Despite an impressive showing from Rasmus Andersson, Dustin Wolf, and the other 18 skaters in red, Calgary lost an all-Canadian battle with the visiting Winnipeg Jets, falling 2-1 in a special teams-filled affair.
Wolf was remarkable, making 31 stops and the Flames held the Jets' potent powerplay – which came into the night tied for third in the league at 33.3% - to just one goal on five attempts. Andersson, meanwhile, tallied his second of the year - capped with his patented stare-down celly that brought the C of Red to its feet late in the middle frame.
Calgary led 1-0 after 40 minutes but Winnipeg got a pair in the third period for the victory.
The Flames had some chances but couldn’t convert on the PP - with three of their five opportunities coming in the first period alone.
Jonathan Huberdeau, playing his second game after returning from a preseason injury, made a heckuva defensive play on a Jets 2-on-1, hustling back to lunge and get his stick on a pass from Mark Scheifele intended for Morgan Barron.
Wolf made eight stops in the frame, including a beauty on Scheifele on a Jets powerplay on a backdoor attempt on a cross-ice feed through traffic.
Not long after the carry-over advantage expired in the second, Calgary got another powerplay with the best look coming from Morgan Frost who fed Matt Coronato but his tip was stopped by Hellebuyck.
Then it was Wolf’s turn to come up big on a Winnipeg powerplay in the ongoing special teams tit-for-tat.
He lost his stick making a save on Scheifele, then sans twig stopped a blast from Kyle Connor and then denied Alex Iafallo’s rebound attempt with a pad save.
On another Calgary penalty for too many men just minutes later (the first of two they got in the frame for having six skaters in the ice), the Calgary netminder stayed with Vilardi as he skated across the blue paint and outstretched his left pad for another massive stop.
Andersson opened the scoring at 13:22 with a point blast that beat Hellebuyck, who was screened by Ryan Lomberg who was looking to tip it out front.
