‘RELENTLESS’
Third line of Bennett, Jankowski, Hathaway work hard to find success
Injuries always make way for opportunity.
And that’s exactly what has happened to the Calgary Flames third line of Sam Bennett, Mark Jankowski and Garnet Hathaway.
The trio was put together after Jaromir Jagr re-aggravated a lower body injury — their first appearance as a three-man band coming on Dec. 6 in Toronto — and it rolled through the following six games.
It’s Bennett, leading the way with two goals and four assists in that span, while Jankowski has a goal and three helpers. Hathaway, the jam to Jankowski and Bennett’s peanut butter, has provided one goal and four assists.
“I think they’re all pretty relentless,” said Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan. “They’ve got some good chemistry going right now. And Benny’s always been relentless, especially in the battles. There’s other areas of his game that he knew he needed to work on, and he worked on it through video and in practice and by watching.
“You look at that line and they’re playing some real good two-way hockey right now they’re not easy to play against.”
POWER PLAY IS FIXED!
Well ... not quite. But the Flames lagging man-advantage unit did snap a five-game scoring drought Sunday on the West Coast, thanks a late-game marker by Micheal Ferland in a 6-1 victory over the host Vancouver Canucks.
The skid dated back to a 2-1 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 6. But there’s no doubt that the power play still needs work, having only connected five times in the last 46 opportunities over a 14-game span.
“You have to work on it every day,” pointed out Gulutzan. “Whether we’re 20 per cent or 25 or 15, we work on it all the time. It especially becomes important when you’re getting guys new opportunities.
“We continue to keep working the engines until we get what we want.”
A couple of new-look units saw Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Jankowski and Mark Giordano on the first unit while Ferland, Mikael Backlund, Bennett, TJ Brodie and Dougie Hamilton were on the second unit. It’s how they finished Sunday’s game, and, of course, the second unit was able to connect.
The most noticeable change was the fact the Flames swapped Giordano and Brodie.
“You don’t want to tear anything down because then you’re starting from scratch,” Gulutzan said. “You just want to tweak. They’re both left guys and can move the puck and skate.
“We’re trying to just give it a different flavour or feel and see if it sparks anything.”
BEWARE OF THE BLUES
Despite their recent struggles — injuries, scoring issues, turnovers — the St. Louis Blues can still pack some punch.
“Always,” Gulutzan said. “With that defence and that history of winning for a long period of time ... When you’ve got cultural winning that takes place like that, it’s hard to get out of the system.”
The third and final meeting between the Flames and Blues was preceded by a 7-4 Calgary win on Nov. 13 and the first meeting was a 5-2 Blues victory.
It could be a little different now without Jaden
Schwartz in the lineup (the winger is out until January with an ankle injury), and they’re 5-4-1 in the last 10, most recently suffering a 4-0 loss in Winnipeg.
But they’re 10-4-2 on the road and 22-11-2 overall — and, hey, the Philadelphia Flyers started rolling a few weeks back in Western Canada, so you never know.
“Even with their injuries, they’re a high-functioning group,” Gulutzan said. “They’re good defensively and don’t give up much. Now it’s a tough league, and when you get injuries, it makes it harder.
“But that’s a highlevel team over there.”