Flames look to salvage road trip against league-leading power play in Winnipeg

The Calgary Flames in action in St. Louis on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 (Photo: X@NHLFlames)

The Flames will try to salvage a four-game road trip in Winnipeg Saturday night, after things went off the rails a little in St. Louis.

The Flames had a big opportunity to bury the Blues this week, when they met for a pair of back-to-back games after defeating Chicago Monday night.

Instead of putting some distance between the Blues and themselves in the wild-card race, it was the Blues who came away with a pair of wins.

They’re now just one point back of the Flames for the final wild card spot in the west.

Defenceman MacKenzie Weegar didn’t like his team’s start Thursday night, where the Blues jumped to a 3-0 lead after one period.

“That’s just preparation and focus,” Weegar said Friday. “It’s kind of happened a few times this year, where we’ve kind of come out like that – especially on the road.

“It’s just disappointing,” he added. “I’ve said this before where a lot of it comes (down) to leadership and getting guys ready and focused before games.

“It’s just disappointing,” he said. “And we can’t let that happen.”

Tough test

The road trip doesn’t get any easier for the Flames. On Saturday, they face a tough test in the Winnipeg Jets.

Trying to shut down that high flying team that’s lethal on the power play – they lead the league – is a tough ask.

Flames forward Jakob Pelletier has a suggestion.

“First of all, we’ve just got to stay out of the (penalty) box,” Pelletier said. “That’s a big thing – but you know, if we play, if we’re good on the forecheck, if we’re good on the tracking and play good in our own zone and spend most of our time in the O (offensive) zone, there’s not too many teams that can play with us.

“We’ve just go to play our type of hockey,” he said.

The Jets have had a solid season. They’re 31-12 and three on the season, for 65 points.

Flames head coach Ryan Huska said there’s a reason why they’ve been so good.

“They’re a very good team,” Huska said. “They deserve full marks for where they are right now (in the standings), because they play a really strong offensive game with a lot of pace.

“But they’re (also) very good defensively,” he added, “and don’t give up a lot (of goals and shots).

“So they make it difficult for teams who come in here, in particular – so I think we have to be excited about the challenge and the opportunity and make sure we’re coming to play our game for a full 60 minutes.”

Puck drop Saturday night in Winnipeg is 5 p.m.

It’s Hockey Day in Canada, with all seven Canadian franchises in action and the Hockey Night in Canada crew hosting from Canmore, Alta.

With files from CTV’s Glenn Campbell