Strong start for Skinner

He received the loudest ovation on the team before the puck had even been dropped, with chants of “Stuuuuu” ringing out inside Canada Life Centre during pre-game introductions.

And he heard the love time and time again — with each and every save, in fact — as the evening progressed.

Yes, the Stuart Skinner era is off to a strong start, as the new No. 1 man in net for the Winnipeg Jets made a great first impression on Monday in front of an announced crowd of 13,363.

Skinner stopped 31 of 32 shots he faced in a 3-1 pre-season victory for the Jets over a very young, inexperienced Colorado Avalanche squad.

“The love from the fans, especially at the beginning there before the anthems, that felt fantastic,” said Skinner.

“You can tell how much the fans love it here, how much they love their hockey, how much they love their players. It was a lot of fun to put on the jersey, and great to go out on the ice with all these guys out here. All in all, I just had a blast.”

The only sign of Connor Hellebuyck these days is his picture still plastered on the window outside the Jets merchandise store. The three-time Vezina Trophy winner remains at home in Michigan, on strike from the Jets after demanding a one-way ticket out of town.

That opens the door for Skinner, who has already been to a pair of Stanley Cup finals with his hometown Edmonton Oilers and now seems to be relishing a fresh start in Winnipeg.

Skinner showed off his athleticism late in the second period, with a sprawling stop with his right pad that was among his toughest tests of the night.

The only shot to beat him came late in the third period and through plenty of traffic, off the stick of Colorado forward Georgii Merkulov. An earlier goal was wiped off the board after the Jets successfully challenged for goaltender interference.

“I felt like I knew right away, but at the same time there are times I think I know what I’m talking about and I don’t. Just fortunate that I saw it clearly this time,” said Skinner.

He’s expected to get one more tune-up on Friday night in Denver as the Jets finish up their exhibition slate.

Cole’s nifty goal

The look on Perfetti’s face said it all. He’s going to love playing with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor this season.

Perfetti was the recipient of a beautiful feed from Scheifele in the middle frame — one which essentially left him a wide open net. Perfetti, armed with a contract extension and looking to put a miserable 2025-26 season behind him, buried it for what would turn out to be the game-winner.

His reaction after the fact was meme-worthy, no doubt. And Winnipeg’s new-look top trio was off to a terrific start.

“That was an unbelievable pass. But I kind of expect it from him. He makes those plays all the time,” said Perfetti.

“I gotta go to the right spots and try to get open and those two will find me, and each other. It was one of those ones where you say ‘Wow, that was an unbelievable play.’”

They nearly connected for a couple more in the third, with Perfetti just missing a second goal after his shot was deflected over the Colorado net.

“I was ready to make another ‘Wow’ face to Scheif after that one, but (the defender) just made a spinning play on it,” said Perfetti.

“I got a lot on it, exactly what I wanted to do, hit it hard and tried putting it into the empty net, but guy made a spinning play out of the air.”

Here’s some bad news for the rest of the league: Perfetti said they’re just getting started, with plenty of video review on board so he can maximize the opportunity staring him in the face.

“I’m going to make it a mission to do the best I can to understand and grasp how they want to play and try to just complement them and bring my element to the line,” said Perfetti.

 

Give Gabe more

Gabe Vilardi isn’t treating it as a demotion. Nor should he. The fact he’s not on the line with Scheifele and Connor speaks to Arniel’s faith in his ability to carry a line on his own.

For now, that means playing with a pair of Swedish rookies in Viggo Bjorck and Isak Rosen.

Vilardi opened the scoring on Monday, taking a nice spinning pass from Rosen and ripping the shot past Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood in the first period.

He then chipped in a primary assist in the third period, feeding defenceman Dylan DeMelo who scored on a long distance slapper for some insurance.

Vilardi even showed off a bit of the mentor/protector role he recently said he relishes, mixing it up with an Avalanche player who had thrown a clean, heavy check on Bjorck. No gloves were dropped or punches thrown, but the message was clear.

 

Viggo’s home debut

One of the sure signs the 18-year-old rookie has quickly earned the trust of Arniel is the fact he was sent out for some penalty killing duties in this one.

No, that’s not Bjorck’s bread-and-butter. But being defensively responsible is part of the package of being an NHL player.

Bjorck had a solid night, especially in the faceoff circle where he won 75 per cent of his draws. No, the Avalanche didn’t have their big guns in the lineup — the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson and other star forwards sat out — but that’s still encouraging.

Bjorck also threw a hit of his own, had two takeaways, one shot on goal and was a plus-one.

Extra, extra

Josh Morrissey looks to be in fine form. His pre-season debut finished with a pair of assists and plenty of skilled plays and dazzling rushes that have become his calling card. Morrissey and his partner, Dylan DeMelo, were on the ice for all three Winnipeg goals.

It wasn’t a very physical game, with one very notable exception. Cole Koepke led all players with eight hits, with his other 17 teammates combining for 21.

Linemate Noah Gregor had four of those.

Koepke, and to a lesser degree Gregor, are very much competing for a bottom-six spot with the Jets, and neither hurt their cause. Same with their centre for the game, Vlad Namestnikov, whose strong forecheck helped set up the Vilardi goal.

The Jets will return to action on Tuesday night, with an entirely different roster set to host the visiting Edmonton Oilers. Among the players skating for the first time this fall will be captain Adam Lowry, veterans Nino Niederreiter and Alex Iafallo, and defencemen Neal Pionk and Dylan Samberg. Dom Divincentiis is expected to start in goal.

winnipegfreepress.com/mikemcintyre