Aware of how much back-to-back losses could devastate their playoff hopes, the Calgary Flames wrested momentum back in their series with the Winnipeg Jets with a 6-2 win Tuesday.
The Flames lead the best-of-five qualifying series 2-1. Game 4 is Thursday.
Calgary is a victory away from dispatching the Jets and advancing to the first round of an NHL post-season like no other because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have a chance to close it out on Thursday and we’re going to prepare as much as we can to make sure that happens,” Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk said.
Sean Monahan led Calgary’s attack with a goal and two assists. Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund each scored and had an assist.
Tkachuk and Milan Lucic also scored, and Johnny Gaudreau produced an empty-netter to go along with a helper. Andrew Mangiapane had a pair of assists.
WATCH | Flames’ power play heats up in Game 3 win over Jets:
Matthew Tkachuk was one of six Calgary skaters to tally in their 6-2 victory as they take a 2-1 series lead over Winnipeg. 1:11
Flames head coach Geoff Ward dubbed starter Cam Talbot the team’s best player of the game with his 33 saves.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrew Copp scored for the Jets.
Winnipeg counterpart Connor Hellebuyck stopped 26 in the loss. The Vezina Trophy nominee wasn’t on his game-stealing form of the regular season.
“I’ve got to use this and I plan on using this,” the Jets goalie said. “This was an upset for me.
“I don’t see it being easy for them at all for the rest of the series. So they better scratch and claw for everything that they get.”
Calgary won the series opener 4-1 and Winnipeg took Monday’s second game 3-2.
The Flames were the Western Conference’s top seed heading into the 2019 playoffs.
Calgary beat the Colorado Avalanche in the first game of the first round, but didn’t win again en route to a quick exit.
WATCH | Maurice says Jets not where they need to be:
Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice addressed his squad’s penalty kill after their 6-2 loss to Calgary on Tuesday. 1:18
The sting stayed with the Flames throughout the 2019-20 season. Tuesday’s resounding victory after a loss the previous day arrested a potential skid.
“It’s all about momentum and we had to get it back,” Tkachuk said. “Last year, we didn’t get the momentum back.”
Both teams playing their second game in as many days, and third in four days, Calgary took control with a three-goal second period.
The Flames scored a pair of power-play goals to take Game 1, but were blanked on six chances Monday.
Calgary’s units recovered in the third game scoring three times on four opportunities.
“I thought our players did a really good job in terms of just being more prepared for what we were going to see,” Ward said.
“We were able to put ourselves in positions where we were able to beat pressure better than we did in the last game. Obviously it was a huge factor in the hockey game.”
Jets without Scheifele, Laine
The Jets were minus top-line centre Mark Scheifele, winger Patrik Laine and centre Mason Appleton a second straight day.
Scheifele hasn’t played since the first period of Saturday’s opener. He injured his left leg tangling along the boards with Tkachuk.
Laine suffered an apparent wrist injury colliding with Flames captain Mark Giordano in the third period of Game 1.
WATCH | Ward praises Flames’ effort:
Calgary bench boss Geoff Ward spoke highly of his group after their 6-2 victory over Winnipeg on Tuesday. 1:01
Attrition continued for the Jets on Tuesday. Forward Mathieu Perreault went to the dressing room in the second period and did not return. He was checked hard by Sam Bennett near Calgary’s bench.
Defenceman Tucker Poolman missed the majority of the second period. He leaked blood onto the ice after taking a Backlund shot off his head.
Poolman was back on the bench to start the third, however, wearing a cage until switching to a full shield.
Jets head coach Paul Maurice estimated the welt on Poolman’s head to be the size of five golf balls.
Hellebuyck was pulled with four and a half minutes to play in a bid for extra-attacker goals, but the Jets didn’t generate any.
“We’re not coming to the rink for Game 4 with a feeling that we’ve let something slip away,” Maurice said.
“We’re not moving the puck the way we want to for sure, but if there’s one thing I have confidence in, I think the compete’s going to be as good as we’ve got.
“What they leave on the ice in Game 4 will be all they have.”
WATCH | CBC Sports’ Rob Pizzo recaps day 3 of NHL playoffs:
In his daily recap, Rob Pizzo tells you everything you need to know from day 3 of the NHL playoffs 2:42
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
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