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Pre-Season Gm5 Recap: Flames @ Jets

Oct 2, 2024; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets forward Nino Niederreiter (62) screens Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf (32) during the second period at Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: Terrence Lee-Imagn Images

The Winnipeg Jets were set to play their 5th exhibition game of the 2024-25 season when the Calgary Flames came to town. This one looked like it should be an uneven affair with the Jets holding a large advantage by dressing way more expected NHLers in the lineup (14 to 6 for Winnipeg). Head coach Scott Arniel suited up his expected top six forwards and a new look bottom six including some young prospects playing with the team’s most veteran player, 32 yr old Nino Niederreiter.

The coaching staff also put their top defensive pairing out versus the Flames, but the rest of the defensive core was filled with players looking to grab one of the two spots vacated by the injured Ville Heinola & Logan Stanley. Finally, Connor Hellebuyck will be looking to bounce back from an awful outing in his pre-season debut.

The Winnipeg Jets have spent the recent off days working on their special teams play…so let’s check out the Jets’ lineup below and then find out if all that practice paid off…..

Winnipeg started off the game by controlling play, but after 5 minutes the flow started to even out a bit. A failed attempt to clear their zone by the Jets led to some prolonged pressure and Calgary opened up the scoring shortly after the 8 minute mark when a point shot was deflected by a Flame right in front of Connor Hellebuyck. 1-0 CGY. Less than 2 minutes later, Winnipeg defensemen Simon Lundmark was hooked up in his own end and the new look powerplay got their first look. The Jets top PP unit of Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi, Kyle Connor, Cole Perfetti, & Josh Morrissey controlled the puck right away and had a bunch of chances on Calgary’s Dustin Wolf. Eventually a nice bit of passing solved the young tender, when Scheifele sent a pass from the left boards to Vilardi at the side of the net. Gabe one-timed a pass to Nikolaj Ehlers in the bumper spot & the Dane fired home a PP marker to tie the game up. 1-1 tie. Winnipeg quickly added another goal when a mixed line of Vladislav Namestnikov, Nino Niederreiter, & Ehlers intercepted a puck at the offensive blueline. The speedy Dane tried to slip a long shot through, but it got blocked before bouncing right back to him. While that was happening, Niederreiter got left all alone in front of Wolf and the Swiss veteran made no mistake once Ehlers slipped him the puck. 2-1 WPG. The Calgary Flames got their first powerplay of the game when Brad Lambert was flagged for a hook on the forecheck, but the Jets absolutely shut them down…allowing maybe 10 seconds of offensive zone time & no shots against. After a successful kill, a turnover in the neutral zone led to a Flames’ 3 on 2 and while Bucky was able to stop the initial shot, his defensemen were unable to clear the net-front and the rebound was pocketed into the Jets’ cage. 2-2 tie. Calgary got another man-advantage chance very late in the frame after Elias Salomonsson was nabbed for a hold. In the 23 seconds before the period ended, the Flames did control the puck and defensemen Haydn Fleury stopped a dangerous cross-ice pass by sprawling to the ice.

After 1st: 2 – 2 TIE / 10-8 shots CGY / 70.8% face-offs WPG

Despite the fact that Winnipeg outshot Calgary 8-4 in the 2nd period, it certainly felt that the inexperienced Flames squad were holding their own against the veteran Jets. Both Wolf & Hellebuyck had to make some saves as the teams traded chances. The best one for Winnipeg was when Salomonsson skated the puck out of the defensive zone before finding Jaret Anderson-Dolan on the right wing with a stretch pass. The new Jet deftly sent a pass to the middle of the ice that allowed Lowry to go in all alone on the goalie. A nice move saw the puck slipped through the tender’s wickets, but it trickled wide of the left post. Calgary ended up taking another penalty, but this time Winnipeg’s PP didn’t even manage a shot despite the top unit staying on for the majority of the advantage. Near the end of the period, Lowry gave the fans a reason to flash back to Dustin Byfuglien when he came to the rescue of Lambert during a scrum in front of the Flames’ net…grabbing and pulling two Calgary players away from the Jets’ young prospect.

After 2nd: 2 – 2 TIE / 16-14 shots WPG / 65.1% face-offs WPG

A third Winnipeg powerplay occurred early in the 3rd period and while the Jets weren’t rewarded, they had all kinds of chances with the advantage, including Scheifele wringing a shot off the crossbar. The home team finally took the lead when Vilardi rushed up the ice while holding off a Flames’ defender before he rifled a shot on net. Wolf was able to make the initial save, but Lowry found the rebound and threw the puck back towards the net-front. Niederreiter was once again near the blue paint of the crease and took advantage of the chance to add his second goal of the game. 3-2 WPG. Potential NHL rookie Brad Lambert had a fairly quiet game in this one, but he still showed some promise when he raced in on the forecheck, winning the battle for the puck along the back boards before passing to a wide open Lundmark at the top of the left face-off circle. The Swedish defenseman showed some unusual sniping abilities as he fired a wrister into the top corner of the net. 4-2 WPG. Winnipeg’s first forward line was buzzing all game without being rewarded at 5 on 5 but that changed with a late game dump in. The Jets were strong on the forecheck with Scheifele gaining control of the puck. The veteran center played give & go with Vilardi behind Calgary’s goalline before he found Connor alone in the slot for a 1-timer. 5-2 WPG. The Flames tried to push for another goal in the final minute of the third period, but the defense & Hellebuyck kept the score the same until the final horn blew.

Final Score:  Winnipeg 5 Calgary 2

Shots: 27-19 WPG / Hits: 17-7 CGY / 59% face-offs WPG

BOJA’s Observations:

  • Brad Lambert wasn’t as noticeable in this one as he typically is, but he did lead the team at the face-off dot by going 7 for 10 versus Calgary. Nice tenacity on the forecheck late in the game saw him pick up an assist on the Lundmark marker.
  • Winnipeg’s top line of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, & Gabriel Vilardi were strong against a less talented Flames’ squad. The unit ended the contest with a combined 6 points and 10 shots on net.
  • I thought both Swedish defensemen played very good games for the Jets. Simon Lundmark made some smart choices in his own end and chipped in offensively with the “breathing room” goal. I saw Elias Salomonsson make numerous smart plays throughout the game: couple stretch passes to transition to offense, stepped up to help Lambert get the puck out along the defensive boards, kept a tight gap in the neutral zone & that allowed him to step out to nullify Calgary rush attempts, and just overall good positioning & a calm nature.
  • Connor Hellebuyck had a better outing than his first one, but still just came short of a .900 save percentage. 17 of 19 shots stopped for a .895%.
  • Colby Barlow was involved in an OHL trade, moving from the Owen Sound Attack to the Oshawa Generals for the upcoming 2024-25 season. The Generals had to give up two players (defenceman David Bedkowski & center Tristan Delisle) and a bunch of draft picks (two 2nds, two 3rds, a 5th, & a 7th).

Well, the team will get a day off before finishing the pre-season with a rematch versus the Calgary Flames in Alberta on Friday. Enjoy your Thursday!!

The Winnipeg Jets also made some more cuts today:

Jets made the following cuts today:

4 on waivers for purposes of assignment to the Moose:

D – Simon Lundmark
F – Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
F – Mason Shaw
F – Dominic Toninato

3 are being assigned to Manitoba:

G – Thomas Milic
D – Tyrel Bauer
D – Dmitry Kuzmin

There are now only 29 players left at Jets camp…..

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