Jets douse watered-down Flames squad

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This article was published 02/10/2024 (372 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the preseason winding down, Jets head coach Scott Arniel was looking for good habits in terms of systems play and structure.

Facing a Calgary Flames squad that was missing a number of regulars, the Jets took care of business in their final home-ice tilt before the games really matter in a 5-2 victory on Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre.

This is the point of training camp when the auditions are nearly complete and the regulars are doing what they can to be sharp for when the regular season opens.

“Yeah, it’s getting closer,” said Arniel. “They’re all talking about how it seems like camp has been going on here for three weeks and they can’t wait to just play the games and then get into next week. Nice to see the big guys like that get themselves off and running.”

Powerful stuff

One of the top priorities for the Jets coming into the new season is to improve their special teams play and after using two full days of training camp to work on those units, there have been plenty of signs of progress.

The puck movement on the power play, especially the top unit, was fantastic.

There was plenty of motion and numerous high-quality scoring chances created, one resulting in a goal.

On that first Jets’ power-play opportunity, all five players touched the puck in the offensive zone before the goal was scored.

Kyle Connor found Josh Morrissey up top, he found Mark Scheifele along the left-wing boards before getting the puck down low to Gabe Vilardi and he found Nikolaj Ehlers for a one-timer in the slot.

“You try to find different ways to create chances and score goals,” said Ehlers. “On the power play, you have your set plays but it’s a lot about creativity. Not everything is going to happen exactly how you think it is. That’s the fun part about hockey. You’ve got to be ready to make changes on the ice and we’ve done that pretty well.”

Ehlers is adjusting nicely to his new spot in the high slot and that was an example of how dangerous he can be with the first unit.

Much has been made of the fact Ehlers didn’t score a single goal with the man-advantage last season for the first time in his nine NHL campaigns.

A lot of that had to do with his limited usage on the power play, but Ehlers could challenge and likely eclipse his career-high of seven man-advantage markers if the Jets continue to open up seams the way that they did on Wednesday night.

The Jets also went two-for-two on the penalty kill.

El Nino warning

The Jets will be looking for winger Nino Niederreiter to get back to being a 20-goal guy this season after he finished 2023-24 with 18.

Niederreiter went to his familiar spot in front of the blue paint to deliver a pair of goals on Wednesday.

When Niederreiter is at his best, he’s getting to the front of the net and scoring from around the crease.

“That is (Niederreiter’s) office. He thrives in there,” said Ehlers. “To get a guy like that going, that’s obviously exciting for us.”

Another injury

Injuries have been a frequent topic of conversation around these parts after the Jets lost defencemen Ville Heinola and Logan Stanley early in training camp, but the forward group has mostly avoided the infirmary to this point.

That changed on Wednesday as David Gustafsson left the contest 6:58 into the second period with a lower-body issue after he was on the receiving end of a hard hit from Flames winger Walker Duehr.

Arniel said Gustafsson would be re-evaluated on Thursday.

Gustafsson is locked in a battle for the 12th or 13th forward jobs and if he’s out for any length of time, that could open the door for another player to stick around a bit longer.

Speaking of those in the battle on the bubble, it was a relatively quiet evening for Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov, who combined for two shots on goal and three shot attempts (two for Chibrikov, one for Lambert).

However, with just over five minutes to go, Lambert made a heads-up play to find Simon Lundmark at the left point for the Jets’ fourth goal.

“Great pass, so I was just trying to hit the net, and luckily enough it went in,” said Lundmark.

Lambert was also called for hooking Flames defence prospect Hunter Brzustewicz on an offensive-zone minor that was of the avoidable variety.

Simon says

There is no award for the prospect that makes the biggest gains in training camp, but if there was one, it would probably belong to Lundmark.

Lundmark, who was chosen by the Jets in the second round (51st overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, came into training camp with little fanfare — despite a solid American Hockey League campaign with the Manitoba Moose last season.

“I feel like I see the game pretty well. The last couple of years, I have been trying to improve my ability to play hard and win battles. I feel like last season, that was a big improvement for me,” said Lundmark.

“Of course I’m trying to show everything and just be a solid defenceman. It’s not all about my strengths. I try to do the things I’m less good at, good as well. I’m just trying to be a good all-round player.”

Although he isn’t flashy, Lundmark has shown poise with the puck throughout training camp and his ability to shift over to play his off side has helped raise his stock, even if he’s about to be sent back to the minors in the coming days.

“He’s another guy that has to go through waivers, a guy we want to get a look at,” said Arniel. “He can play left side as well, which is obviously a bonus. He’s a young defenceman that has gotten better every year I’ve seen him.”

Lundmark is a sturdy defender at 6-2 and 201 pounds and as long as his progression continues, he isn’t far away from being a call-up consideration.

Extra, extra

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck went the distance in this one and after giving up two goals on the first five shots on goal he faced, he turned aside the final 14 of the contest. Hellebuyck is slated to start Friday’s preseason finale…Vilardi paced the offensive attack with three assists and recorded five shots on goal and eight shot-attempts…Jets D-man Josh Morrissey led all players in ice time with 23:49, including 3:25 on the power play and 69 seconds while shorthanded.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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