Calgary Flames (1) - Winnipeg Jets (4)

Complete Stats

The Flames marched out a lineup of mostly Stockton Heat and PTO players Sunday night and got about the result you’d expect. The Flames fell to a slightly more stacked Winnipeg Jets team 4-1 in Winnipeg.

Calgary hung with the Jets for the first two periods of the contest, but the third period was their undoing in this affair. The Jets would score three times in the final frame and turn what was a 1-1 tie into a three goal victory in just over nine minutes. The three goals Winnipeg put by Cam Talbot came on 11 third period shots, which was the second time the home team fired 11 shots on the Flames goaltender in the game.

Calgary’s lone goal came of the stick of Adam Ruzicka, his second of the preseason with the assists going to Alan Quine and Austin Czarnik. That goal tied the game at 1-1 early in the 3rd period. The Jets opened the scoring in this contest a mere 50 seconds in when Jack Roslovic would beat Talbot for his first preseason goal. There would be no scoring at all in the second period as the Flames would settle themselves in and start playing better hockey. The third period is where it all went off the rails for Calgary as Blake Wheeler, Joona Luoto and Nikolaj Ehelers would all score goals and the Jets would send the Flames to their second straight loss.

Cam Talbot hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the Flames fan base with his performances so far this preseason and even though he’s still new to the organization and learning the ropes, this game isn’t going to help his cause. Talbot surrendered three goals on 28 shots, upping his preseason total to 6 goals allowed on a combined 37 shots. Not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. What has to be a little concerning is the fact that unless your name is David Rittich, the Flames haven’t really gotten any quality goaltending out of Tyler Parsons, Jon Gillies and Talbot, Talbot, who will likely be Rittich’s backup this season if this play continues, still has time to sharpen his skills. If you look back to last preseason David Rittich wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence and he turned out to be just fine.

The loss drops the Flames record to 2-2-1 on the preseason and they will take on these same Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night at the Saddledome.

Highlights