In Winnipeg, the visiting Calgary Flames’ Johnny Gaudreau scored once in regulation and was credited wit the deciding goal in the skills competition as the Flames dropped the Jets, 4-3, on Monday night.
“I feel really comfortable,” Gaudreau said. “Me and [Sean Monahan] have been playing really well in our own zone, being smart. I don’t think we’ve been out on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal so we feel really comfortable with that, and we’re getting our chances offensively. It’s been good.”
Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves in the win.
“There was some solid pushback in that. It was clearly a big goal, six-on-five,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “The bench didn’t get quiet, they were still pulling for each other. We suffered 10 minutes in there that were tough. They were on us real good.”
Kyle Connor struck for two power-play goals for the Jets.
“I thought there were pushes by both teams throughout the game,” Connor said. “They obviously had their best push when they took the lead 3-2 and we responded with a couple of good shifts and tied it back up. I think it was a pretty balanced game. Lots of good, lots of bad.”
Andrew Mangiapane and Christopher Tanev also scored for the Flames in regulation.
“Especially coming in off the road in Montreal (2-0 win on Saturday) for us to be able to get the first one is huge,” Flames head coach Geoff Ward said. “It’s probably going to make our mood a little better tomorrow morning ahead of the second one. If you come in and lose a tough one I think that may mentally play with your team a little bit. So that’s a good thing for us, but we understand it’s just one game out of three. We’ve got to be ready for tomorrow.”
Calgary improved to 4-3-1.
“I liked our compete and ability to battle back there,” Mangiapane said. “It was good play all around by our line. I had another chance there before I wish I could have capitalized on earlier. It was a good play, the puck sitting there and I was happy to tap it home.”
Mark Scheifele potted the game-tying goal late in the third period to get the teams to extra time.
“It definitely was not [how I imagined it], but I’ll take any goal I can get,” Tanev said. “We’re just happy we got the win. Obviously we play these guys four of the next five so it’s huge to get that first two points against them.”
The Jets dropped to 5-4-0.
Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves in the loss.
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