With no top scorers on the ice, Jets slip in Edmonton

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This article was published 23/09/2015 (3694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — The Winnipeg Jets iced a lineup stacked with piano movers, not piano players, in the Alberta capital Wednesday night.

And, after a slow start, they still managed to pound out a decent little ditty.

The Jets were minus their top eight scorers from a year ago — Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Mark Scheifele, Dustin Byfuglien, (Michael Frolik, now in Calgary), Mathieu Perreault and Toby Enstrom — but rallied from a 2-0 deficit before falling 3-2 in regulation against the Edmonton Oilers.

Ben Chiarot and Adam Lowry both solved Cam Talbot in third period to end a Jets scoreless drought that dated back to Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to Minnesota Wild Tuesday night. Justin Schultz, Jordan Eberle and Matt Hendricks — on a penalty shot with just 2:12 remaining — were the Oiler marksmen.

The bonus round: More 3 on 3

The two teams were scheduled to experiment with the new OT format, regardless of the score. And for the second straight night the open space and creativity had fans sliding to the front of their seats with every rush.

The Oilers had a 2-on-0 with Nail Yakupov and Leon Draisaitl in the first minute but whiffed, while the Jets didn’t generate much. And, because the game had been decided in regulation, there was no shootout afterward.

Who stood out

The Jets dressed five players who also played Tuesday: forwards Joel Armia, Alex Burmistrov, Thomas Raffl and Andrew Copp and defencemen Brendan Kichton.

Burmistrov, who played in the middle against Minnesota, started on the right wing against the Oilers on a line with Lowry and Chase De Leo and was one of the better Jets. His versatility in being able to play both on the wing and centre has stood out over the first two games and he seems far less cute with the puck than he was before exiting for the KHL.

Armia has his moments, too, but while he plays a tidy defensive game the big Finn hasn’t been able to capitalize on his chances. He had 10 goals and 25 points in 33 games with Rochester before being part of the package in the Evander Kane/Zach Bogosian deal last winter, but has now played 23 games in the organization — 21 with St. John’s last year and the two preseason tilts this week — and has just two goals and eight points.

We also liked who you would expect to like with such a star-starved lineup: Chiarot was steady on the blueline and blasted home a point shot, ditto for Jay Harrison, while Michael Hutchinson was busy in the Jet net before being replaced by Eric Comrie in the third. Lowry, as per usual, was workmanlike from the opening draw to the final horn. The other vets, like Matt Halischuk and Matt Fraser, also did their thing.

Honourable mentions go to JC Lipon, who played his role of shift disturber perfectly and Thomas Raffl, who doesn’t make many assignment mistakes and drew an assist on Lowry’s marker.

Countering all that Adam Pardy, who struggled mightily and was the player who pulled down Hendricks to lead to the penalty shot.

Connor McDavid’s day off

The NHL’s next generational superstar got the night off on Wednesday, but could suit up Friday in Winnipeg against the Jets or Saturday in Saskatoon against Minnesota. The prolific young centre, the first overall pick in the draft last June, had two assists in a split-squad win over Calgary in his pro debut on Monday and was named the game’s first star.

Interestingly, McDavid’s likeness doesn’t really dominate Edmonton like many might have expected — at least, not yet. The billboard that welcomes visitors near the airport — the one that screams “Welcome to Oil Country” — features Taylor Hall.

Understandably, the Oilers have been trying to temper expectations for their young star since the minute they first called out his name at the draft with GM Peter Chiarelli recently telling TSN a realistic point total would be 40. Oddsmakers have the McDavid over-under point total at 71.5, FYI, and if he can get to or exceed that, the new rink in Edmonton — scheduled to open next season — will soon be packed with fans wearing his No. 97.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait