Jets drop pre-season opener to Wild

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This article was published 22/09/2024 (378 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Haydn Fleury could have easily watched the Winnipeg Jets first pre-season game from the comfort of home.

Just one night earlier, Fleury spent the evening in hospital as his wife Jaid gave birth to the couple’s second son, Ledger Duke, at 1:07 a.m.

But after being given the option to have the night off from hockey by Jets head coach Scott Arniel, Fleury made the decision to suit up against the Minnesota Wild instead.

“Honestly, I thought it would be cool to play on the day my son was born,” Fleury said after the Jets lost 5-2 to the Wild on Saturday. “It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

“I haven’t played in a while. The last game that I played I ran into a ref accidentally and didn’t get to play the rest of the year. I was really anxious to get out there and get back to it. So, that was kind of my reasoning.”

What did Fleury, who had 19:42 of ice time, think about the outing that was played mostly on adrenaline?

“A little tired,” he said. “I thought there were a lot of good things, some things you can clean up. But for the first game I thought it was alright.”

The Jets are back in action on Sunday in Edmonton against the Oilers.

News that defenceman Ville Heinola would be out indefinitely with an ankle infection meant Saturday’s game was the latest opportunity for hopefuls to audition for what looks to be an available job among the seven blue-liners expected to be on the opening-day roster.

Fleury, who signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Jets on July 4, looked comfortable on a pairing with Colin Miller that has the potential to be together on Oct. 9 against the Oilers.

“First of all, you don’t want to see that happen to somebody like that,” said Fleury, who has 268 NHL games on his resume with the Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken and Tampa Bay Lightning.

“I don’t really know Ville that well but I’ve met him since I got here and he seems like a great guy. I heard about what happened to him last year after having a great camp, so you really don’t want to see that to anybody, especially a teammate. But I think for the rest of us guys, that’s just an opportunity to step up and show yourself. I think every time you come to an organization, which I’ve got pretty good at doing, you get a fresh set of eyes on you and it’s a new chance to make a first impression.”

There’s no doubt that Fleury answering the bell on Saturday left a good impression with Arniel.

“He’s the one that wanted to be all in on it. He was pretty excited,” said Arniel. “We had him do the first read, the read of the starting lineup, so for him to have a long night and then get in the game like that, you tip your hat to him.

“He’s a hockey player. You expect that. But he said it right away. I’d barely gotten the options out of my mouth and he said ‘I want to play tonight.’ ”

MILLER TIME: Speaking of Miller, he unloaded his trademark shot from the right point late in the first period to get the Jets on the board after the team fell behind 2-0 after allowing a pair of power-play goals.

Miller has been known for his booming blasts since before he became an NHL regular and he finished Saturday’s game with four shots on goal in just under 23 minutes of ice time. which led the Jets.

“He’s got a bomb,” said Fleury. “I was actually joking around with him, I’m pretty sure he won the AHL hardest shot competition like eight years ago, nine years ago. He bombed it like 105. I knew he could bring it, I knew that from playing against him. So I tried to tee him up a couple of times. Just give it to him as much as you can.”

Miller ran one of the power-play units and that’s a role he could end up playing this season.

RENEWING ACQUAINTANCES: Jets hopeful Mason Shaw has plenty of fans in the Wild organization even after his departure in free agency and it’s easy to see why.

Shaw has a high motor and isn’t afraid to get involved physically. He also blocked a shot while on the penalty kill and made a nice setup in front to Morgan Barron during the third period.

He skated at centre on Saturday and dropped the gloves with Wild D-man Cameron Crotty in the final minute of the first period.

“Sometimes tempers get the best of a guy,” said Shaw. “That’s part of the game of hockey and that’s something I’ve had to do to edge myself into this league. I’ll keep doing it moving forward. I don’t even know if I’ve played against Crotty before. It was just one of those things (that) on my first three shifts, we were right in each other’s face. So, let’s just get this over with and move on.”

Shaw did turn the puck over behind his own net early in the third period, leading to a goal from Jones.

Although the goal came on a tough bounce, Shaw was quick to take full responsibility.

“Obviously, I’d like some things back. I’d rather not pass the puck to their team when they score a goal,” said Shaw. “Yeah, I learned very quickly a few years ago that there’s not much room for error in this league. Whether it’s a bounce or not, it’s something that can’t happen.”

As for facing his old team for the first time, Shaw was happy to get it out of the way — even though it might be a bit more emotional in the regular season.

“I guess we just get to it, rip the Band-Aid off and move on,” he said. “There weren’t a whole bunch of guys on that squad, but I caught up with Flower (Marc-Andre Fleury) and (Jon) Merrill and those guys before (the game). We’re great friends and it’s fun to compete against them on the ice, too. Now we move forward and see what’s next.”

YOUTHFUL ENTHUSIASM: There’s been plenty of chatter about opportunities for young players to force themselves into the competition for jobs, especially up front.

It was a big chance for Brad Lambert as he skated alongside Gabe Vilardi and Alex Iafallo on the Jets’ top line.

Lambert wasn’t quite as impactful as he was during the two games he played in the Young Stars Classic in Penticton, B.C., but there were a few signs that it was worth giving another shot.

Lambert made a smart play midway through the third period to set up Vilardi for a nice chance from the slot that he rifled high and wide.

With the battle for the second-line centre spot currently open, Lambert’s explosiveness is something that could give him an edge as training camp progresses.

The most noticeable young forward was Nikita Chibrikov, who showed plenty of composure with the puck on his stick and finished with four shots on goal.

“He’s a guy that has tremendous confidence,” said Arniel. “He’s not afraid to hold onto pucks. He’s a shooter. He tries to get himself in an area where he’s going to get the puck or get his shot off. He’s a competitive guy. He doesn’t care about how big the opposition is. He has a little bite to his game, which I like.”

Brayden Yager made several smart defensive reads and was sound in his positioning while playing in the middle.

“Yeah, you can see the hockey smarts,” said Arniel. “For any young player, college or junior guy, the biggest thing in games like that, and I said it this morning as well, is ‘When you don’t have the puck. What do you do next?’ I thought he did a good job. He had some down-low coverage plays that he had assignments that I thought he did pretty well from learning it the last two days in practice. I thought he covered that well but when he gets that puck, you see that he has the ability to make plays.”

One of those examples had Yager putting himself in position for a scoring chance during a power play in the second period, but the cross-ice feed from Colby Barlow was a bit too far ahead of him to get a good shot off.

But Yager showed off his ability to think on the fly, quickly adjusting his left skate for a redirection that caromed off the crossbar.

Because it was not a distinct kicking motion, the goal would have counted had the puck gone in, instead of rattling off the iron.

Yager recorded an assist by winning an offensive zone draw before Barlow scored on a quick shot with 45.9 seconds to go in the third period to round out the scoring.

ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS: A quick glance at the scoresheet shows that Jets goalie Kaapo Kahkonen allowed four goals on the first 14 shots on goal that he faced.

That much is true, though Kahkonen didn’t see at least two of them due to screens, another came on a breakaway after a blocked shot and the other two were a direct result of turnovers — one at even strength and another while shorthanded.

Kahkonen’s best save probably came with 9:12 left in the third period as he showed off his athletic ability, sliding across to stop Ben Jones on a backdoor chance.

This isn’t to suggest that Kahkonen (who made 23 saves) looked locked in. It’s simply a reminder that things could look much different with a few more days of training camp under his belt when he makes his next appearance.

Eric Comrie is scheduled to make the start on Sunday as the battle for the backup job continues.

Although there’s still plenty of time to leave an impression, Jets starter Connor Hellebuyck is expected to appear in two-and-a-half of the final four exhibition outings, so the game action will be somewhat limited before the regular season begins.

EXTRA, EXTRA: With each of the Jets regular letter carriers sitting out Saturday’s game, the alternate captains were Vladislav Namestnikov, Iafallo and Miller… The Wild brought several players with Manitoba connections for the road game, including Winnipegger Carson Lambos, Brandon product Daemon Hunt and former Jets D-man Declan Chisholm.

Hunt gave the Wild a 2-0 lead by scoring on the power play, Chisholm chipped in an assist and was used on both the power play and the penalty kill and Lambos had four shots on goal in just under 19 minutes of ice time.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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