Oilers 1, Jets 6
The day trip to Winnipeg is a rite of passage of every preseason for the Edmonton Oilers. The logistics — two-hour flight in, play the game, two-hour flight back, all on the same day — make it something of an undesirable excursion for veterans whose spot on the team is secure. Different story for guys fighting for jobs or PTO’s or even minor league vets who savour every chance to wear an NHL uniform, for whom it represents an opportunity. The inevitable result is that the Oil always send something of a ragtag crew to the Manitoba capital.
On the other side of the ice, the Jets iced something pretty close to their A team, loaded with battle-tested NHLers like Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor and Nikolai Ehlers and Adam Lowry and Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk who are ready, willing and able to put on a show for the home town fans. On this night it was Pionk who emerged as the unlikely scoring hero, scoring 4 points to lead the Jets to a resounding 6-1 triumph.
For many of those wearing the Oil drop, the level of competition was a bridge too far. Some harsh lessons were learned about the pace of both play and decision-making at the top levels of the game.
Player thumbnail reports follow, sorted by lines and pairings. As usual, with different players having very different priorities at this time of year, we’ll hold off on player grades until the games start counting for points.
Forwards
#8 Drake Caggiula — Two Grade A looks on the PP, both fed by Philp, fired just high and wide on the first and was stoned by Kaapo Kahkonen on the second. Made a lovely touch pass at the defensive blueline to spring Savoie on a dangerous rush. Won a puck in the corner and fed it to Griffith in the slot for a one-timer. Fired high and wide from the slot on a third period PP. Broke his stick and lost the faceoff on EDM’s 5-on-3, as the Oilers inexplicably had 4 wingers and 0 centres on the unit.
#48 Noah Philp — Started Oilers first powerplay at centre and had an excellent shift, twice setting up Caggiula for golden chances at the edge of the crease. Made a fine defensive play to regate a WPG thrust but then skated the puck back into trouble and lost control. Beaten on a terrific cross-seam pass but saved by the goalpost. Moved to his “natural” line with Janmark and Brown in the third, but soon took a slashing penalty for turning an opponent’s stick into kindling and watched the 5-0 from the sin bin. Slipped a nice pass through to a breaking Kulak. Got a fine chance in the slot but fired a heavy shot wide of the target. Earned a secondary assist on the goal, working a puck back to Hoefenmayer on the point. Made a terrific rush in the final minute, holding the puck and finding the trailer, Wanner, blasting into the slot.
#22 Matt Savoie — One of those who seemed to be in deep for much of the game, though showed some encouraging flashes late. A shade late on the backcheck on the first Jets goal. Jumped into open ice to receive an outlet pass, gain the zone, then thread the puck through to the tape of Philp for a near miss. One nice rush in the third to squeeze between two Jets and fire a close range backhand drive off the inside of the post. Robbed from close range in the late going.
#13 Mattias Janmark — Solid and competent as usual, but not a game-changer, also as usual. His best moment came when he picked off a loose puck with impeccable defensive position in Oilers territory, then skedaddled up ice with it and fired a decent shot from mid-slot.
#72 Sam O’Reilly — Flanked by a pair of NHL-proven wingers in Janmark and Brown and seemed relatively at home on a checking line. Seems to be in the right place a whole lot. Took 20 faceoffs, double the number of any teammate, but won just 7 of them. Took a beating on shot shares.
#28 Connor Brown — Nice rush up the wing and well-timed pass that sprang Carrick for a chance. Disruptive on the forecheck. Scored the consolation goal on a fine deflection of Hoefenmayer’s point drive.
#68 Mike Hoffman — Looked supremely comfortable on the powerplay, making a number of effective passes. Another beauty pass at 5v5, behind the back to Hamblin in the low slot. Hammered a one-timer off the side of the net after a nice give and go with Kulak. But with Oilers on another PP, his careless back pass behind Griffith led to Delia having to play (and flub) the puck leading to the sixth goal.
#52 James Hamblin— Had great shot shares, with Edmonton outshooting Winnipeg 10-1 during his 12 minutes of 5v5 play, compared to 11-29 in that discipline while he was on the bench. Drew a penalty with his speed. Got pulled out of position on the Vilardi chance. His inability to handle what seemed a tape to tape outlet pass from Emberson resulted in the puck going straight back into Oilers territory and staying there for a bit. Later that same shift he got a good chance in the low slot and hammered an excellent one-timer that forced a fine stop by Kakkonen.
#10 Derek Ryan — Good puck support along the wall led to Hoffman’s pass and Hamblin’s great look. Drew a penalty by going hard to the net front. Led the Oilers with 4 shots on net.
