In Calgary, the Winnipeg Jets’ Adam Lowry and Blake Wheeler scored two goals apiece in a 4-0 win over the Flames on Wednesday night.
The win snapped a seven-game skid and punched the Jets’ ticket to the playoffs.
“All you’re looking for when you start the season is an opportunity,” Wheeler said. “Anything can happen now. It was nice for everyone to get a result tonight. Our game has been way better the last few games. It was really important for our team to get rewarded. It was a good result for us tonight.”
Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves for the shutout.
“During the slide there, there were some moments where you kind of thought, ‘Is this thing ever going to end?'” Lowry said. “We’re glad that’s behind us now. We’re just looking forward to continuing to get better and peaking for the playoffs.”
The Flames dropped to 22-26-9 and remain on the outside looking in.
“I don’t think we were desperate enough to win tonight,” Calgary’s Mikael Backlund said. “We’ve got five games left and we’ll leave it all out there. We’ll see where it takes us.”
Calgary is 10 points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the fourth spot in the North.
“Until you’re officially eliminated, you still have a chance,” the Flames’ Mark Giordano said. “Montreal has a couple games here against [the Toronto Maple Leafs] now, who are No. 1 in our division. We’re coming into this game (against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday) with a must-win mentality.”
Jacob Markstrom made 15 saves in the loss.
“It makes it a lot tougher when you get down, and then you get down a couple and you’re chasing the game,” Giordano said. “You try to take chances, and if you do have a turnover or a missed play, it ends up coming back at you. The guys didn’t lose belief or anything like that. They came out and got that early goal, and then you’re chasing it for the rest of the night.”
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