Lindholm, Ruzicka lift Flames past Jets to end seven-game slide

CALGARY -- Elias Lindholm and Adam Ruzicka each had a goal and an assist, and the Calgary Flames won for the first time in eight games, 3-2 against the Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

Jacob Markstrom made 21 saves for the Flames (6-6-2), who hadn't won since Oct. 25 (0-5-2)
"You can talk about the effort and stuff like that, but we kept losing and losing, and obviously it's not good enough when you lose seven in a row," Lindholm said. "Today, we wanted to put a good game out there. Obviously, there are things we can do better, but we got the win and that's all that matters."
Neal Pionk had a goal and an assist, and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets (8-4-1), who had won three straight and were 6-0-1 in their previous seven games. Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves.
"Can't win every game," Dubois said. "It's a frustrating loss. We had a good streak going, not just points-wise, but we were playing well, too, and playing the right way, and I think tonight at times we played well, and at other times we were trying to force it a little bit too much."

Lindholm scored 3:23 into the first period to put Calgary ahead 1-0, redirecting Ruzicka's centering pass.
Pionk tied it 1-1 at 14:46 when his shot deflected in off the shaft of Connor Mackey's stick.
Pionk's goal came four minutes after Markstrom barrel rolled to make a sprawling save on Mark Scheifele's shot from the left circle.
"That was pretty cool," Flames defenseman Chris Tanev said. "Stacked the pads, that's old school. Ron Hextall, maybe? I don't know, definitely in those days. Huge save for us. He made those all night."

Ruzicka gave Calgary a 2-1 lead at 17:22 after tapping in a cross-ice pass from Lindholm past Hellebuyck's right pad on a 2-on-1. It was his first goal of the season.
Dubois tied it 2-2 at 4:23 of the second when he scored off a backdoor feed from Josh Morrissey.
Trevor Lewis put the Flames ahead for the 3-2 final at 18:31, tucking a backhand into the net on a short-handed deke.
"We had the lead going into the third," Lindholm said, "and we just talked about we're a veteran group and the stuff that has been going on shouldn't happen to us and things like that. We just talked before the third and tried to keep playing the same game, no panic, and have poise with the puck."

Calgary limited Winnipeg to four shots in the third to preserve the win.
"At the end of the day, we're the players on the ice," Pionk said. "We've got to execute. Coaches gave us a plan. We knew what they were going to do, so we've got to go out and execute it, and it's on us."
NOTES: The Flames have scored first in each of their past five games. ... Defenseman Rasmus Andersson has 11 assists in 14 games this season. The only Flames defenseman in the past 20 years to have at least 10 assists in fewer games is Mark Giordano, who did it in 13 games played in 2018-19. ... Dubois has scored in four straight games and has six points (four goals, two assists) during that span. ... Tanev played 17:32 in his return after missing five games because of an upper-body injury.