Monahan's Hat Trick Not Enough as Jets Fall 6-3 in Calgary

Just 39 hours after the conclusion of Saturday's late-night affair with the Vancouver, the Winnipeg Jets faced off against the Calgary Flames from the Scotiabank Saddledome. 

The Jets climaxed early on a first period natural hat trick from former Flame Sean Monahan, falling apart as the hosts scored five-straight, putting a halt on the Jets' three-game wining streak.

The first period was a wild, five-goal affair.

Three of which came off the stick of Monahan. Having spent nine years and 656 games with the Flames, the now 29-year-old had just one career hat trick heading into the afternoon affair.

By the 15-minute mark of the opening frame, he had his second. Monahan nearly had another off a shorthanded break late in the first. 

"It's cool, a lot of memories here; I played here for a long time," Monahan said after the first period. "It's always fun to come back and play here in front of these fans."

Despite Monahan's magic, it was actually Calgary that got on the board first. Just 4:19 in, it was Oliver Kylington who capitalized on a Jets' giveaway and went end-to-end and beat Connor Hellebuyck to give the home team a 1-0 lead.

But then Monahan scored his three goals, two of which came on the power play. 

Having gone eight-straight games without scoring more than two goals, the Jets put up four on Saturday in their victory over Vancouver, before scoring three times in the first period in Calgary. 

With two of Monahan's strikes coming on the man advantage, it marked the first time since March of 2021 that Winnipeg has put up two power play goals in back-to-back games. 

The natural hat trick was Monahan's first since November of 2018.

The Flames got one back late in the frame, as Blake Coleman tapped home an Andrew Mangiapane offering. 

The Jets led 3-2 after an eventful opening frame, while maintaining a 13-10 shot lead.

Calgary tied it up on a Nazem Kadri power play goal. With Monahan in the box for slashing, Kadri perfectly redirected a MacKenzie Weegar point shot.

It wasn't just the Jets changing their recent ways, as Calgary had only put up three goals in its past three goals, and actually found a fourth in the game on a Jonathan Huberdeau goal late in the second.

Huberdeau's ninth was three-on-one play with Yegor Sharangovich and Rasmus Andersson that actually bounced off the stick of Monahan before landing on Huberdeau's blade, who beat Hellebuyck for the fourth Flames goal of the game.

The goal marked the first time in 32 games that Hellebuyck gave up more than three goals in a game, which places him sixth in the all-time record book.

Not only did the Jets surrender the lead in the middle stanza, but they also gave up their shot lead, trailing 25-21 through 40 minutes of play.

Trailing as the period wore on, Winnipeg got a chance on a late-period power play, but managed just one shot on net. 

And moments later, that unsuccessful opportunity bit the Jets right in the bottom. Kadri and Mangiapane worked their way up the ice, and finished off the two-on-two play with a Mangiapane one-timer wrist shot, putting things out of reach for Winnipeg.

Kadri added another into the empty net with less than two minutes left, putting the finishing touches on the Flames 6-3 victory. 

Hellebuyck finished the game with 25 stops on Calgary's 30 shots, while Markstrom made 28 saves on the 31 Jets pucks he faced.

Next up for Winnipeg is test with the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. The Wild are coming off an impressive 10-7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. The Jets' nearest geographic rival will make its way to Canada Life Centre for the 7:00 PM central puck drop. That game can also be viewed live on TSN.