Lambert steals the show in Jets debut

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/09/2022 (1074 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brad Lambert sure has a sense of occasion.

The 18-year-old Winnipeg Jets prospect, making his NHL pre-season debut Thursday night in the same rink where he was drafted 30th-overall this past summer, had a goal and an assist as his club rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre.

“It was a great feeling. Really lucky to get this opportunity to play,” Lambert told reporters at the Bell Centre. “It’s just an exhibition game, but it’s still the NHL. It’s something you dream about, and the atmosphere out there was unbelievable.”

Lambert tied it with just under four minutes to play, and veteran defenceman Nate Schmidt won it with 17 seconds left in the third period. Manitoba Moose forwards Evan Polei and Cole Maier, both in training camp on NHL tryouts, had the other goals.

David Rittich played the first 40 minutes in net, stopping nine of 10 shots he faced. Arvid Holm came on in the third period and was much busier, with 13 saves on 15 shots. Kaiden Guhle, Brenden Gallagher and Cole Caufield scored for the Habs.

Winnipeg is now 2-1-0 in exhibition action, with three more games to play. Here’s a breakdown of what went down, including analysis and quotes, news and notes:

1) Lambert sure looks like he has a chance to be something special. The Finnish teen has been battling a minor injury during the first week of camp, but you’d never know by the way he played. Not only did he score the goal off a terrific steal and snipe to go with his earlier assist, but he was flying around the ice. One example was a second period play where he turned on the jets, no pun intended, to negate an icing. He also had a slick power play feed to Kevin Stenlund that nearly ended in a goal.

“I’m just trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get, go out there and play my game. Work my ass off,” he said.

2) Sure sounds like coach Rick Bowness loved what he saw and is prepared to give Lambert some more pre-season games, at the very least.

“Now you see what we’ve missed,” he told reporters in Montreal. “The kid looked really good. He’s got lots of speed, lots of skill, but what also jumps out at you is his poise with the puck. He’s an 18-year-old kid playing in his first game and he didn’t throw it away once. He hung onto it, bought time, and made plays. The skills and the speed are very obvious, but what jumped out at me was his poise.”

3) Schmidt joked earlier this week that he was relegated to the press box for the first two pre-season games because his fitness training test results were off the charts. In reality, the Jets already know what they have in the 30-year-old and wanted to see some younger players. No doubt the joy level was high on the plane ride home from Montreal Thursday night, with the always affable Schmidt leading the way given his game-winner.

“They fought pretty hard. I liked our effort tonight and I’m really happy with how we came back. Big, bad Brad gets his first. That was awesome,” Schmidt told reporters in Montreal.

4) There’s already an early candidate for save-of-the-year, with Holm absolutely robbing Caufield on the very first shot he faced early in the third period. With Mikhail Berdin’s status currently up in the air — he’s taken a personal leave from training camp — Holm is likely going to take on an even bigger role with the Moose this year, along with young Finnish free agent signing, Oskari Salminen. Holm is an intriguing prospect, and he might just work himself into big-league consideration sooner than later.

5) Speaking of the Moose, no doubt coach Mark Morrison and his staff are loving what they’re seeing so far in the pre-season. Daniel Torgersson scored twice and Mikey Eyssimont also lit the lamp in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over Ottawa, and the young man will likely take on a big role with the farm team this season. Now Polei and Maier have joined him in lighting the lamp. That’s some nice depth scoring for the organization.

6) It also should be putting some additional pressure on players like Jansen Harkins, who wasn’t very noticeable for a second straight game on Thursday. He played on a line with David Gustafsson and Mason Appleton that had a pretty quiet night at the office. So, too, did the de facto No. 1 line of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Sam Gagner (making his pre-season debut) and Kristian Reichel.

7) I guess it’s worth remembering it’s pre-season for the referees, too. How else to explain a series of bizarre calls both ways in this one. Somehow, Logan Stanley and Kirby Dach got offsetting roughing minors, even though Stanley was the clear aggressor and got multiple shots in. Even more puzzling was a double minor for high-sticking to Winnipeg’s Kyle Capobianco, which shouldn’t have even been a penalty. He clearly got interfered with by a Montreal skater, causing his stick to fly up and clip Christian Dvorak, who was then allowed to remain on the ice for the ensuing power play despite leaking blood. To add insult to injury, Montreal scored twice to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Later in the final frame, Dubois somehow drew an interference penalty on Guhle, despite looking like he was the one to commit the infraction. Overall, Montreal went 2-for-8 on the power play, while Winnipeg was 0-for-3.

8) Dubois was used in a penalty killing role Thursday, and looked quite comfortable doing so. Mark Scheifele was also given shorthanded ice time on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if coach Bowness considers carrying that over to the regular-season.

9) The Jets left most of their most experienced players back at home for this one, with Dubois, Harkins, Appleton, Schmidt and Stanley the only regulars from last season in the lineup.

“Loved the first two periods. We were skating, we were playing fast, we were getting on top of them, we weren’t giving up any chances, any odd mans — the things we wanted to clean up,” said Bowness. “Unfortunately the penalties just took us right out of the flow of the game and gave them a lot of momentum. But give our guys credit. Things don’t always go your way out there. You find a way to fight through it, stay in the fight. Give them credit because we did, we stayed in the fight, and found a way to win the game.”

10) Expect a round of cuts to come as early as Friday, which the Jets are taking off. They currently have 47 players in camp, but have to get down to a maximum of 23 prior to the Oct. 14 season-opener against the New York Rangers. Winnipeg will play its fourth pre-season game on Saturday against Edmonton at Canada Life Centre, then wrap up next week with a home-and-home against Calgary.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg