The Calgary Flames tied a franchise record winning streak with their tenth win in a row against a desperate opponent in the Winnipeg Jets.
While the result was exactly what one would hope for, there were some cracks showing in the foundation. Jets forwards were walking the puck to the net and the breakout was getting loose. Play across the board leading up to the lone Jets goal was getting sloppy.
If I were a betting man, I would put some money down on the practices between now and Thursday’s game against the Canucks not being pleasant ones. After all, Darryl Sutter has stated in the past (apologize my paraphrasing): tighten the reigns when the team is winning; when you’re losing, loosen up.
That said, it’s a great time to watch Flames hockey.
On the other end of things, how different do the Winnipeg Jets look without Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrew Copp? Two top six forwards subtracted from a lineup will cripple any team; let alone one of the quality of Ehlers.
Even so. You look at the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the Jets even without those two and have to think that the Flames played the Dr. Jekyll. The difference makers on the Jets, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, were held pointless. Not only were they held off the scoreboard, they were hard to differentiate from the rest of the lineup.
Credit to goaltender Connor Hellebuyck for making some outrageous saves, but the Jets dynamic duo didn’t bring the dangerous play their fans have seen in recent games. They get back at it on Wednesday against the Stars.
The Flames, meanwhile, have until Thursday to iron out areas of their game that need attention. Maybe they’ll set a franchise record when all is said and done.
Another record Despite having an earlier goal called off (and almost having his next goal disallowed as well), Elias Lindholm tied a franchise goal scoring streak with a goal in his last eight games. One has to wonder who is still left standing by their “the Flames need a #1 center… mentality.
Trevor Neufeld