FLAMES SNAPSHOTS: The good, the bad, the actually still pretty good

In the first period Monday night, it wasn’t hard to see where there’s still a lot of work the Calgary Flames need to get done.

In periods two and three, though? It was equally easily to identify reasons to feel optimistic as they stormed from behind to earn a 5-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets at the Saddledome.

It’s completely normal for a team to have pros and cons at this point in the pre-season. The Flames still have a week before the games that matter kick off, and every team is always a work in progress throughout the NHL’s 82-game schedule anyway.

The good and the bad in early October only matter so much.

But yeah, we know the Flames can score.

And we know they’ve got work to do in the defensive end. Their much-talked-about transition from man-to-man defence into more of a zone system will only work if they’re not turning the puck over deep in their own territory.

“That’s got to be a focal point for us because we see how games change,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “Winnipeg’s defence is really good at getting involved in the rush and if you give them chances or give them the puck or opportunities to get involved, shame on you type of thing. It’s something we have to work on, it’s been one of the bigger weakness we’ve had in the exhibition games.”

It would be over-simplifying things to say the Flames were bad in their own zone on Monday. That wasn’t true for the whole game. Mostly, it was just the first period where they really struggled, although a turnover in their own end did lead directly to David Gustafsson’s second of the night and the Jets’ fourth goal late in the second, too.

But the Flames looked a lot better after the opening 20 minutes. Credit where it’s due.

They did fall behind 2-0 in the first before Elias Lindholm got them off the mark in the final seconds of the first frame. That happened and will be a concern.

They certainly don’t want to be spotting their opponents’ two-goal leads with any regularity once the regular season gets going.

“I think we played with a little more pace the second and third period,” said Flames captain Mikael Backlund, who had a goal and an assist against the Jets. “We played a little quicker in the neutral zone and were forechecking better and hunting pucks and when we (got turnovers) we played faster and that’s how we got at them. We created turnovers, went to the net and got rewarded.”

So when the Flames created turnovers, they generally created opportunities.

When they turned over the puck themselves, it led to bad things.

That makes this whole hockey thing seem sort of simple, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and the Flames know all too well that they’ll be made to pay if they don’t cut out some of those mistakes in their own zone soon.

There’s still a week left in training camp to work on avoiding turning over the puck, and it’s likely going to continue being a work in progress long after that.

“I think it’s a year-long thing,” Huska said. “Usually when you don’t win games, there’s typically turnovers at one of the blue lines. If you feed transition games, it’s not a recipe for success.”

ACROSS THE BOARDS 

The Flames did a lovely job honouring Chris Snow, their assistant general manager and vice-president of data and analytics who died this past weekend after an inspiring four-year fight with ALS. The tribute concluded with fans holding up the lights on their phone. It was a touching moment of tribute for a man who left a profound legacy on Calgary and beyond … A clip circulated on social media of Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder singing a song for Snow at a concert on the weekend and it’s absolutely worth checking out … Dillon Dube had a second goal wiped off the board early in the third period because he made contract with Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck as he went to the net. At that point, it felt like the Flames just couldn’t stop scoring … It wasn’t a brawl by any means, but the Flames and Jets did see tensions briefly boil over in the second period when Mikael Backlund was assessed a boarding penalty after a hit on Dylan DeMelo. Players from both teams pushed and shoved a little bit, although nothing serious came from it.

OFF THE GLASS 

Dryden Hunt didn’t waste any time coming to Blake Coleman’s defence after Jets defenceman Logan Stanley took a few shots at him in the Winnipeg crease late in the game. Hunt rushed to his teammate’s defence and seemed eager to have a go with his bigger opponent, although the refs got in the middle to ensure it didn’t devolve into a full-on fight … At this point, anyone betting against Matthew Coronato making the Flames’ opening-night roster needs to give their head a shake. It’s not just that he scored the game-winner on Monday and added two more assists, it’s that he’s producing with real consistency in his first training camp. Coronato has four goals and seven points in five games so far this pre-season.