Jets flying, Flames fading

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This article was published 11/11/2022 (1278 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY — They are two Canadian rivals heading in very different directions right now. And when the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames meet on Saturday night (9 p.m., CBC), something has to give

Winnipeg has collected points in seven straight games (6-0-1) to climb to the top of the Central Division, while Calgary has hit the skids over that same stretch, going an ugly 0-5-2.

“That’s the NHL. You go through ups and downs. You go through times when you’re playing well and can’t find a way to get a win, and times when you’re maybe not playing your best or you’re getting either big individual performances or finding ways to win,” Jets defenceman (and leading scorer) Josh Morrissey said following the team’s practice on Friday.

“Pertaining to the Flames, we know the type of team they have. If you look at their games, they’ve been playing well. There are a lot of games that they’ve had chances to win so it’s a dangerous team to play against. We know coming into the Saddledome on Saturday night, they’re going to be ready to go.”

It’s a busy weekend for Winnipeg, which will head to Seattle to face the sophomore Kraken (8-4-2 prior to Friday’s game against Minnesota). But the back-to-back outings are bookended by three-day breaks.

“I watched their last couple of games and they’ve played really well. They’re playing hard. They’re not getting the big goal when you need it,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said of Calgary, who were expected to be among the Western Conference heavyweights this year.

“But they’re playing a whole lot better than their record.”

On the flipside, most pundits had the Jets fighting for just a wildcard spot, at best. Bowness said his team was getting rewarded despite long stretches of poor play, at least until this recent homestand in which victories over Montreal, Chicago and Dallas were well-deserved.

“It’s tough. No one ever wants to go through a bad stretch, but sometimes that adversity makes you stronger,” said Jets forward Mark Scheifele.

“You have to be a big critic of your game – individually and as a team. Just like Bones did with us after our road trip, we got five of six points but we probably didn’t deserve that with the way we played. Sometimes that’s the way the game goes. We looked at video, we looked at things we needed to work on, what we needed to get better at, and we did a great job of that on this home stand. It showed really well while we were at home.

In that sense, Bowness is eager to see what his group might have learned since they last slept in hotel rooms.

“I hate when we sit back, so regardless of where we play, there’s a right way to play the game and we’re not very good when we’re playing on our heels. We’re just not,” said Bowness.

“That’s not how we want to play the game because when you’re playing on your heels, you’re sitting back and you’re reacting and then you’re usually half a step behind when you play. When you’re playing on your toes, you’re dictating the tempo of the game. Like I told them, let’s not…the Flames are 0-5-2 but A, don’t be fooled by that but B, it’s important (to focus on) us. We keep 98 per cent of our focus on us and how we’re playing. Always respect the opposition and there are certain things they’re going to do, so you prepare for that, but for me, it’s all about us and how we play.”

Morrissey is expecting a surly opponent in his hometown.

“You lose a bunch of games, it’s frustrating. Those make for some long days,” he said.

“But like I said, they’re playing very good hockey. Of course we expect an intense Flames team, they’re a physical team, they forecheck hard. We’ve had some good battles with them over the years and we played them a lot in the bubble year. We expect an intense Saturday night hockey game in Canada. It’s great.”

INJURY UPDATE: Nikolaj Ehlers, Morgan Barron and Logan Stanley remain on injured reserve. There was hope Ehlers would resume skating this past week, but he did not.

“It’s not like he had a setback. It’s more us being very cautious, so he doesn’t have that setback,” Bowness said of the undisclosed lower-body injury that has kept him out of the past 10 games.

“He’s coming along but rather than force it and putting him out there a day too early, we’ll take the cautionary route with him and we’re hoping maybe Tuesday or Wednesday with him that he’ll skate.”

Winnipeg had an open roster spot, and filled it Friday by calling up forward Mikey Eyssimont from the Manitoba Moose. The 26-year-old has nine points (2G, 7A) in nine AHL games this year. He made his NHL debut last year with Winnipeg, skating in one game.

“He’s had a great start. Back-to-back games and a five o’clock game in Seattle, we’re taking a peak at that and we’re doing everything we can for (Saturday) night and then we’re going to reevaluate. It just gives us another option for Sunday at five o’clock,” said Bowness.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg