Morrissey has 3 points, Jets hand Flames 8th straight loss

WINNIPEG -- Josh Morrissey had three assists for the Winnipeg Jets, who handed the Calgary Flames their eighth straight loss with a 5-3 win at Canada Life Centre on Friday.

“He was real good again tonight,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said of Morrissey. “He played an awful lot of minutes (26:13) in back-to-back games, but he loves that."

Gabriel Vilardi scored his first goal of the season and also had an assist for the Jets (6-2-0), who were coming off a 3-0 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday but have won six of seven. Mark Scheifele had two assists, and Eric Comrie made 30 saves.

“I really liked our second (period), we got stronger,” Arniel said. “We knew that with us playing last night, Calgary was going to really come at us earlier. I thought we weathered that. We got down one, but we still played a really solid game and kind of got our game going and built off a few of the things that happened. The 4-on-4 goal, then the power-play goal, [Toews'] face-off goal, there were a lot of good things that started to kind of build and spread us out from them.”

Blake Coleman and Mikael Backlund each had a goal and an assist, and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Flames (1-7-1), who have been outscored 31-12 during their losing streak. Dustin Wolf made 27 saves.

“Well, you lose the rhythm and flow of the game,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “Five-on-five I think we're doing some good things right now, but you're not going to win hockey games if you're taking minor penalties. It's just the way it goes.”

The Flames went 6-for-8 on the penalty kill after they were assessed nine minor penalties, including one for delay of game following an unsuccessful coach’s challenge. They went 1-for-6 on the power play.

“Very bizarre game in that sense,” Kadri said. “I think when you're flipping and flopping (to special teams) all the time, I think it's obviously hard to create a rhythm. Same for both teams. Like I said, you'd like to see a little more flow, but it felt like we had some dangerous opportunities today and put a couple in, but we needed one or two more.”

Kadri gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 5:18 of the first period, scoring on the power play with a one-timer from the right circle.

Kyle Connor tied it 1-1 at 5:19 of the second period while the teams were skating at 4-on-4. Morrissey made a move around MacKenzie Weegar in the neutral zone, allowing him to skate in on a 2-on-1 and pass to Connor, who scored with a one-timer from the right circle.

“There's a lot of open ice, and [Dylan DeMelo] made a nice stretch past me and I just tried to use my skating,” Morrissey said. “And when you get in a 2-on-1 with a goal-scorer like that, it's nice to put the puck in his hands. And usually he's pretty lethal from there.”

Jonathan Toews put the Jets ahead 2-1 at 6:24. He won a face-off back to Morrissey, who carried it down to the goal line before sending a centering pass to the top of the crease, where Toews redirected it into the net.

Calgary challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld after a video review.

“Even in the first period, we were wanting to get one early to just get over the hump a little bit, especially after being shut out last night," Toews said. "Those things can build sometimes if you start forcing it and grip it a little tight, but I think we just said on the bench and in the locker room to keep pushing and it was going to come. It shows a lot of maturity, and it doesn’t matter who you’re playing or where they are in the standings. The League is so good now that you can’t take anyone for granted, and we knew that they were going to play some desperate hockey tonight.”

Vilardi pushed it to 3-1 at 9:50, scoring a power-play goal with a quick backhand from below the left circle. It was his first goal in eight games this season after he scored 27 in 71 games last season.

“He's been around it,” Morrissey said of Vilardi. “He's had lots of looks in front of the net where everybody knows he's so good, and maybe it just hasn't been going in for him. But I think with any great player and goal-scorer and whatnot, I mean, when you're getting those chances and when you're around it, you know it's about to come.”

Backlund cut it to 3-2 at 13:56. Coleman spun to deliver a short backhand pass to Backlund, who finished a mini breakaway with a backhand-to-forehand deke.

Alex Iafallo responded with another power-play goal to make it 4-2 at 18:50. Vilardi caught a pass along the goal line, spun and sent a backhand feed to Iafallo for a one-timer in the low slot.

“Both (power-play) units have had lots of looks,” Arniel said. “[Vilardi] has the ability to find those open guys. [Iafallo] hung close, knowing we had tried it earlier and it didn’t connect. We had a good look at it but it didn’t go in. Obviously, we stuck with it. That’s Gabe. He can make those small plays in a very tight area.”

Coleman got the Flames to within 4-3 at 8:27 of the third period. He scored from all alone in front after receiving a centering pass from Backlund, who was along side boards.

“It wasn't enough for us tonight,” Coleman said. “We have to be better. But it's something to build on as a line, and we need to continue to get better and look in the mirror and at some point draw a line in the sand.

“Five-on-five I thought we were the better team. We just couldn't keep the play at 5-on-5, and they've got a good power play and we've got to clean up our kill. And there you go.”

The Flames had a chance to tie it late after Haydn Fleury was assessed a minor penalty for cross-checking at 17:10, but they failed to convert on the power play, and Vladislav Namestnikov scored into an empty net with eight seconds left for the 5-3 final.

“Midway through the game we were really going after them and all four lines were rolling, contributing," Toews said. "To see it going the way it was going with all the penalties, we knew we had to kill some and deal with a push from the other team. But then to get the goal in the third, good for our guys to get those kills and for [Comrie] to stand tall in net as well.”

NOTES: Backlund has 566 career points (217 goals, 349 assists), passing Gary Suter (564) for sixth in Flames history. ... Morrissey has 56 career multiassist games, passing Ilya Kovalchuk for third in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history.