The 24-year-old played a season-high 17:51 in Sunday's Battle of Alberta, with a ridiculous 5:21 coming on the PK - the highest, by far, among all forwards in the contest. He also had a team-high three blocks and was solid again in the faceoff circle.
His game has been trending up for some time now, and while he's on pace to achieve a similar point total to the 25 he racked up a year ago, the progression of his '200-foot game' is noteworthy.
So much so that Jankowski is now a no-brainer option for head coach Bill Peters when it comes to filling Backlund's big shoes on the kill.
"You're down one of your better forwards, your No.-1 D man, you're on the second night of a back-to-back - it's gut-check time," said Jankowski. "It wasn't our best game, but we worked, and worked, and worked.
"Personally, if I'm having a good night, that's usually what I can attribute it to. You see a guy like (Connor McDavid) on the other side, you better bring your 'A-Game.'
"That's been my biggest focus throughout my career, and especially in a bigger role now - to outwork whoever it is I'm playing against.
"Make it hard on 'em."
Jankowski has had a rotating cast of wingers flank his left and right side throughout the season so far, but rookie Andrew Mangiapane and veteran James Neal make up the current outfit, giving the Flames a little bit of everything when it comes to line matchups.
He admits he got off to a "slow start" to the year but didn't let disappointment creep into his work habits.
"I worked through it," Jankowski said. "I just keeping kept telling myself, 'You have to make an impact on the game, somehow, in a positive way, every night.' Pick one thing and start there.
"Whether it's winning faceoffs, blocking shots, being good on the PK, or creating a scoring chance or two, start with one and build a game.
"I thought my game was getting better and by about the 10- or 15-game mark, I was pretty happy with it. Now, we're what, 30ish games in? I feel it's even further along now. That I'm being trusted with a bigger role, especially on the PK where I take a lot of pride, it means a lot.
"And I feel I still have plenty of room to grow."
One of the areas Jankowski has seen the biggest improvement is in the faceoff circle. He's gone from 47.8% last year to 53.6% this year, and is hot on the tail of Derek Ryan for the team lead in that regard.
But that, too, was no accident.
"I work on it nonstop," he said. "Last year, first year in the league, I thought I did pretty well - a good start - but with the way the game is played nowadays, you have to find an edge.
"Starting with the puck is so important. If you're chasing the puck around all night, you're not going to generate much in the way of offence and your bench is going to get worn down pretty quick.
"But it's not just me. We're really committed to having a five-man unit working to win those faceoffs. Everyone works hard and if it's a 50-50 puck, I feel confident my wingers are going to jump in and help me win it.
"A lot of guys are like that nowadays. They don't really try to win it clean, so much as they like to tie you up and allow the wingers to come in and gain possession. So when I'm lining up in the dot, I'm ready for that. Just as much as you want to win it clean for your own sake, you have to be able to respond defensively, too, if they get the support.
"It's one of those things. You keep working at it, studying the game and making yourself better, the results eventually come."
