Jets prospects having tough time at Young Stars tournament

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This article was published 10/09/2017 (2924 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets prospects aren’t earning any glowing toasts in Canadian wine country this weekend.

Actually, that’s not entirely fair. The play of goaltenders Jamie Phillips and Mikhail Berdin has been something to savour at the Young Stars Classic hockey tournament in Penticton, B.C.

Despite a sensational 35-save effort from Phillips, a 24-year-old puck-stopper from Caledonia, Ont., the Jets fell 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

It was the second loss in as many nights for the young Jets squad. On Friday, Berdin stopped 35 shots as Winnipeg dropped a 4-2 decision to the Vancouver Canucks prospects.

Both netminders were late-round draft choices by the organization. Phillips was selected in the seventh round (190th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft, played four years at Michigan Tech and then split the 2016-17 season between Tulsa of the ECHL and the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Berdin, a 19-year-old who hails from Ufa, Russia, was taken in the sixth round (157th overall) in 2016 and spent last season with Sioux Falls of the USHL junior league.

Winnipeg, which has been allowing a heap of scoring chances in its first two contests, gets a day off Sunday and then closes out the tournament Monday at 12:30 p.m. (CT) against the Calgary Flames.

On Saturday night, Oilers’ goalie Stuart Skinner earned a 26-save shutout, while Luke Coleman, Chad Butcher and Joseph Gambardella (empty-netter) scored for the winners.

Edmonton is 2-0 in the tournament.

— Staff