Johnson, Flames surging into meeting with Jets (Dec 10, 2016)
CALGARY, Alberta -- The Calgary Flames got hot just as the icy cold winter arrived on the Canadian prairie.
The Flames take a five-game winning streak into Saturday's tilt against the Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Saddledome during a stretch that has taken Calgary from the ranks of NHL bottom feeder to that of playoff hopeful.
"We've got traction now," Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters Thursday night after a 2-1 road win over the Arizona Coyotes. "We've got to stay consistent. I've said this before, 'You are what you repeatedly do.' We have to continue night-in-and-night-out to play a certain way and it gives us a chance to get points."
Dougie Hamilton's goal at 1:09 of overtime gave the Flames (15-13-2) their league-leading ninth road win in Arizona.
"There's no breathing, by any stretch of the imagination. We dug ourselves a hole at the beginning of the season, we're getting out of it now and we have to keep pushing," Gulutzan added.
It was a high of 68 degrees in Phoenix on Thursday and a high of -1 in Calgary when the Flames returned home on Friday. While they have been more than solid on the road, the Flames have not been as formidable on home ice and are 6-7-2 in Calgary so far.
The Flames fortunes turned around on the back of goaltender Chad Johnson, who wrestled the No. 1 job away from Brian Elliott and owns 10 wins in his past 12 starts.
"This run we're on . . . it all starts with Chad. He's so calm in the net, he makes things look easy and it's easy to play in front of him," said Hamilton. "It gives our team confidence. We're playing simple hockey and getting goals when we need them."
The Jets visit Calgary on the heels of back-to-back road losses out east and will follow up Saturday's game with another one in Edmonton on Sunday.
Good news arrived for the Jets on Thursday as their top forward, Mark Scheifele returned after missing three game because of a hamstring injury. Scheifele notched his 14th goal of the season in a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers the night of his return. His 27 points have him tied for ninth in league scoring.
"You don't realize how quickly the game can get away from you. You miss three games, and the first few shifts are pretty fast, but as the game went on I felt better and better," Scheifele told reporters in New York.
The Jets (13-14-3) wrap up a stretch that sees them play 11 games in 19 days on Sunday.
Head coach Paul Maurice expressed his displeasure with the schedule when he met with the media in Winnipeg on Friday morning before they boarded their flight for Calgary.
"I don't like our schedule at all," he said. "I've never seen one like it. It may be the new NHL, so you just have to get used to it and deal with it.
"We're excited about grinding these next two out and then actually spending the two days off and a game at home (Dec. 15 vs. Florida). It'll be good for us."
The Jets made a roster move Friday morning, sending 2015 first-round draft pick Kyle Connor to the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose, who also play out of Winnipeg's MTS Centre. The rookie left-winger had been scratched five consecutive games and has a lone goal and three assists in 19 games.
"He needs to play 20 minutes and touch the puck and develop along the lines of the game we know he's going to play here," Maurice said.
