Winnipeg Jets Drop Pre-Season Final to Flames – Winnipeg | The Canadian News

Flames defender Rasmus Andersson assisted on all three of Calgary’s goals in a 3-1 preseason victory over the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

Andrew Mangiapane and Sean Monahan scored power play goals in the first period and Elias Lindholm scored hard in the third for the Flames, who capped their preseason with a 3-4-1 record. Johnny Gaudreau had two assists.

Defender Logan Stanley answered for the Jets, who are 2-3-1 in the preseason and haven’t won on the road.

Both teams started their aces at the net in their preseason finals. Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves for the victory.

The Swede stopped Winnipeg’s Pierre-Luc Dubois on a breakaway and caught a Paul Stastny backhand during a goal-scorer fight in the second period.

Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck stopped 20 shots in the loss.

The Jets open the regular season Wednesday in Anaheim against the Ducks. The flames will also open on the road against the Edmonton Oilers on October 16.

Matthew Tkachuk led the Flames in preseason offense with three goals and four assists in eight games.

Jansen Harkins scored two goals and three assists in six games to outscore the Jets in preseason production.

Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers was the first Jets member to be included on an Olympic roster when Denmark announced its top three players bound for Beijing on Friday.

The Danes will play in the men’s Olympic hockey tournament for the first time.

The Flames kept Winnipeg scoreless in four power play opportunities while going 2-for-4 with a men’s lead on Friday.

After a goalless second period, Stanley halved the deficit at 7:30 of the third with a low shot from the head-to-head circle that hit Markstrom’s platform.

However, Lindholm restored Calgary’s two-goal cushion less than two minutes later, thanks to a cross pass from Gaudreau.

Hellebuyck got part of Lindholm’s shot, but not enough to avoid the goal.

READ MORE: The Winnipeg Jets’ goal is to make it a “quieter” season for Connor Hellebuyck

The hosts led 2-0 on Monahan’s tap-in and power-play goal at 13:04 of the first period on a pass from Lindholm.

Mangiapane scored a power play goal 40 seconds after the first faceoff when Neal Pionk was serving a shot penalty.

He broke the puck on the stick of Hellebuyck from close up in a transmission from Gaudreau.

The Flames didn’t have newcomer Blake Coleman on Friday.

The winger was suspended for the final preseason game and regular season opener for tackling Harkins on Wednesday in Winnipeg.