Jets' point streak snapped at seven with loss to Flames

Twice the Winnipeg Jets battled back against a desperate Calgary Flames squad on Saturday night, but they couldn't find the magic a third time, as the Jets fell 3-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The loss snaps Winnipeg's seven-game point streak, a run that saw them go 6-0-1, before running into a Flames team willing to do anything to snap a 0-5-2 run of their own.
"Not our worst game but we were facing a desperate club," said Neal Pionk. "We have to match their intensity no matter what the situation is."
Pionk had two points, a goal and an assist, while Pierre-Luc Dubois had the other goal for the Jets, who are now 8-4-1 on the season.
But perhaps the place the Jets wanted to be better on the night was the power play. They were 4-for-10 in the last three games, but went 0-for-3 against Calgary and gave up the eventual game-winner in shorthanded fashion to Trevor Lewis.
"That's not the momentum you're trying to get," said associate coach Scott Arniel. "Doesn't always have to be goals but it has to be kind of wearing down the opposition penalty killers and creating opportunities . Give Calgary credit. They're extremely aggressive and they did a good job."

Calgary opened the scoring for their fifth straight game, as Adam Ruzicka's backhand from the right wing boards was deflected by Elias Lindholm and trickled between the legs of Connor Hellebuyck 3:23 into the first.

Winnipeg responded with 5:14 remaining in the opening period, as Neal Pionk's wrist shot from the point deflected off the leg of Flames defenceman Connor Mackey and past Jacob Markstrom, who had turned away quality chances from Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor to that point.
Ruzicka and Lindholm teamed up one more time in the opening period, as Lindholm fed Ruzicka on a two-on-one just 2:36 after Pionk's fourth of the season had tied the game. Ruzicka's first of the campaign gave Calgary a 2-1 lead after 20.
"They showed in the last three games that they're really hard in the first," said Arniel, adding that the Jets had to also balance having 11 forwards for most of the first, as both Adam Lowry and Jansen Harkins had to get stitched up after getting high-sticked and a puck in the face respectively.
"Both of them got stitches in the face," said Arniel. "It did throw us off a little bit. But at the same time things happen, you have to try to catch hold of them as a group and just try to move forward."
Dubois got the Jets back on even terms in the second, finishing off a beautiful passing play with Pionk and Josh Morrissey at four-on-four. Pionk, at the point, found Morrissey at the bottom of the left circle, and Morrissey threaded a cross-ice feed to Dubois who buried it into the open net.
The goal also gave Dubois a four-game goal streak, but that stat didn't mean much to him after a frustrating loss.
"We had a good streak going, not just points wise, but playing well too and playing the right way," he said. "Tonight, at times we played well and at other times, we were trying to force it a bit too much."

A late Jets power play in the second gave them an opportunity to take their first lead, but instead, Mikael Backlund took advantage of a flip into the neutral zone and then set up Lewis for a shorthanded marker. It was the first shorthanded goal the Jets have given up this season.
"We knew they were going to pressure," said Pionk. "That's kind of their thing is pressuring three up high. We pre-scouted, we knew it, and that was the difference in the game."
In the three power play chances, the Jets weren't able to get much through to Markstrom. Although part of that was the play of Flames defenceman Chris Tanev, who blocked two shots - one from Kyle Connor and another from Mark Scheifele.
"You just have to take what they give you," said Dubois. "Sometimes, it's just up and over and a shot and a one-timer. It's going to go in at some point. If it does, it gives you the momentum. Tonight, maybe a little bit at five-on-five too, we were trying for the perfect play a little bit too much."
Calgary clogged up the neutral zone for the entire third period, outshooting the Jets by an 11-4 margin. The number of bodies making it difficult for the Jets to go 200 feet made finding that equalizer a third time even more difficult.
"They kind of smothered us," Arniel said. "They were staying above us as much as they could, too. But at the end of the day, you got to force teams to go back and get pucks."
The Jets get right back at it on Sunday against the Seattle Kraken, as they complete their third of 13 sets of back-to-backs this season.
"We're not going to win all 82 games," said Pionk. "Guys have been around this league long enough, we know we have to take a lesson into tomorrow and find a way to win."