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 Thanks to Thursday's 5-2 rout of the host Calgary Flames at the
Scotiabank Saddledome, the Jets have won two consecutive games — both in convincing fashion — since head coach Claude Noel was fired
and replaced by Paul Maurice.
"These guys want to win. They're no different than anybody else,"
Maurice said. "They're willing to do what you ask them to do and
having a little bit of success just reinforces some of their hard
work."
Centers Olli Jokinen, Bryan Little and Mark Scheifele each had a
goal and assist Thursday for the Jets (21-23-5), who had lost five
straight when Noel lost his job Sunday but beat the Phoenix Coyotes
5-1 in Maurice's first appearance behind the bench.
Defenseman-turned-left winger Dustin Byfuglien and defenseman Jacob
Trouba also scored for Winnipeg, while wingers Andrew Ladd, Chris
Thorburn and Blake Wheeler each had a pair of assists.
"With a new coach, I think the guys are jacked up and just ready to
get out there and turn things around," said Jets defenseman Keaton
Ellerby. "We're playing hard. We're getting pucks in deep. We're not
spending as much time in our own end. Our goaltending has been
great. We're just doing the little things right. It's working out
for us."
Nothing is working for the Flames (16-25-6), who lost their seventh
straight game at the Scotiabank Saddledome, a new franchise record
for the longest stretch without securing at least a point on home
ice. The Flames have been outscored 22-4 during that stretch.
Flames defenseman Mark Giordano and left winger Lance Bouma were the
only players to get a puck past Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, who
made 20 saves. Netminder Reto Berra did not have a good night for
Calgary, surrendering five goals on 23 shots.
"I don't think there's a single guy in here who can be satisfied
with our effort," said Flames center Matt Stajan. "It's like we give
up a goal, go in a shell and keep waiting for something good to
happen, but this game doesn't work that way. You have to go out and
get it, go after it, and right now we're not. We're waiting for it.
That's why we're at where we are."
Little struck first for the Jets just five minutes after the opening
faceoff, capitalizing after Berra kicked right winger Michael
Frolik's rebound into the slot area.
Byfuglien added to the lead about three minutes later, burying a
shot from a prime scoring area after a setup by Jokinen, who spent
parts of four seasons with the Flames.
Before some fans had even found their seats, the Flames were
trailing 2-0 just 8:11 into the game.
"It's pretty tough to generate energy when you give the first two
goals," said Flames head coach Bob Hartley. "They're two gifts, two
gifts that we covered this afternoon in our team meeting. They were
bad coverage right in front of our net. In the NHL, if you let guys
get great shots right from 10 or 15 feet away from the net, you're
looking for trouble.
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"Obviously, with the way that we've played here in the past
games, our confidence is very fragile and you put yourself down
2-0 just after a few minutes, we made it tough on ourselves."
Scheifele added to the misery for the home team, taking a pass from
Wheeler for a tap-in at the 9:09 mark of the middle period.
Jokinen also had a wide-open net to shoot at when he added a
power-play goal late in the second, freeing Bouma from the box after
a tripping penalty.
Giordano finally put the Flames on the board just 40 seconds into
the third period, firing a shot just inside the post from the right
point.
Just over two minutes later, Berra was again fishing the puck out of
his net after being beaten through the five-hole by Trouba.
Bouma added a meaningless goal with eight minutes remaining,
deflecting a shot from defenseman Dennis Wideman after a faceoff win
in Winnipeg's zone.
The Jets will shoot for a third straight win under Maurice when they
host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday at MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
"If we want to make the playoffs this year, it's important to put
wins together and we're doing a good job of forgetting the last game
and focusing on the game ahead of us," Trouba said.
The Flames now embark on a two-game road-trip that starts with
Saturday's matchup with the Vancouver Canucks.
NOTES: Jets RW Devin Setoguchi was not aboard Wednesday's flight to
Calgary due to the flu but travelled on his own Thursday morning and
was in Winnipeg's lineup against the Flames ... Jets LW Evander
Kane, who injured his hand in a Jan. 7 scrap with Tampa Bay
Lightning D Eric Brewer, was moved Thursday to injured reserve,
joining D Grant Clitsome (illness), RW Matt Halischuk (forearm), D
Paul Postma (blood clot) and C Jim Slater (hernia). With Kane out,
the Jets recalled LW Carl Klingberg from the AHL's St. John's
IceCaps. Klingberg has seven NHL games on his resume ... Flames C
Blair Jones, who missed 12 consecutive contests due to a knee
injury, participated in Thursday's morning skate but was not
activated for the game. LW Michael Cammalleri (concussion), LW
Curtis Glencross (ankle) RW David Jones (eye) and D Kris Russell
(knee) are also missing from Calgary's lineup ... C Steve Begin, who
skated for the Flames last season, announced his retirement Thursday
after parts of 15 seasons in the NHL. "Steve had a career marked
with great diligence and effort," said Flames president of hockey
operations Brian Burke in a statement. "On behalf of the Calgary
Flames organization and ownership group, I congratulate him on his
15 year NHL career and wish him success in his future endeavors."
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