Jets scorch Oilers

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This article was published 09/10/2024 (361 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — Now that’s how you start a new hockey season — and maybe silence a few critics in the process.

The Winnipeg Jets got off to a scorching start on Wednesday night, running the Edmonton Oilers out of their own building with a dominating 6-0 victory. The same Edmonton Oilers, we remind you, who are the odds-on favourites to win the Stanley Cup after coming one game short last season.

Led by new head coach Scott Arniel, the Jets were the ones who looked like contenders despite the fact they’re not a very popular pick among pundits. Perhaps running back nearly the same team that finished last year with 110 regular season points, good for fourth-overall in the league, wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“Coming into this building, obviously it’s the first one of the year. You go through training camp and you’re sort of building and you’re trying to put all of the pieces together. I just thought we were real solid as a team,” Arniel said outside the team’s locker room inside Rogers Place.

“We came out and one line went out and did what they needed to do, the next line came out and did the same thing. Lots of good stuff and to win it the way we did was big. Against that team, it’s a road win in a tough barn. We’ll take that and move on.”

It’s important to remember this is the smallest of sample sizes. But hope springs eternal, and there was much to like from what was truly a team effort. You had balanced scoring from all over the lineup. Solid special teams. An obvious commitment to defending and elite goaltending from the reigning Vezina Trophy winner.

“They got a lot of expectations over there. Expectation can kill you if you don’t know how to handle it,” Connor Hellebuyck said following his 38th-career shutout. “And we came in with our game, with our mindset that we’re going to stick to our game plan, and I think we executed it perfectly.

Hellebuyck was dialed in, stopping all 30 shots he faced. He’s big and boring when he’s at his best, and that was certainly the case in this one. He was also emotional following the game, having just returned to the team on Tuesday after attending to a serious family matter for several days.

“It’s been a crazy week. It’s been tough on the whole family but the boys played great for me, and they’ve been really supportive this entire time,” he told the Free Press, his voice cracking.

“I really cherish these moments, and I cherish my time with family. Hope they’re doing alright.”

Let’s dig a little deeper on what else worked so well.

1) THE TRUE “SECOND LINE” COMES THROUGH: Water coolers have been drained and ink has been spilled when it comes to chatter and speculation about who would be Winnipeg’s second-line centre this season. Brad Lambert? Cole Perfetti? Vlad Namestnikov?

Turns out the answer has been staring us in the face all along.

Fact is, Adam Lowry is the de facto No. 2 man in the middle behind Mark Scheifele, based primarily on usage. Whether they’re on the road or at home with last change, Arniel (and those who have held the job before him) typically try to get Lowry on against the other team’s best.

That usually means his ice time at the end of the night, especially when there’s some penalty-killing duties involved, is elevated to the point he’s absolutely a top six forward.

Nobody is expecting Lowry and his linemates to produce like a second line, but it sure is nice when they can do more than just keep the opponent at bay and chip in with some offence.

Lowry got the party started on Wednesday as he banked a loose puck in off the pads of Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, who was a fish out of water in his own crease. Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton — with his 100th career NHL point — had the helpers.

“It was a great save by Skinner on the first [shot] to get a toe on it. I just tried to get it back out front. Fortunately, it found it’s way to the back of the net. It took me a little while to realize that it went in. I’ll take them however I can get them,” said Lowry.

That line struck again later in the first period as Neal Pionk made a terrific stretch pass to Niederrieter, who fed a wide-open Appleton. The Jets winger, who is in the last year of his current contract, ripped a hard shot past Skinner to make it 2-0.

As they continued to keep the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in check, Lowry and Appleton then set up defenceman Dylan Samberg for Winnipeg’s fourth goal.

Seven combined points and a clean sheet in their own end is a tidy night at the office for the “shutdown” trio, to say the least.

“They can do it all. They just proved that tonight, sky’s the limit for them,” said Hellebuyck. “When they’re clicking and chemistry is going they can have multiple sides of their game, and it’s fun to watch.”

2) THE DROUGHT IS OVER: Rasmus Kupari had the dubious distinction of going 0-for-last season when it came to goal scoring, appearing in 28 games and chipping in with just a single assist. Although the 24-year-old cracked the opening-night roster, it’s safe to say his spot in the lineup is far from guaranteed.

Fact is, the likes of David Gustafsson (a healthy scratch Wednesday) and young prospects such as Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov, among others, are knocking on the door. The pressure is on.

So how did Kupari respond to the challenge? By lighting the lamp, naturally, for the first time in a Jets jersey.

Jets all-star defenceman Josh Morrissey made an all-world cross-ice pass to find Kupari, who beat Skinner from in tight. It’s his 10th career NHL goal, in game No. 159, with the first nine all coming with the Los Angeles Kings, who drafted him 20th-overall in 2018.

That’s one way to keep the competition at bay.

“He’s such a good person,” Lowry said of Kupari. “We see his skill on display every day in practice but for him to convert and get that to go in, it’s gotta be a good feeling for him. And we were all really excited for him.”

3) HISTORY IS MADE: Death, taxes… and Kyle Connor scoring on opening-night. The Jets winger entered play having scored in six straight season premieres, which had him tied for the longest such streak in NHL history.

Connor now stands alone, as he scored 29 seconds into Winnipeg’s first power play of the season. Cam Atkinson (2014-2019), Yvan Cournoyer (1973-1978) and Mud Bruneteau (1940-1945) previously shared the record with him.

“That’s pretty remarkable,” said Lowry. “I can’t even fathom that, to be honest.”

The other big development here was Winnipeg’s revamped power play coming through. The puck and player movement was dizzying, with Scheifele and Morrissey setting Connor up for the goal which chased Skinner from the Edmonton net at 9:33 of the middle frame.

Winnipeg then added a second power-play tally late in the third period as Gabriel Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers set up Scheifele to finish off the rout.

No doubt new assistant coach Davis Payne, who is in charge of the PP, loved what he saw.

4) BACKUP GOALIE: It’s a question that is rarely asked of an NHL coach once the starting netminder is known: Who’s your backup going to be tonight? Arniel found himself answering that Wednesday morning with the Jets in the unusual position of carrying three goaltenders on their 23-man roster.

We know that’s not going to last. With Hellebuyck away for those few days, Winnipeg wanted to have two puckstoppers at practice.

Expect someone to go on waivers in the next day or two. It had long been assumed Kaapo Kahkonen had the inside track over Eric Comrie, so what to make of the fact it was Kahkonen parked in the press box and Comrie dressed as the No. 2 against the Oilers?

We shall see. Both require waivers in order to be sent down to the Manitoba Moose, and you can bet the organization will be holding its breath that another team doesn’t make a claim.

5) EXTRA, EXTRA: Connor, who won the Lady Byng trophy for most sportsmanlike player in 2023, may already be out of the running. He took Winnipeg’s first penalty of the year by delivering a hard slash to Draisaitl, who had delivered a hard hit.

Jets defenceman Haydn Fleury took a deflected puck to the face in the second period, leaving a pool of blood behind. He returned for the third period after being patched up.

Winnipeg spent the night in Edmonton rather than charter home late. They’ll travel Thursday and get set for a four-game homestand which begins Friday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg