The Winnipeg Jets battle their way through bizarre game full of wild bounces and freak plays to secure their eighth straight win to open the season as they down the red hot Calgary Flames 5-3 Saturday.
The Jets were on the ropes early as the Flames were on offence with a flurry of shots of Comrie that ended with Mikael Backlund picking the only exposed space above Comrie’s shoulder for a tight angle goal. Just a minute later, the Jets looked to respond and caught a break with Flames forward Nazem Kadri catching defenceman Josh Morrissey with a high-stick and putting the Jets on the man advantage.
It took Winnipeg no time to respond as they score just six seconds into the power play as they worked a low pass to the side of the net where forward Nikolaj Ehlers takes a bank shot off Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson’s skate through Wolf’s five hole for the tying goal.
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The early action in the first few minutes was deceiving as the remaining portion of the period was trading scoring chances with Winnipeg mustering more at the beginning of the period with the Flames quickly catching up. Calgary appeared to catch a break as the Niederreiter takes a bad hooking penalty to put the Flames on the power play.
They were unprepared however as the Jets took it the other way for a shorthanded scoring chance. Wolf made a big save but when the Jets created a second odd man rush, they weren’t as lucky as forward Adam Lowry fed a cross crease pass to his linemate Kyle Connor, who directs it in for a shocking short handed goal.
The period saw solid scoring chances for both teams that weren’t reflected in the period shot numbers with Winnipeg recording 16 shots on net compared to Calgary’s 6 despite the Jets four penalties in the period.
The second period started with another penalty kill for the Jets that helped them carry most of the momentum early on into the period and add more shots on goal. The Flames made up some ground towards the middle part of the period with a handful of shots and caught another break due to the Jets receiving their third and fourth penalties of the game. The Flames had many scoring chances with a brief 30 seconds on a two man advantage but still could not get past the Jets elite defence as they killed another two penalties, maintaining their one goal lead.
Calgary finally broke through late in the period after a turnover in their own end led to the Flames picking it up and the red hot Rasmus Andersson taking a shot that deflects off the side of Comrie’s head and into the net, marking the Flames’ second goal of the game scored on a shot that went above Comrie’s shoulders. This highlighted the Flames’ pin-point accuracy and underscored the Jets’ need to tighten their defense against open shots to avoid further scoring chances.
The Flames put together a solid period in response that was mainly due to costly penalties the Jets took. Calgary evened the shot count in the second period, firing off 12 shots to Winnipeg’s 4, setting the stage for an exciting third period for all the marbles.
After being on their heels for most of the second period, the Jets catch a break at the beginning of the third with a fluke shot of the boards by Dylan Samberg flying off the boards into the air and falling off the back of Wolf and into the net for a very lucky third goal to take a 3-2 lead.
Adam Lowry spoke to media following the game about to the bizarreness of some of the goals that happened and attributed it to it just being one of the key differences in hockey compared to other sports.
“That’s kind of what makes it so great, is the unpredictability and things like that,” he said “But, you know, put pucks on that and good things will happen. So we’re not going to apologize for that unfortunate bounce. But, you know, I don’t think we can expect that one too often.”
The Flames didn’t take long to respond as minutes late, Mason Appleton falls and turns over the puck, which the Flames take the other way for an odd man rush where Nazem Kadri catches a pass above the circles and takes a shot through traffic that beats Comrie for the game-tying goal.
Calgary didn’t give up the momentum and continued peppering shots and keeping their foot on the gas. The Flames aggressive push went too far as they earn themselves two costly penalties for tripping and interference and put the Jets on a lengthy two man advantage.
The Flames miraculously killed off both penalties thanks to a flurry of spectacular saves from Wolf to keep the game tied. They caught a lot of momentum again but once again let their emotions get the best of them and get overly physical and took a costly slashing penalty.
The Jets take advantage and cycle around the puck to forward Cole Perfetti, who fires a shot through two Flames defenders and over Wolf’s glove for the go ahead goal late in the period.
The Jets defence squeezes out the puck for a last minute empty net goal by Mason Appleton that seals the game. It was another challenging test for the Jets that saw them need a few lucky bounces to walk away with the win.
Winnipeg finished with more shots on the day at a resounding 35 to Calgary’s 29 with both netminders totalling 25 or more saves. It was a big night for the Jets second line of Cole Perfetti, Vladislav Namestnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers as they all finished with a goal each.
They look to stay hot when the Jets return home to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. The Jets have lost five straight to the Leafs but will look to make history and win their ninth straight.
