CALGARY – The standings are getting a lot tighter and the Winnipeg Jets find themselves running on fumes during this post All Star break four-game skid as they dropped a very important game, 5-2, to the Calgary Flames. The Flames now move to within one point of the Jets who by the end of the week could see themselves looking out of the playoff picture.
This has not been the same air-tight defensive team that was seen before the break as they have now given up five goals in each of the four games since the break.
They were not able to generate any offence against a tough neutral zone trap by the Flames Monday. The Jets were also not able to get in and bang on the forecheck as hits which are a big part of the Winnipeg game were a non-factor. The Jets had 17 hits and the Flames had 20.
Michael Hutchinson got his 3rd consecutive start in goal for Winnipeg and allowed four goals on 23 shots before being pulled halfway through the third period. It was only the second time this year he has been pulled and the first time since the opening weekend of the season. His record falls to 14-7-2.
“We have to bear down more,” Hutchinson said. “Every guy, including myself, has to step it up a little bit more, and focus a little bit more, and for myself, I have to make that extra save and for the players, they have to try and hit the net and bear down when you do get those scoring chances.”
Jonas Hiller was in the pipes for Calgary and he made 17 saves off 19 shots, a fairly easy night for him. He improves to 16-14-2 on the season.
The Jets got goals from Blake Wheeler, his 14th, and Bryan Little, his 19th, on the year.
“We’ve got to get back to our game,” Wheeler said. “We have to come back harder, we have to allow our D to step up and take away the other team’s time and space. This is a team we played tonight with a lot of skill that can come at you in waves and we just didn’t do a good enough job.”
Calgary got goals from David Jones his 8th, Mason Raymond his7th, Raphael Diaz his 1st, Brandon Bollig his 1st, and Sean Monahan his 17th.
“They’re two guys (Diaz and Bollig) that they have lots of friends in the locker room because they’re great workers,” Flames coach Bob Hartley said. “They take care of their teammates. They’re easy guys to work with and both, in an important game, they come up with each their first goal. I can tell you that players were really happy on the bench.”
The Jets now find themselves slipping down the ladder in the Western Conference standings as the Flames sit one point back and the Vancouver Canucks who are holding down the final spot in top eight are just three back with LA Kings sitting six points back. This is all too familiar for the Jets/Thrashers team that seems to fall out of playoff contention around this time every season; something this group of players doesn’t want to see happen.
“We have nothing to celebrate,” Hartley said. “We can be proud of the way we play. We can be happy with where we’re at. But there’s still way too much hockey to be played to get complacent. That’s my job. That’s my job to make sure that we stay on track, that we keep playing with pride, we keep applying ourselves on details of the game. I’ve said it many times, this is a great group of guys to coach.”
The Jets will head to Vancouver to finish off this back to back two game road trip tomorrow and hope to break this four game losing skid. Ondrej Pavelec who mopped up in goal looks to get the start in goal.
Winnipeg falls to 26-18-8 on the season but is still holding on to one of the Wild Card playoff spots with 60 points.
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