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Frolik’s hot hand leads Flames over Jets

Michael Frolik had a goal and two assists Wednesday night as the Calgary Flames scored three times in the first period and cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.Joe Colborne had a goal and an assist and Mikael Backlund, the third member of that line, chipped in with two assists as the Flames won consecutive games on home ice for the first time since December.
Joni Ortio, Drew Stafford
Winnipeg Jets' Drew Stafford

CALGARY — Michael Frolik had a goal and two assists Wednesday night as the Calgary Flames scored three times in the first period and cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

Joe Colborne had a goal and an assist and Mikael Backlund, the third member of that line, chipped in with two assists as the Flames won consecutive games on home ice for the first time since December.

Sean Monahan and Mark Giordano also scored for Calgary (30-25-5).

Drew Stafford scored for Winnipeg (29-36-5). The Jets, who had won two straight, have yet to string together three wins in a row this season.

The Flames took a 1-0 lead at 5:38 when Colborne curled out front and had his bouncing pass intended for Backlund carom in off the goal stick of Ondrej Pavelec, which was laying on the ice by the side of the net.

The same trio struck again at 12:48, again benefiting from some good fortune.

Backlund fanned on a slap shot but the wayward direction the puck travelled was right to Frolik at the side of the net and he steered it in the open side.

As the two of them came together to celebrate Frolik’s 15th goal and fourth in his last two games, they could be seen sharing a chuckle about how the play turned out.

Calgary made it 3-0 at 18:20 when Johnny Gaudreau threaded a pass through the slot to Giordano, who neatly set up Monahan in the slot.

The Jets got on the scoreboard at 10:23 of the second, taking advantage of a mistake by Joni Ortio. The Flames goalie lost the puck to Blake Wheeler behind the Flames net and before he could scramble back into position, Stafford one-timed in his 19th goal.

Ortio finished with 28 stops in his sixth-straight start. Pavelec had 17 saves in defeat.

The Flames lost Dennis Wideman (upper body) in the first period when he went down heavily after colliding with Colborne behind the Jets net, seconds before Frolik’s goal. It was his third game after returning from a suspension.

Notes: Freddie Hamilton made his Flames debut after getting called up from Stockton (AHL) earlier in the day. It was his 30th NHL game but the first time he has suited up in the NHL with his younger brother Dougie… Last time Calgary had brothers in the lineup were Robyn and Richie Regehr in December 2006.