Stanley Cup Playoffs: Calgary Flames vs. Winnipeg Jets series preview

The play-in round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features a matchup between the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets.

The NHL announced the schedule for the 2020 Stanley Cup qualifying games on Friday, July 10th, and confirmed the hub cities to be Edmonton for the Western Conference and Toronto for the Eastern Conference. The Calgary Flames are slotted to open their best of five series against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, August 1st.

They are set to open their series against the Winnipeg Jets August 1st and the rest of the schedule is as followed. Game times have not yet been confirmed.

Game 1: August 1st
Game 2: August 3rd
Game 3: August 4th
Game 4: August 6th (If needed)
Game 5: August 8th (If needed)

On paper, this matchup is a pretty even one with the Flames placing eighth in the Western Conference and the Jets placing ninth. Due to the cut back season, the Flames and Jets only faced each other once this year for the Heritage Classic game in Regina, Saskatchewan in October. The Flames fell 2-1 in overtime.

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It was a low scoring game that didn’t see any action from the scoreboard until the second period when the Flames scored their first and only goal of the night. David Rittich played a great game stopping 43 of 45 shots but ultimately, took the loss.

Both teams have their strengths and whoever was better conditioned during self-isolation is going to be quite obvious on the ice. If the season picked up exactly where it left off, there would be solid players on both ends to shut down.

For the Jets, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele lead the team in scoring with 73 points each. Black Wheeler and Patrick Laine are not far back with Wheeler sitting at 65 points and Laine sitting at 63. On the Flames, Matthew Tkachuk leads the team in points with 61. Behind him is Johnny Gaudreau with 58, and Elias Lindholm with 54.

Although this series is not quite the same as coming back from the offseason, you can compare how each team performs off a long break. In the first 10 games of the season, the Jets had a 5-5 record, notching three of those five wins in overtime or in a shootout. The Flames had a very similar opening to their season with a 5-4-1 record.

In a series like this that could potentially be decided in three games, it is going to heavily rely on which players are hot at the right times. Last year, Calgary was upset in the first round of the playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche in five games.

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No player on the team scored more than two goals the whole series and the highest producer was Sam Bennett with one goal and four assists. The Flames top line of Gaudreau, Monahan, and Lindholm combined for a total five points the whole series.

The Jets did a better on the production side of things with four players combining for five points in their six-game series against the St. Louis Blues. Dustin Byfuglien, who’s no longer with the team, led the team in playoff scoring last season with two goals and six assists.

So far only one player within this series has opted out of playing due to health precautions. Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic issued a statement to the public about his family’s scare with a respiratory illness that struck his young daughter last year. Hamonic, who lost his father at a young age, is keeping the interests of his family in mind and for good reason.

On July 12th, The Flames announced their qualifying series camp roster including 10 Stockton Heat call-ups and Juuso Valimacki, who was slated to be a standout defenseman for the Flames this season but tore his ACL just weeks before preseason games were set to start up.

The Jets also announced their camp roster which did not include Bryan Little on the list. After suffering a perforated eardrum injury early in the season, fans speculated that the extra break may allow him to return the roster. This appears to not be the case and he will likely be re-evaluated before the start of the 2020-21 season.

The Jets typically rack up the points and have a solid goaltender to back them up. If the Flames want to stay on top of this series, they need to be strong on the back end or match their point production.

Like the Heritage Classic, this series very well may turn into a goaltending battle. Connor Hellebuyck had the best season statistically, with a 31-21-5 record, 2.57 GAA and a .922% save percentage. His backup is Laurent Brossoit, who appeared in 19 games for the Jets this season.

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On the Flames side, David Rittich has been the go-to netminder with a 24-17-6 record, 2.97 GAA and a .977 save percentage. He is backed up by Cam Talbot, who has also gone on some good runs this past year and has played in 26 games. Whatever happens is sure to make for an exciting series and when it comes to the road for the cup, anything can happen.

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