The Calgary Flames have eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in four games, sending the Jets into the draw for Alexis Lafreniere and ushering their own team into the “Sweet 16” of the NHL playoffs. Cam Talbot was a difference-maker for the Flames but the real story of this series will be the struggles for the Jets, not just over the course of four games, but over the course of an entire season. The 2019-20 campaign began with unsigned contracts to Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine, then shifted to the story of a missing Dustin Byfuglien. Quickly, the team was dealing with an injury to Bryan Little and the bad luck carried over to the play-ins as the team lost Mark Scheifele and Laine in the first game. It was seemingly insurmountable odds to try and overcome and while Winnipeg put up a good fight, Calgary simply had more gas in the tank.

Game Notes:

The game started with a fight off the drop of the puck and continued to get physical early. As the game went on, it was a late goal by Sam Bennett in the first period that was really the death nail for the Jets. After that, the Flames clung to a 2-0 lead and played shutdown hockey to close out the game. It was a convincing win for the Flames who wanted to prove they could put the pedal to the floor and exercise past playoff demons. And, they are the first team to eliminate a Western Conference team from the play-in rounds. Milan Lucic said in the post-game media avail that this was a great first step for Calgary and something they can build upon but that it’s only going to get tougher from here. Cam Talbot got the shut out for the Flames and was excellent despite not necessarily being the obvious starter when the series began. Mark Giordano said after the game, “Talbot was the difference” for the Flames in the win. No doubt, Talbot outplayed Vezina Trophy Finalist Connor Hellebuyck. Talbot echoed Lucic’s sentiments that this series win was just another step for the team and building a belief system in the room. Head coach Geoff Ward said the team managed their systems and team defense really well. When that did break down, Ward said their goaltending was outstanding. He also credited Sam Bennett and Lucic with being physical and setting the tone in the game. Ward said Bennett’s whole line was good, but Bennett was consistent all series long, scoring key goals at key times. The concern for the Flames is that Johnny Gaudreau left the game with what looked like an injury.

The Jets Were Challenged Right Out Of The Gate

For the Jets, they were extremely challenged considering they were short handed with so many players out of the lineup. It won’t erase being eliminated, but the team should feel good about getting as far as they did all season with so many changes to their blue line and then to add key losses in Game 1 really hurt. The hurdles simply proved to be too big to jump. And, that Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor were left largely off the scoreboard (Connor didn’t score) meant that the Jets just didn’t have the weapons to stretch the series out. Wheeler said, “There was noting left in the tank.” Hellebuyck said post-game that the team left their heart out on the ice and that the team did what they could, despite the fact that it would have been nice to see what the Jets could have accomplished with a healthy lineup.  

Score
FLAMES	JETS
4	–

 

Scoring Summary:

Period Sean Mona1
	Goal	Assists
	3:21 – Dillon Dube (1)	Sean Monahan, Erik Gustafsson
	19: 59 – Sam Bennett (2)	Noah Hannifin, Matthew Tkachuk
Period 2
	Goal	Assists
Period 3
	Goal	Assists
	16:59 – Sean Monahan (2) (Empty Net)	Tobias Reider, Derek Ryan
	17:18 – Rasmus Andersson (1) (Empty Net)	Milan Lucic, Sam Bennett

Game Highlights: