Three things – Big line lights up Flames
Vilardi, Scheifele and Connor combine for six points
WINNIPEG – Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre, the Winnipeg Jets played their final home preseason game and left with a 3-2 win. Nino Niederreiter scored twice including the game winning goal, Nikolaj Ehlers, Simon Lundmark and Kyle Connor scored the other goals for the Jets. Ehlers (1G, 1A), Mark Scheifele (2A), Gabe Vilardi (3A) and Niederreiter (2G) all had multi-point nights. The Jets will wrap up the preseason Friday in Calgary.
1. EHLERS
The Jets have been working a lot on their special teams throughout training camp and one of the new looks is having Nikolaj Ehlers on the top unit. In the first period, the Danish forward worked his way into the low slot and one-timed a Gabe Vilardi pass behind Dustin Wolf to tie the game at one. Not long after that, Ehlers spotted a wide-open Nino Niederreiter in front of the Flames net, and he quickly beat Wolf for a 2-1 Jets lead.
BUMPER EHLERS pic.twitter.com/XutAiCTMzU
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 3, 2024
2. LAMBERT
Brad Lambert played his fourth preseason game tonight as he continues his quest to stay with the Jets. Lambert centred a line with Nikita Chibrikov and Nino Niederreiter and saw some power play time as well. The 20-year-old ended the night with an assist and one shot on goal in just under 12 minutes of ice time.
Talk about PICKING your spot pic.twitter.com/WbHNyr8sr1
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 3, 2024
3. HELLEBUYCK
Like his teammates, Connor Hellebuyck didn’t have the best night during an 8-5 loss to the Minnesota Wild last Friday. Hellebuyck made 21 saves on 29 shots that night. The Vezina Trophy winner had a much better time against the Flames on Wednesday after allowing two goals on 10 shots in the first, he didn’t see a whole lot of action over the final two periods. With the Jets up 3-2 in the third, he made a big stop on Daniil Mirmanov and finished the evening with 16 saves on 18 shots.