niederreiter has two goals — including a beautiful backhand deke on Saturday against former teammate Juuse Saros — and five points, Namestnikov is up to two goals and three points, Tanner Pearson is up to two goals and three points, Logan Stanley has two goals and three points and had fans chanting his name not once but twice during the Predators game, Iafallo has a goal and two assists, while Jonathan Toews, Gustav Nyquist and Dylan DeMelo have all chipped in three assists (and Toews was a post away from scoring his first for his hometown team).
Fourteen of the 20 skaters to appear in a game for the Jets this season have recorded at least a point and nine have scored a goal, which is part of the reason the Jets are averaging just north of four goals per game (with 21 goals scored through five outings).
The Jets’ secondary scoring will need to continue to produce, but they’re off to a good start in the first five-game block of the campaign.
On the other side of the coin, the goaltending has been tremendous and Hellebuyck was just over a minute away from posting the 46th shutout of his career on Saturday after a 30-save effort against the Predators.
In the blink of an eye, Hellebuyck’s save percentage is up to .915 and his goals-against average is down to 2.51 — and dropping fast.
Comrie figures to get his second start of the campaign later this week, either against the Seattle Kraken or more likely, in the rematch with the Flames on Friday.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Niederreiter-Toews-Nyquist
- Iafallo-Namestnikov-Lambert
- Koepke-Barron-Pearson
DEFENCE
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Stanley-Pionk
- Fleury-Schenn
GOAL
INJURED: D Samberg (wrist), C Lowry (hip), F Perfetti (ankle)
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Miller, F Chibrikov, F Ford
CALGARY FLAMES
FORWARDS
- Huberdeau-Kadri-Farabee
- Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
- Honzek-Frost-Zary
- Lomberg-Kirkland-Klapka
DEFENCE
- Bahl-Andersson
- Bean-Weegar
- Hanley-Parekh
GOAL
INJURED: F Pospisil (undisclosed)
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Miromanov (placed on waivers Monday afternoon), D Pachal, F Sharangovich
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Calgary Flames coach Ryan Huska on his team’s performance Saturday night in Vegas and making Yegor Sharangovich a healthy scratch tonight against the Jets:
“Last game, we were like a 50-50 team, is the best way I can put it. There were 50 per cent of our guys that I thought worked really hard and were committed and then I don’t think we had enough from the other 50. And he would fall into that category. You can’t make a 50 per cent change, but certain areas that weren’t acceptable, we can change a few. So it happened to be him.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike is in Calgary and will have a pair of stories.
The first is from a one-on-one interview with Flames forward Justin Kirkland, who was born in Winnipeg and might have the best nickname in hockey: “Costco.” He’s also had a unique journey to the NHL, which he discussed in depth.
Mike will also have analysis of tonight’s game from inside the Saddledome.
You can find both pieces online tonight and in Tuesday’s print edition.
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