No doubt there are nerves heading into this evening's affair but Jankowski is leaning on his experiences over the past month to keep the butterflies at bay. The 22-year-old played in three games at the Young Stars Classic in Penticton, BC, picking up one assist during his time in the Okanagan.
The Providence Friars alumnus has also skated in two NHL exhibition contests this week.
On Monday in Edmonton, Jankowski set up the Flames first goal against the Oilers and logged 17:27 of ice time in the 4-2 setback. The next night, in Winnipeg, he put in 13:23 of work in a 3-0 victory over the Jets at the MTS Centre.
"I think it's been pretty good," was his assessment of the pre-season thus far. "I think, obviously, there's a learning curve - it's my first time at this camp. I wanted to perform to the best of my ability and I think so far, I've been doing pretty well.
"I can take a lot of positives out of my game so far. There's obviously some things to improve on as well so going forward and in this game, I'll be looking to draw on those positives and to work on those things as well."
He and the coaching staff have had two days to evaluate his play in both pre-season skates and he has a definite focus heading into tonight's clash with the Canucks.
"In the (offensive zone) - trying to get more offensive zone time," he stated. "Being harder on those pucks. When the puck gets dumped in, be the first guy in on the forecheck and win those puck battles and get the puck back for our team. I think that's huge for us.
"I know in our first game in Edmonton, we didn't really have too much zone time so I think that's a big part of that. You've got to get in there and win those 50/50 battles.
"I just have to keep working my hardest and hopefully earn another (game)."
