Power play fizzles, McDavid sizzles

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This article was published 06/10/2016 (3338 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — The Winnipeg Jets’ power play had been the talk of training camp, but things went south in a hurry Thursday night.

The Jets surrendered a pair of short-handed goals in just 61 seconds in the third period as the Edmonton Oilers posted a 5-2 victory at Rogers Place.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Mark Letestu both raced in on breakaways and beat goalie Connor Hellebuyck with Zach Kassian in the penalty box for goaltender interference.

Winnipeg had scored nine goals on 25 power-play chances coming into the game, but was shut out in six opportunities. It was a forgettable night for the Jets’ special teams as the penalty killers surrendered a couple of tallies as well.

“Couple (of) short-handed goals, a broken stick on one and trying to force a pass on the breakout in the other,” assessed Jets head coach Paul Maurice in an animated post-game scrum with the media. “They were quicker than we were tonight.”

Asked why, he quickly replied, “They skated faster.”

MCDAVID A DANDY

News flash: McDavid is a fine, young hockey player. Crazy good, in fact.

The 19-year-old centre undressed a pair of Jets defencemen on superb individual efforts early in the first period.

He picked up a loose puck behind the Winnipeg net, circled in front and deked out Tyler Myers, but was denied by Hellebuyck. Less than a minute later, with Jets blue-liner Mark Stuart off for tripping, McDavid took a pass from Jordan Eberle, dangled around Ben Chiarot and then fired the puck past Hellebuyck at 5:16 to open the scoring.

“He’s a really good player,” said Maurice, who added, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, “They really need, in a building like this, a marquee guy and they’re going to have to find one.”

TANEV REWARDED

Brandon Tanev, a former NCAA star with Providence College who inked a one-year, two-way contract with the Jets in July, has turned some heads at training camp.

Tanev, who dressed for three games with Winnipeg at the end of the 2015-16 campaign, played his fifth pre-season game and got his first goal at 11:28 of the second period.

“It’s nice to get that first one. I’ve had some chances throughout the pre-season and I finally got one to go in there,” he said.

He corralled a bouncing puck, broke in alone and beat goalie Cam Talbot through the legs to cut the Oilers’ lead to one at 11:28 of the middle period.

Talbot had replaced Jonas Gustavsson for several minutes while the Oilers starter dealt with an equipment issue.

LITTLE AND FRIENDS

The trio of centre Bryan Little, left winger Patrik Laine and right-winger Joel Armia had a solid night, generating pressure in the Oilers’ zone but failing to beat either of the two Edmonton goalies.

Laine, the second-overall pick in this summer’s NHL Draft, made two terrific passes on a late power play in the first period, but neither Armia nor Little could capitalize.

Maurice juggled his lines in the third period, and Little finally lit the lamp with little more than four minutes left in the game, taking a feed from defenceman Paul Postma from and ripping home a slapshot.

HELLEBUYCK STARTS

Hellebuyck started his second game of the pre-season. He looked sharp in the first two periods, but had some pucks go through him in the third. His best saves came in the second period, when he kicked out a leg and stymied Oilers centre Leon Draisaitl and later denied former University of North Dakota standout Drake Caggiula on a penalty shot.

Hellebuyck, who had a 2.34 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage in 26 games with the Jets last season, is locked in a three-way battle with veterans Michael Hutchinson and Ondrej Pavelec for two jobs.

Whether he remains with the Jets or returns to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for more seasoning remains one of the biggest decisions of training camp — perhaps, the biggest.

Maurice said Hellebuyck shouldn’t worry too much about Thursday’s outing. “Connor’s had a good camp. He got left alone a little bit there tonight.”

NEXT UP

 

The Jets wrap up their exhibition season Saturday night in St. Paul, Minn., against the Minnesota Wild.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell