Youngsters Shine For Winnipeg Jets In Preseason Win

The Winnipeg Jets need to narrow their roster by three by the start of the regular season and a pair of young guys on the bubble certainly strengthened their cases last night.

Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist and Nic Petan continued his strong preseason showing with an assist as the Jets beat the Calgary Flames 3-1.

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Again with the preseason, it’s not so much the result as it is how it was achieved, and the play of Ehlers and Petan last night may make it harder for head coach Paul Maurice to leave them off the intial 23 man roster for the season opener in Boston.

Maurice has been willing to use Petan outside of his natural centre position and he has responded with several strong games in the preseason. His assist came on a beautiful pass to Mark Schiefele, one of two on the night for Schiefele, to tie the game in the first period. Maurice placed him on a line with Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little to start the game and didn’t look out of place. Also helping his case is his AHL eligibility.

Ehlers situation is a bit more trickier. He’s 19, meaning his not AHL eligible, but that’s something that is being looked into. Ehlers at the very least could earn himself a nine-game audition. His defensive game has also been fairly strong in the preseason.

A more off-the-radar young guy who is still with the team, J.C. Lipon, led the Jets with six hits. It was also a good showing for him but Lipon is certainly facing an uphill battle, especially with the performance of Petan and Ehlers so far this preseason.

It was also nice to see Michael Hutchinson play a solid game, making 32 saves in the win. It hasn’t been the best stretch for Hutch this preseason but he will start the year in tandem with Ondrej Pavelec, after the Jets expectedly sent Connor Hellebuyck back to the AHL earlier this week.

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