Slick Nic turns on red light

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This article was published 15/09/2014 (4033 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PENTICTON, B.C. — As opposed to the minor tease they put forward Friday night losing to the Calgary Flames, the Winnipeg Jets’ prospects left all kinds of intriguing calling cards on the ice at the South Okanagan Events Centre Sunday afternoon.

The Jets were strong in forging a 4-1 second-period lead and then needed overtime to dispatch the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 on a goal by Nic Petan, evening their record at 1-1 in the Canucks Young Stars Classic tournament.

Petan played with much control and flair and he was supported by a pair of goals from Scott Kosmachuk and another by Adam Lowry, his linemates.

Right-winger Austen Brassard scored for the second game in a row and right-winger J.C. Lipon, though he wasn’t in the game long, certainly left his mark on the Canucks with his stick, shoulders and fists.

All of the above will be headed to the Jets’ main training camp next week with the goal of making impressions — at the very least.

The winner

PETAN took advantage of four-on-four room to score at 5:13 of the seven-minute extra session, eventually backhanding home the winner when he wove his way to the front of the net.

“I just kind of had some room and I took it,” he said modestly. “I took a shot but it was kind of weak… luckily it went in.”

Though he was not credited for the play, Petan made a superb pass to Lowry for his second-period breakaway goal.

“The amount of points he’s put up in the WHL, I’m not surprised he’d score a goal like that,” Jets coach Keith McCambridge said of the second-round pick of 2013. “I’m a big believer, when you have that room and space out there, you want guys that have speed and can move, they’re hard to play against.”

The scrapper

LIPON, who some observers see taking a serious run at a fourth-line job with the big team this year, was ejected from the game for fighting at 5:54 of the second period.

After Brassard scored, he and Vancouver’s Dane Fox, jawing at the faceoff circle and being warned, didn’t wait for the puck to go down.

Lipon had been irritating the Canucks all game long with his checks and whacks.

“(His) Game 2 was a lot better,” McCambridge said. “There was more of what we’re used to seeing last year in the AHL. Real powerful first three strides, good acceleration, and he plays with sandpaper and enjoys that physical aspect of the game. His teammates and himself really built off that last year.

“I was surprised to see the amount of grit he played with last season. He goes to those hard, heavy traffic areas. He enjoys finishing his checks. He gives energy.”

Lipon makes no apologies for his style.

“I like to have my presence shown,” he said after the game. “I just play chippy, with a chip on my shoulder and with speed to create some offence as well.

“It’s good to be versatile, have a couple of different things in your bag. I’ll just keep going forward. It’s kind of crappy how it worked out today. But I didn’t really have an option.”

The shooter

KOSMACHUK, who scored 49 times in the OHL regular season in 2013-14, and won a league title, played more to form on Sunday, drilling home a power-play rebound and a turnover for his two goals.

He’ll be a rookie pro this year, but that kind of offensive capability creates buzz for the Jets and their fans.

“I think as a team we were a little better,” he said. “We got that lead but things turned around on us; we let up a little. But luckily we had Petey there to save the day.

“Me personally, I think it was just trying to simplify my game, get the pucks out of our zone and other things just started clicking a little bit better.”

Up next

THE last tournament assignment is today at 1:30 p.m. CT, against the Edmonton Oilers’ prospects.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca