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Five takeaways from the Flames' 5-2 loss to the Jets |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
Five takeaways from Calgary's 5-2 to defeat at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets:
1) Mark Jankowski should be one step closer to making the opening night roster after a strong showing last night. His line may have been the Flames' best at creating offense at 5v5 and he was the driver. His passing was good, he drew a penalty on a nice net-drive play, and the Flames out-chanced a loaded Jets lineup 6-2 when Jankowski was on the ice at full-strength.
2) There were a few hiccups throughout but I thought Brett Kulak was the Flames' best defenseman vs Winnipeg. He hung in there against stiff competition at 5v5 and was very effective breaking the puck out of the defensive zone as he led the way in exits and controlled exits despite finishing 3rd in attempts. He deserves the first crack on the 3rd pairing alongside Michael Stone.
3) Allowing five goals on 34 shots is far from ideal -- it's tough to win with .850 goaltending -- but I don't think Eddie Lack was at fault for the loss. He made a few quality stops and had little chance on most of the goals he conceded. Four of the five came on Winnipeg power plays and, quite frankly, it's hard to have success when the likes of Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele are teeing off shots and being given extra time and space to create chances.
4) I don't know if it was by design or due to a lack of talent in the lineup (or both), but the Flames dumped the puck in a *ton* against the Jets. Jankowski was the only forward with more controlled entries than dump-ins and it's not like he did so over a large sample.
5) Jacob Trouba is a great player but he really needs to be careful with some of the hits he throws over the middle of the ice. His hit on Marek Hrivik was highly questionable and he's thrown many similar to that (where his shoulder clipped the head) over the years. If he doesn't tone it down a notch, it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. Love the player, love the edge, but watch the head contact.
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