Winnipeg Jets: 3 Talking Points from the Jets 5-1 Preseason Win vs EDM

Winnipeg Jets, Jansen Harkins (12). Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports
Winnipeg Jets, Jansen Harkins (12). Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports
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Winnipeg Jets, Austin Poganski (22) and Connor Hellebuyck (37). Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports
Winnipeg Jets, Austin Poganski (22) and Connor Hellebuyck (37). Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports /

The Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in their second preseason game of 2021. Below are three talking points from the Jets win.

The Winnipeg Jets played their second game of the preseason last night as they hosted the Edmonton Oilers at the Canada Life Centre.

The Jets’ coaching staff decided to dress more of a balanced lineup against Edmonton in terms of veterans and prospects on forward. The forward lines for the Jets were: 1) Blake Wheeler-Mark Schiefele-Kyle Connor 2) Paul Stastny-Adam Lowry-Kristian Vesalainen 3) Jansen Harkins-Cole Perfetti-Evgeny Svechnikov; and 4) Mike Eyssimont-David Gustafsson-Austin Poganski on the fourth line.

Winnipeg also had the same balance on defense as they had Josh Morrissey, Nate Schmidt, and Dylan DeMelo along with younger players, Logan Stanley, Ville Heinola, and Johnathan Kovacevic. Connor Hellebuyck made his preseason debut and got the start in goal.

In contrast, the Oilers lineup was much younger, in terms of NHL experience, compared to the Jets. Edmonton was coming into this game after playing the night before and had two different rosters for each game. The Oilers dressed more of an NHL roster for the first game and the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisatil, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, Tyson Barrie, Darnell Nurse, Mike Smith, and, Mikko Koskinen did not play in last night’s second game of the back-to-back against the Jets.

Ultimately the Jets took advantage of their strengths and dominated the game en route to a 5-1 win over the Oilers.

Here are three talking points from yesterday’s game:

3. The Jets Controlled the Game

As expected when the lineups were released, the Jets were projected to win this game. But as we know the game is not played on paper and, especially in the preseason, any player can steal the show.

Last night the Jets dictated the majority of the game. Winnipeg was the first to loose pucks, spent most of the game in the offensive zone, and limited Edmonton’s offensive opportunities to one-off shots. The Jets moved the puck extremely well around the offensive zone and were extremely effective in cycling the puck.

In total, the Jets outshot the Oilers 28-18. Sometimes shots are not the best indication of how a game transpired, but for this game, these stats are a good indication of what happened on the ice. The Jets were by far the better team in this game and deserved the victory.

Winnipeg Jets, Jansen Harkins (12). Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports
Winnipeg Jets, Jansen Harkins (12). Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The Line of Perfetti, Harkins, and Svechnikov Leads the Way

Many Winnipeg supporters were excited to see the line of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Blake Wheeler make their preseason debuts, but the combination of Cole Perfetti, Jansen Harkins, and Evgeny Svechnikov stole the show yesterday.

This line made a terrific play just over a minute and a half into the game to propel and Harkins slotted the puck home to give the Jets an early lead. (The goal is talked about more in-depth on the next slide.)

This combination of roster hopefuls then doubled the Jets’ lead at the beginning of the second period. Harkins made a nice play in the right corner of the offensive zone to shield off a defender and fed a diagonal pass to Logan Stanley who was on the left point.

Both Svechnikov and Perfetti got to the front of the net to provide a double screen in front of Edmonton’s netminder and Stanley delivered the perfect shot only a couple of feet off of the ice service. Svechnikov made a beautiful tip to redirect the puck into the net. This was one goal where every player on the ice for the Jets did his job to perfection and they were rewarded for their efforts with a goal.

Near the end of the second period, this line was able to contribute one more goal to Winnipeg’s lead.

This goal started on a breakout by Dylan DeMelo and the Jets attacked the neutral zone with speed. DeMelo passed the puck to Svechnikov who was standing in front of the penalty boxes.

Svechnikov then delivered an area pass to the offensive blue line where Harkins was skating full speed en route to. Harkins was able to beat Cody Ceci to the 50/50 puck and chipped it around him to create a mini-breakaway for himself.

Harkins was able to finish the great play by delivering a wicked wrist shot over the goaltender’s blocker to extend the Jets lead to 4-0.

Harkins and Svechnikov finished the game tied for the team lead in points with three. Perfetti’s lone point was an assist on Harkins’ first goal.

This newly formed line of Harkins, Perfetti, and Svechnikov was extremely fun to watch in yesterday’s contest. There was great chemistry between these players and they had a good feeling of where each other would be throughout the game.

I would not be surprised to see Paul Maurice keep this combination together for the foreseeable future in camp.

Winnipeg Jets, Cole Perfetti (91). Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports
Winnipeg Jets, Cole Perfetti (91). Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Cole Perfetti Impresses

The nineteen-year-old, Cole Perfetti is trying to earn a roster spot with the Winnipeg Jets and every time he takes to the ice is an opportunity for him to impress Winnipeg’s coaching staff. Yesterday, Perfetti did not disappoint.

Perfetti started the game extremely well as he made a beautiful pass to help set up the Jets’ first goal. He received the puck near the boards in the offensive zone and fed the puck to Svechnikov who was wide open on the back door. Although Svechnikov did not score on the initial opportunity, Harkins was the first man to the open rebound and slotted the puck into the back of the net.

Although Perfetti did not contribute any more points in the victory, he stood out on the ice. The Whitby, Ontario native looked extremely fast both with the puck and on the forecheck, while also putting his vision and puck skills on full display.

That is two solid performances in a row for the Jets 2020 first draft pick to start the preseason. If Perfetti keeps performing at this level throughout the rest of preseason and camp, he is going to make it extremely tough for the Jets to send him down to the Manitoba Moose.

So far Perfetti is making an outstanding case for himself to not only make the Jets roster to start the season, but also to be in the lineup for the Jets opening game of the upcoming season.

The Jets will be on the road for their next two exhibition games as they head to Edmonton on Saturday night for their second straight matchup against the Oilers. Puck drop for that game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. central time. That game will be the Jets’ first game in as many nights as they will be back in action less than 24 hours later in Vancouver against the Canucks on Sunday evening.

On the other hand, Saturday’s game will be the second in back-to-back nights for the Oilers. On Friday, the Oilers will have a 9:00 p.m. CST puck against the Kraken in Everett, Washington before returning home to host the Jets on Saturday.

Winnipeg Jets Fans: Which Winnipeg Jets player impressed you the most in yesterday’s game? Leave your comments below!

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