The Winnipeg Jets closed out their eight-game homestand with a loss on Saturday night to the Calgary Flames by a score of 3-1. Dustin Wolf was incredible in net for Calgary, stopping 38 of 39 shots sent his way. There was plenty to take away from a night where the Jets came up short against a Western Conference opponent.
Eric Comrie failed to get any run support
The Winnipeg Jets have scored 12 goals in Eric Comrie’s last eight starts, all of which have been losses (0-7-1). As Scott Arniel pointed out in the post-game, the Jets are first in the NHL in goals, but can’t seem to get any when Comrie is in the crease.

Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
“It’s a broken record. I have no idea why we can’t score when he’s in the net,” Arniel said. “We’re the highest-scoring team and it just seems like we can’t get him any run support. He gives us a chance every night, I don’t know what it is… we just don’t seem to score.”
He added that there was an added disappointment with this game, not only because they outplayed the Flames and deserved a better result, but also for failing to get Comrie a win. However, it wasn’t for a lack of effort as the Jets dominated the Flames in almost every metric possible except for goals.
The Jets had a season-high 85 shot attempts on this night, shattering their previous high of 73. The scoring chances were 38-13 in Winnipeg’s favour, as well as the high-danger chances, which were 16-4 in all situations. Wolf played one of his best games of the season tonight and stole two points away from the Jets.
Ehlers/Lowry duo solid once again
After Tuesday’s 6-1 win over the Canucks, I wrote that the Ehlers/Lowry duo has earned a longer look with their strong play. They continued it on this night, accounting for Winnipeg’s only goal in the contest with Gabriel Vilardi on their line in the third period, and generating plenty of offence.
The key to that line working so well is Nikolaj Ehlers, who looks like a new player at five-on-five alongside Lowry. Ehlers himself had 11 shot attempts, five shots on goal, seven scoring chances, and four high-danger chances.

Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Arniel took note of Ehlers’ strong performance on this night in his post-game press conference.
“I think that he’s been doing it probably for the last… Oh, I think four or five games now,” Arniel said. “He got slow coming out of the gate after his injury but now, the biggest thing for me: he puts his speed on display. It’s a threat. Those defencemen don’t like to see him when he’s winding up like that. He pushes people back. He probably had… He had 7 or 8 shots but he probably had 4 or 5 quality chances himself.”
With Mason Appleton and Vladislav Namestnikov nearing a return, it will be interesting to monitor how Arniel handles his bench, and whether or not this duo has earned a longer look over an extended stretch of games.
Homestand ends at 4-2-2
The season-long eight-game homestand is now in the past, as the Jets went 4-2-2 over that time. The highlights of the homestand for Winnipeg were the 3-0 win over Colorado and the 6-1 win over Vancouver, with the lowlights being the 4-2 loss to Detroit earlier in the homestand, and failing to get Comrie a win across two starts.
Despite the highs and lows, Arniel liked how the Jets played over this stretch.
“I liked the way we played here, I really do. I thought the Detroit game was the one that kind of bothers me, the Anaheim game a little bit. But at the end of the day, all the other ones, like tonight there were games like tonight where our effort was great, we played well.”
Arniel ended his answer by previewing the next couple of games, saying: “Now we’ve got a few here, big Central Division, three in a row here, so we’ve got to make sure we get out on the road and continue that.”
That three-game stretch against Central Division opponents starts on Monday night as the Jets will play their first game in Utah taking on the Hockey Club. They’ll then travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche on Wednesday, before returning home for a two-game stretch against Utah and Calgary.
Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all the latest Jets and Moose news during this busy stretch of hockey.
