The Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild opened up their pre-season schedules on Saturday evening with a contest at the Canada Life Centre. Both franchises had plenty of youth in the starting lineups as the respective coaching staffs began their work of determining who will be on the NHL roster to begin the season.
Here were the lines and D pairs Winnipeg used for the game versus Minnesota:
Iafallo-Lambert-Vilardi
Chibrikov-Namestnikov-Appleton
Barlow-Yager-Barron
Julien-Shaw-Levis
Samberg-Salomonsson
Kuzmin-Bauer
Fleury-Miller
Kahkonen
Even his wife delivering a newborn son at 1 am on Saturday couldn’t stop Haydn Fleury from donning a Jets’ jersey for his first contest with the franchise. Let’s find out how he and the rest of Winnipeg’s players did last night.
When the puck was dropped to open up the match, it was the Jets who controlled the majority of play in the early minutes. Brayden Yager & Nikita Chibrikov combined with some nice passing to set up a Mason Appleton chance on Minnesota’s Jesper Wallstedt. Eventually the Wild started to get some offensive zone time of their own and an Alex Iafallo slash ended up giving the visitor’s an early man advantage. After a lost face-off, the Wild quickly rifled a shot from the blueline and while Kaapo Kahkonen made the initial save, Winnipeg’s defenders couldn’t stop their opponents from firing the rebound home to make it 1-0 on the powerplay. The Jets got their own PP shortly after when Appleton was high-sticked, but other than narrowly missing a cross-crease set up from Vladislav Namestnikov to Iafallo they could create much offense. Back at even strength, Winnipeg was controlling the flow of play despite having issues getting to the high-danger areas. A good look came when Colin Miller joined a 3 on 3 rush to give the Jets the extra attacker. He was rewarded with a pass, but the trailing defenseman’s shot caught a piece of Wallstedt’s shoulder and deflected wide. Another penalty to Winnipeg (Fleury) brought the penalty killers back on the ice and once again they failed to keep the puck out of their net. This time it took a bit longer, but once again a point shot caused issues when the goalie was screened enough to barely react as the puck flew past him (2-0 MIN). The Jets ended the period with a flurry of activity in the Wild zone…Yager stealing the puck and setting up Barron (post) & Chibrikov rushing up the left wing for a shot. The pressure continued with another 2nd line offensive zone cycle shift that saw Namestnikov send the puck back to Colin Miller at the point. The defensemen unleashed a howitzer that gave Wallstedt very little chance with Chibrikov and Gabriel Vilardi blocking his vision. The frame ended with the Wild up 2-1, despite being outshot 10-5.
The opening 7 minutes of the 2nd period saw Winnipeg continue to own the puck possession, while the outshot Minnesota 8-3. Elias Salomonsson starts a defensive zone exit then joins in on the rush, Chibrikov creates a turnover and sets up Connor Levis for a slot shot, and Lambert setting up Chibrikov for a long 1 timer. The Wild saw some rare offensive zone time and once again a screened point shot evaded Kahkonen, this time a low shot along the ice to make it 3-1 Minnesota. Winnipeg attempted to respond with a couple chances: Mason Shaw almost connecting with Colby Barlow on a cross-crease pass & a Dylan Samberg point shot after a 3rd line cycle shift. A defensive miscue allowed a contested breakaway for the visitors and the shooter cleanly beat Kahkonen with a low shot along the ice (4-1 MIN). Winnipeg attempted to get back in the game, but even a couple dangerous chances on two more powerplays couldn’t change the scoreboard (Barlow fakes shot, then shot-passes over to Yager for a chance & Lambert rips one off the goaltender’s mask). Despite outshooting the Wild 29-16, the Jets found themselves trailing by 3 after two periods.
The two franchises traded chances early in the 3rd period, but some bad defensive coverage allowed a Minnesota player to walk right in front and slip the puck through Kahkonen’s five hole (5-1 MIN). Winnipeg continued to search for more offense, but a couple more powerplay opportunities couldn’t solve Wallstedt for a second time. The Jets did manage to kill off their first penalty of the season, that saw a great short-handed chance from Shaw and Morgan Barron. While our squad did create more offense in the final period, it wasn’t until the final minute that they once again lit a red light. The coaching staff opted to finish with three 1st round draft picks when they put Barlow, Lambert, & Yager on the ice. The puck drop saw the centers tie each other up, creating a scramble in the left face-off circle. Barlow snuck in and in one motion, pulled the puck out of the scrum and fired it to the top shelf to making it 5-2.
Final Score: Minnesota 5 Winnipeg 2
Shots: 40-28 WPG / Hits: 18-15 WPG / 46% face-offs WPG
Goals for the Jets:
1st: Miller from Namestnikov & Appleton
2nd: Barlow from Yager
BOJA’s Observations:
- It was a pretty rough debut for Kaapo Kahkonen as the goalie allowed 5 goals against on 28 shots (.821 save %). The Swede had problems picking up the puck through screens, since one or two of the pucks went by him without the goaltender even spotting the biscuit on route. There also seemed to be quite a few shots along the ice that evaded his equipment, but Kaapo did make some high danger stops late in the contest.
- Colin Miller was another noticeable Winnipeg Jet last night, as he led the team in ice-time (22:57) while firing 4 shots on the Wild’s goalie. Miller’s slap shot was on display Saturday evening, with the defenseman flirting with the 100 MPH range as he opened the scoring for the Jets.
- Yes, the lineups weren’t filled entirely with NHL players last night, but I still felt good about the fact that Brad Lambert stood out against his peers in the pre-season opener. I thought he was the most noticeable forward on either team in the contest as he used his speed and puck carrying abilities to create plenty of offensive zone time. One of Lambo’s biggest upsides is his talent at moving the puck through the neutral zone and gaining the offensive zone with possession.
- The Jets struggled at the face-off dot against the Wild, ending with a 46% face-off percentage on the contest. Vladislav Namestnikov was the best Jet (55.6%), while young prospects Brayden Yager (47%) and Lambert (37%) were under the .500 mark.
- Not a great start for the new special teams….with Winnipeg allowing goals on their first two penalty kills and finishing the night with a 1 for 3 success rate. The powerplay was also less than stellar, going without a man-advantage marker on five attempts.
The Winnipeg Jets don’t have long to dwell on their opening pre-season match because they are back on the ice today at 5 pm CST against the Edmonton Oilers. Enjoy your Sunday!!
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