#37 Ethan de Jong — The 25-year-old winger is a gamer, but has just one pro season under his belt at age 25, and most of that in the ECHL. Was out of his element against the skilled Jets.
#26 Lane Pederson — Playing on a line with two other minor leaguers, he was the least noticeable of the centres battling for position on the depth chart. Did play with some edge, bowling over his man in an aggressive exchange behind the WPG net and leading the Oil with 4 hits. Had a 1-8 shot share in his 11 minutes at 5v5, without a shot attempt off his own stick.
#23 Seth Griffith — Showed some flashes in the offensive zone including a strong one-timer from the slot but nothing doing. Was unable to make a routine clearing play inside his own blueline and within seconds was fishing the puck out of his net.
Defencemen
#85 Cam Dineen — Had his struggles holding his space or containing his man in tight to his own net. Some decent passes, but also 3 giveaways.
#88 Max Wanner — Among those younger pros who got schooled at times about the pace of play at hockey’s highest level. Misjudged Nino Niederreiter’s wide speed and was beaten for a decent shot on net. In the right spot but a split-second late on the first goal. Had more success dispossessing Rasmus Kupari on a fast rush, then sheltering the puck and tapping it to an open teammate to walk it out. But was unable to contain Ehlers’ outside-inside move at high speed that led to a wicked shot on net.
#27 Brett Kulak — One of three vets (Janmark, Brown) to wear the A, and Edmonton’s highest scorer from last season who played in this game (16 points in 82 games, 12th on the team). Had some good shifts and a couple of adventures behind his own blueline. Good shot block on the PK. Took a slashing penalty that led to the 3-0.
#49 Ty Emberson — Unable to glove down a high puck in the neutral zone, he made up for the turnover with a fine defensive play on the edge of his crease. Bad luck on the first GA when he made the “disciplined” line change with the Oilers cycling in opposition territory only for Caggiula to blindly fire the puck around the boards to the vacated point and right into a jail break the other way. Communications breakdown, not uncommon at this time of year. Was badly burned on the 2-0 goal, as he tried to jump into the play on his off wing but couldn’t control the pass, and the puck was in Oilers net quicker than you can say Pionk-to-Scheifele-to-Connor. Not the group to be making that kind of mistake against. Redeemed himself with a goal-saving shot block to thwart a razor-sharp Jets powerplay. Played a 2-on-1 perfectly, defending both the passing lane and the potential shot, then getting a piece of the puck on its intended way through. Frequently showed the capacity to take his man off the puck, and to follow up with the easy pass to an open teammate.
#81 Noel Hoefenmayer — Led the Oilers in both ice time (20:52) and shot attempts (7) in a high-event game. Missed a wide-open outlet pass by 5 feet that cost Edmonton a possession, then later on that shift coughed the puck up deep in Oilers territory leading to trouble. Unable to tie up his man who won the net drive for a dangerous rebound. Took a crosschecking penalty defending the rush a little too exuberantly. Let fly an excellent one-timer on the PP but Kakkonen had the answer. But fired a couple other high hard ones that were off target including one that nailed Brown. Eventually it was his outside blast that was tipped home by Brown.
#58 Connor Carrick — His NHL past shone through at times. Jumped into the rush to take Brown’s pass, then made a gorgeous move in tight to the crease to get a dangerous shot on target. A real high-skilled play. Got a couple more shots on net in the third period. A bit of an adventure behind his own blueline. 3 giveaways.
Goalies
#40 Stu Skinner — Oilers’ main man between the pipes took one for the team and made the trip. Needed to be sharp early and was. Made a fine stop on a pass that deflected off O’Reilly and on goal. Robbed Gabe Villadi from the slot just after an Oilers PP had expired. Stopped a point blank one-timer from Anderson-Dolan after Carrick and Hoefenmayer both got trapped below the icing line. Robbed Vilardi on a close-in deflection, and yet a third time from the doorstep a little later on. No chance on the first two goals, couldn’t find the puck through Carrick’s screen on the third, and couldn’t get a piece of Pionl’s well-placed backhand shot from close range that made it 4-0. 27 shots, 23 saves, .852 save percentage.
#60 Collin Delia — Came on for the third period and made a fine stop in the first minute seconds. But beaten short side by Brad Lambert’s powerplay shot in the second minute. Stopped a lethal drive by Nikolaj Ehlers minutes later. But a culprit on the 6-0 when he coughed the puck up to Adam Lowry on an attempted clearing pass, then couldn’t thwart the subsequent wraparound. 10 shots, 8 saves, .800 save percentage.
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