National Hockey League
Calgary 3, Winnipeg 0
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 11, 2017
Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Referees: Kevin Pollock, Garrett Rank
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Brandon Gawryletz
Attendance: 15294

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Calgary Flames channelled the ghosts of Tom Lysiak, Willi Plett and Guy Chouinard as they posted their ninth consecutive victory on Saturday night, a 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

Brian Elliott stopped 31 shots to post his second shutout of the season, second in 48 hours and 36th of his career to propel the Flames (38-26-4) into second place in the Pacific division with 80 points, one more than the idle Edmonton Oilers and tied with the Anaheim Ducks, who have fewer regulation wins.

The Flames got power play goals from center Mikael Backlund and right winger Michael Frolik and an even-strength goal from Alex Chiasson. The Jets have given up five power-play goals in the last two games.

Nobody in the Flames dressing room wanted to talk about the streak in much the same way that you don't mention a no-hitter in a baseball dugout in the eighth inning.

"No one is talking about it to me but I'm a goalie. Nobody usually talks to me anyway," Elliott said with a smile. "I think everybody is approaching it a game at a time and building those two points at a time. We have to keep doing the same things. You can't sit back and look at the little run we've been on. You have to look forward to the next game."

Hamilton, who was a game-time decision after being banged up against Montreal on Thursday with what the team had described a lower-body injury, led all scorers with three assists. In a rare sign of openness, he didn't discuss his injury as if it was a Cold War secret.

"It's kind of been a little bit of a whirlwind since it happened," Hamilton said. "Never dealt with something like this before. I just kind of listen to the doctors and do the best I could.

"I just got stepped on or cut or whatever. I knew there was something wrong right away. I just got lucky, really lucky, (I) wore the right socks. It didn't touch my tendon. I think they said it was as close as it could be to the tendon."

The trio of Lysiak, Plett and Chouinard were three of the leaders on the 1978-79 Atlanta Flames, who reeled off the franchise's record 10 consecutive victories between Oct. 14-Nov. 3, 1978.

That team, led by the immortal Bob McMillan, who scored 37 goals and 108 points, finished with a record of 41-31-8 and 90 points, good for fourth in the Patrick Division. The Flames were eliminated 2-0 in the best-of-three preliminary round by the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Flames moved north to Calgary two seasons later.

Elliott said he doesn't think there are many historians on the Flames' roster today who know much about the success of their Atlanta forefathers.

"I think I know Dan Bouchard. He was the goalie, right? I think these guys are too young for all that. Millennials," he said.

Indeed, Bouchard won 32 games between the pipes for Atlanta that year.

Hamilton said his team is trying to stay level-headed about the streak.

"I think we're just trying to keep going. You can't get too high or get too low in this league. You just have to keep going. It's obviously more fun when you're winning," he said.

Right winger Micheal Ferland, who was born in Swan River, Manitoba (pop. 4,014), but played his youth hockey in Brandon, including for the WHL's Wheat Kings, said he had a lot of friends and family coming to the game.

"It's always fun to play for them," he said.

He was quick to credit Elliott for the team's run of success.

"Moose has been great for us. We have a lot of energy in this dressing room," Ferland said. "We're a very focused hockey club. We're playing some good hockey. We want to keep climbing in the standings. We're having a lot of fun. We're playing the right way and getting rewarded."

The third consecutive loss by the Jets is effectively a nail in the coffin for their playoffs hopes. They sit nine points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues, who have two games in hand, defeated the New York Islanders 4-3 on Saturday night.

Jets captain Blake Wheeler said his team was forced to spend too much time on the outside and the Flames did a job of clogging up the middle once they got the lead.

"There were some good things going on and then the penalties took away from some momentum in the second period. Our penalty kill wasn't good enough.

"We weren't able to mount anything in a comeback. You just don't really feel like you're in these games. It's just playing from behind all the time now. It makes it really difficult, especially when things aren't going well and guys aren't feeling good about themselves, to really get anything going," Wheeler said.

NOTES: With C Nic Petan returning to the lineup, it's back to the press box for RW Chris Thorburn. He's joined by G Ondrej Pavelec and D Julian Melchiori, who was called up from the Manitoba Moose after Toby Enstrom suffered a concussion against Pittsburgh on Wednesday. ... Joining them from the Flames are C Curtis Lazar, C Freddie Hamilton, D Michael Stone and newly-recalled D Rasmus Andersson. ... Once the Flames made it to the 40-minute mark with the lead, the game was a virtual fait accompli as the Flames are 27-0-1 this season when leading after two periods. On the flipside, the Jets were 5-26-2 when trailing after 40 minutes. ... Both the Jets and Flames franchises originated in Atlanta.
Top Game Performances
 
Calgary   Winnipeg
Dougie Hamilton 3 Points N/A
Michael Frolik 1 Goals N/A
Dougie Hamilton 3 Assists N/A
Michael Frolik 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Brian Elliott 1.000 Save Percentage Connor Hellebuyck .897
Brian Elliott 31 Saves Connor Hellebuyck 26
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Calgary 29 3 2-5 3-3 13 27
Winnipeg 31 0 0-3 3-5 17 34
Upcoming Games
  • Winnipeg will play their next game on the road against Nashville. The Jets have a W/L % of .433 after a win and .436 after a loss.
  • Calgary will play their next game at home against Pittsburgh. The Flames have a W/L % of .568 after a win and .548 after a loss.