Jets get in win column with 5-2 dousing of Flames

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This article was published 25/09/2017 (2909 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s coach and the captain expressed a need for a boost of energy from the Jets and, appropriately, the power play provided the extra voltage Monday night.

Finnish teen Patrik Laine was the chief electrician.

Laine had his big shot sizzling at Bell MTS Place, shocking Calgary goalie Eddie Lack with two laser beams over his right shoulder to spark the Jets to a 5-2 victory – the team’s long-awaited first win of the NHL pre-season.

Four of the team’s five goals were generated with the Flames a man short. In fact, nine of the 10 Jets’ goals in the exhibition season have come with an opposing skater in the sin bin.

“We haven’t used a lot of man-hours to practise our power-play, yet,” said Laine, who also chipped in three assists. “We’ve been over some of the things we want to see on the power play and (Monday night), especially, I think we saw those things on the ice and managed to do those things we wanted and got rewarded.”

Laine set up centre Mark Scheifele – who opened the scoring midway through the first period on the power play – left-winger Nikolaj Ehlers in the second and Dustin Byfuglien in the third as the Jets upped their record to 1-3-1.

Remarkably, Ehlers’ tally was the team’s first even-strength goal in 14 periods.

The potency of the Jets’ star-studded offence should result in a more productive power play, said the sophomore right winger.

“It’s good for (Blake Wheeler) that he’s on his off side and can pass the puck around and he has three one-timers, Buff, Scheif and me, and I know that always somebody is going to be open,” said Laine, a 6-4, 206 pounds, who was an NHL rookie-of-the-year finalist a year ago after a 36-goal campaign. “If it’s not me, it might be Buff or it might be Scheif. It’s good for him that there are a lot of options. It’s good for him and good for our team.”

Scheifele had a goal and three assists, and Wheeler had three helpers against a Flames squad missing many of their top performers.

Jets’ third-line centre Adam Lowry left the game in the middle period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Jets head coach Paul Maurice indicated it was a day-to-day type of injury.

Earlier in the day at the Iceplex, Maurice predicted an injection of speed from the Jets against Calgary, while Wheeler noted the time had come to “flip the switch” with the dawn of the regular-season just over a week away.

The veteran-laden Central Division team delivered, but Maurice was quick to offer some post-game perspective.

“You know what, you can’t assess the game. (Calgary) had a fifth of a team in the lineup, so that doesn’t help you,” he said.

He also offered a tempered reaction to the suggestion Winnipeg has found a solution its problematic special-teams units.

“It’s not bad. It’s the statistics in training camp don’t mean a whole lot. The (power-play) structure’s right and, most importantly the players are really engaged in it, they all understand what it could be,” he said.

While it was a far cry from perfect, there were signs many of the Jets regulars are finding their form in the final week of the pre-season after a few lackluster performances. Laine, Scheifele and Wheeler weren’t an official line but clicked with deadly effectiveness on the power play.

“It’s early and we still have things to work on. It’s clicking good right now but there’s still a few things we can dial in a little more. We can’t get too confident,” said Scheifele. “We’re keeping it simple and it’s going in for us, but we gotta continue to work on things.”

Byfuglien was engaged, dishing out a hard open-ice check on defenceman Brett Kulak and then answering the bell against tough guy Luke Gazdic. Blue-liner Jacob Trouba threw a few thunderous hits, including one of the questionable variety on Marek Hrivik that got him ejected in the third period.

Andrew Copp and Brandon Tanev, meanwhile, were a solid duo on the penalty kill as Winnipeg snuffed out four Flames’ power-play chances, including Trouba’s five-minute match penalty for an illegal shot to the head.

A couple of blunders from Winnipeg’s big free-agent fish helped the Flames pull even 2-2 before time expired on the first period. Russian-born defenceman Dmirty Kulikov whiffed in the Calgary end and Sean Monahan raced away, corralled a pass in his skates and beat goalie Steve Mason with a sensational shot.

Mason then gave up a softie to Matthew Tkachuk on a drive from a bad angle that slithered between his arm and pad.

He was tidy after that, finishing the night with 26 saves. Across the ice, Lack, a former Manitoba Moose puck-stopper, had 29 stops.

The Jets have a pair of pre-season games remaining – the club hosts the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night and heads to Calgary for a Saturday night battle.

The regular season kicks off Oct. 4 when Winnipeg hosts Toronto. 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: WFPJasonBell