The Carolina Hurricanes are riding a seven-game winning streak and sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Even so, the defending Stanley Cup champions are not patting themselves on the back as they head to Calgary to face the struggling Flames.
The Hurricanes extended their run with a 3-2 comeback victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday to open a five-game road trip, but they admit it was far from their best.
“We know we’ve got a lot better than we did (Saturday),” said forward Nikolaj Ehlers, whose power-play goal broke a 2-2 tie in the third period. “We’re not exactly where we want to be, but it’s a long season, and we’ve got a lot of time to keep making the small details better.”
The win may not have been a masterpiece, but the potency of the Hurricanes lineup was on display.
In a game their top three point producers — Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Jackson Blake — were all held off the scoresheet, the Hurricanes converted both power-play opportunities with the depth players stepping forward.
Ehlers and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored their first goals of the season. Mark Jankowski extended his goal streak to six games, tying the franchise record since its relocation to Carolina from Hartford, Conn., for the 1997-98 season.
Jankowski, who was drafted by the Flames in the first round in 2012 and set a career high with 17 goals in 2017-18 — the first of his three full seasons in Calgary — is trying to take his hot streak in stride.
“It just feels great to help the team win any way possible,” he said. “That’s always been my philosophy. (I’m) just trying to do all the little things right and then eventually, the goals and all that come after.”
As the Flames are kicking off a four-game homestand, they sit at the bottom of the league standings.
Calgary has managed only one win in seven outings, with all six defeats in regulation time. The team is back in action after suffering a 6-2 road loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
The Flames fell behind on the game’s first shot 25 seconds into the tilt and never recovered.
“Take those puck-play mistakes or mishaps out of the equation, we did a lot of good things in the first period,” coach Ryan Huska said. “But you’re down 2-0 and against good teams, you can’t give them leads like that where we’re sitting.”
The Flames have dropped all three home games so far this season.
The Vegas loss was even more deflating after Calgary had put together some solid performances, even in defeat, and was coming off its lone victory of the campaign, 4-2 at Anaheim on Tuesday.
“We proved the two games prior we can play a really structured game,” said defenseman Jake Middleton, who scored his first goal of the season in the loss. “We didn’t (on Thursday) and it’s something we can take as a lesson.”
Among the myriad reasons for Calgary’s struggles is the sudden issue of penalties. The Flames were short-handed five times in each of the past two games, a trend in the first couple of outings that sent their season into a skid.
“You take five or six penalties a night, you’re not winning,” Huska said. “There are quality players on the ice for too many minutes where they’re able to touch the puck. It’s not a good thing and it’s not a recipe for success.”