GROUNDED
Jets hold Flames offence to one goal during loss in Winnipeg
by TY PILSON @typilson / CalgaryFlames.com
WINNIPEG - The chances were there.
A few posts, some timely stops by the opposition 'tender, a couple missed chances.
In the end, Adam Ruzicka was the only Flame able to bulge the twine in a 4-1 loss to the Jets.
Cam Talbot made 24 saves going wire-to-wire.
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The Jets struck first in the contest, scoring just 50 seconds into the tilt.
After Bryan Little won a faceoff in the Calgary zone, the puck found its way to Jets defenceman Tucker Poolman at the blueline who stepped into a point shot that Talbot saw the whole way.
However, after making the stop, the puck dropped to the ice in front of him and Jack Roslovic swept in all alone to grab it and snap a wrist-shot home.
The teams exchanged a handful of good chances in the first 20 minutes, with the homeside holding a slim 11-10 edge in shots.
Calgary's best opportunity came midway through the frame courtesy of Andrew Mangiapane. After winning battle for the puck along the boards in the Flames zone, he skated it up and into Winnipeg territory, before backhanding a nifty drop pass to Buddy Robinson, who wired one on net.
Laurent Brossoit made the stop but Mangiapane got close to sweeping home the rebound.
Tobias Rieder - in camp for the Flames on a PTO - nearly knotted the score, getting off a shot as he skated down the left-wing boards, then beating his man to the rebound at the side of the net after another Brossoit save, trying a wraparound, the Jets goalie just getting enough of the shot with his skate to keep it out.
At the other end of the ice, Talbot had a 10-bell save when he flashed his right pad out in the splits to deny a chance by Logan Shaw, who had beat Andrew MacDonald wide and cut hard across the crease looking to put it far-side.
After Talbot later made a huge blocker stop on a Blake Wheeler shot through traffic while short-handed, Shaw came up huge as he chased down Austin Czarnik who had been sprung on a breakaway, tying up his stick at the last second and preventing a shot.
Dmitry Kulikov was sent to the box for boarding 5:38 into the third period after a scary hit from behind on Glenn Gawdin leading to Calgary's goal.
Alan Quine got the puck on the net and Ruzicka - parked near the top of the blue paint - grabbed the rebound, pulled it across the crease and flipped it up-and-over Brossoit's right pad.
Video: CGY@WPG: Ruzicka pots PPG at the doorstep
Austin Czarnik got the other assist, his first helper to go along with two goals in just his second pre-season tilt.
Jets captain Blake Wheeler put his side back up 3:43 later, finding himself Johnny-On-The-Spot after an Anthony Bitetto point shot bounced off a few bodies, hitting Flames defenceman Oliver Kylington and coming off on an angle and landing right there for Wheeler, who put a backhand up high as Talbot tried to dive across the net.
Just over a minute later, Joona Luoto made it 3-1 when he tipped a Logan Stanley past Talbot.
The Jets added an empty-netter with just over a inute left to play.
The Flames are now 2-3 this pre-season: They split their split-squad tilts with the Canucks to start pre-season on Sept. 16 (3-2 loss at the Scotiabank Saddledome and 4-3 win in Victoria), before beating the visiting San Jose Sharks in a high-scoring 6-4 affair on Sept. 18. Most recently, the Flames skated out to a 2-1 lead after the first period in Edmonton Friday night against the Oilers, but the homeside scored five straight to win 6-2.
THEY SAID IT:
TALBOT ON HIS PERFORMANCE:
"I thought it felt pretty good. Obviously when you give up a goal 50 seconds in it's not the most ideal situation but I thought I settled down after that, controlled my rebounds for a good amount of the game. I was calm, I was patient and I was tracking the puck well, so those are all good things for me moving forward."
GAWDIN ON THE GAME
"It was a pretty good game, for the most part. Obviously we would have liked to generate a little bit more offence, get some more pucks on net, but, I mean, all-in-all I think it was a solid game. I mean, they scored early which kind of tilted it for a bit but I thought after that we played pretty well. Kind of got away from it at the end."
RUZICKA ON HIS GOAL
"The coaches put me in front of the net on the powerplay for a reason. Ya, it's my area and I try to go to that area and I've been fortunate enough to get bounce like that and score."
RUZICKA ON HIS CAMP
"I'm learning every game, you know. Everything they are telling me I'm trying to do. I'm trying to earn, game-by-game, you know, and make the team here. I just have to go out there and compete every shift."
PETERS ON YOUNG GUYS FACING TOUGH LINEUP
"Ya, it's good to play against a team that's probably half and half (vets and hopefuls), roughly let's just say. They got some good shifts against a real good line in the Scheifele line. So, it's an eye-opener. Now it gives you an idea where you have to be to be able to play in this league."
PETERS ON TALBOT
"I thought he was good, I thought he was real good. The first two goals were off faceoffs, so that's us in front … so, ya, he was real good. So, good to see and good to see him get 60 minutes."
Video: "I thought he was real good"
THE LINEUP:
Here's what the Flames iced to start the game:
FORWARDS:
Jakob Pelletier - Byron Froese - Eetu Tuulola
Tobias Rieder - Alan Quine - Austin Czarnik
Glenn Gawdin - Andrew Mangiapane - Buddy Robinson
Devante Smith-Pelly - Adam Ruzicka - Alexandre Grenier
DEFENCE:
Oliver Kylington - Michael Stone
Andrew MacDonald - TJ Brodie
Rinat Valiev - Alexander Yelesin
GOALIES:
Cam Talbot
Artyom Zagidulin
ONE-TIMERS:
F Ryan Lomberg and D Robert Hamilton made the trip to Winnipeg but didn't play … The Jets lineup Sunday night featured some of the club's big-name players, including Wheeler, Little, Mark Scheifele, and Nikolaj Ehlers ... The Jets and Flames will meet in the Heritage Classic outdoor tilt in Regina on Oct. 26 … The Flames have five PTO's remaining at 2019 Training Camp: MacDonald, Reider, Devante Smith-Pelly (F), Zac Rinaldo (F), and Alexandre Grenier (F).
UP NEXT:
It's going to be a busy week for the Flames as they wind up the pre-season with three tilts. First up is a return match with the Jets at the Scotiabank Saddledome Tuesday at 7 p.m (Click here for tickets). The team then flies to San Jose Thursday for an 8:30 p.m. start with the Sharks, before finishing things off by hosting the Oilers Saturday night at 7 p.m. (Click here for tickets).