Jets and Flames Rest Top Players, Jets Coast to a 5-1 Win

Winnipeg Jets fans celebrated early on Saturday afternoon. Then, after two quiet periods, they celebrated again.

The jam-packed crowd at MTS Centre gave their playoff-bound Jets a long, loud standing ovation to start the game. Then they watched two teams score in the opening minute of play Then they settled in for a long afternoon of missed passes and neutral-zone turnovers.

In the end, the Jets were simply too good – inasmuch as they had fewer American Hockey League players in their lineup as Calgary – as the home side whipped the Flames 5-1. Winnipeg scored four unanswered goals in the third period to put it away.

Paul Maurice, coaching the hell out of this team. (Photo by James Carey Lauder)

“For both teams that was a difficult game to play,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “Not a lot of physicality in the game, a lot of over-handling the puck. It was a good game for a lot of guys who hadn’t been in a game for a long time. You want to clinch (a playoff spot) earlier, but you don’t want to play too many games like that.”

With the win, the Jets added to a list of milestones reached this season. The Jets set the franchise record for points in a season with 99 (previous: 97 in 2006-07). They also tied the franchise record for most wins in a season with 43 (previous: 43 in 2006-07). And the Jets also set the franchise record for fewest goals allowed with only 210. (previous: 237 in 2013-14).

The first two goals, both scored within a minute of the opening faceoff were classic AHL goals – as in, accidental.

The Flames scored at the 33-second mark as Swan River rookie Michael Ferland found a loose puck in front of Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson and guided it home. It was Ferland’s second NHL goal in a rink in which he’d played a number of times with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Jets scored 10 seconds later as Flames goalie Joni Ortio (no, not Joni Mitchell, Joni Ortio) mishandled a shot by Drew Stafford and had the puck bounce over his head, off his back and into the net.

Michael Hutchinson won the final game of the season as Ondrej Pavelec had the night off (Photo by Jeff Miller)

After that it was mostly bouncing pucks, dumps without the chase and limited scoring chances until Mark Scheifele and Michael Frolik combined to score a real NHL goal. Before the first minute in the third period had ticked by, Scheifele laid a perfect pass onto Frolik’s stick and he ripped a high, hard one into a gaping hole in the Flames net for his 19th of the year. That was probably enough but the Jets weren’t done.

A few minutes later Lee Stempniak scored his 15th to put it away and a few seconds after that, Adam Lowry scored his 11th unassisted. Matt Halischuk wrapped up the scoring with his third of the year at 18:59 of the third and, by then, the Jets were officially getting ready for the post-season.

“It’s Christmas for coaches (being back in the playoffs),” said Maurice. “It’s going to be a challenge for the coaches. “When you get into the playoffs, you just enjoy the energy. The guys are going to be wired, it’s just a lot of fun.”

Sunday’s game was one of those meaningless end-of-season games with both teams headed to the playoffs after long, grinding campaigns. Essentially, the 15,004 fans at MTS Centre saw an American Hockey League game at NHL prices.

Swan River’s Michael Ferland (79) played in front of family and friends and scored his second NHL goal (Photo by Jeff Miller)

The Flames did not dress Kris Russell, Dennis Wideman, T.J Brodie, Johnny Gaudreau, Lance Bouma, David Jones, Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler, Paul Byron, Raphael Diaz or Karri Ramo. Not all were injured, obviously.

The Jets sat out Paul Postma. Mark Stuart, Jacob Trouba, Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler, Tyler Myers, Eric O’Dell, Mathieu Perreault or Ondrej Pavelec. Again, not all of them were injured.

It was thought that some of the players wearing Flames uniforms had been in witness protection (as recently as yesterday): Emile Poirier, Brett Kulak, John Ramage, Tyler Wotherspoon (isn’t he a speed skater?), Sam Bennett and Corey Potter have not played enough games with the Flames (combined) to account for an entire NHL season.

It did give Winnipeg fans a chance to see young Andrew Copp and it gave Matt Halischuk, Keaton Ellerby, TJ Galiardi and Anthony Peluso a chance to get back into an NHL game. Copp brought the crowd to its feet when he picked up his first NHL point, an assist, on Stempniak’s goal in the third.

The Flames outshot the Jets 25-22, but Michael Hutchinson earned the win and improved to 21-10-5 in this, his rookie campaign. The Jets were zero-for-two on the power play while the Flames were zero-for-four.

So now the Jets head to the post-season for the first time since the team moved to Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011. For Maurice, this is the best part of the job.

Matt Halischuk scored his third goal of the season (Photo by Jeff Miller)

“I enjoy coming to the rink,” said Maurice. “I enjoy the games – maybe not this game – but it’s just really enjoyable being around these guys. It’s exciting.

“Right now, the first thing we’re going to do is assess the schedule. We’ll take (Sunday) off, because they won’t have too many chances to take days off between now and whenever the playoffs end. We’ll look at video and assess how we’re going approach the opposition (whether it’s St. Louis or Anaheim).

“But before it starts, to get 99 points in a really tough Western Conference, I’m just really proud of the effort.”

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com