Oilers @ Jets – Game Recap

The Oilers and Jets met on Wednesday night in Winnipeg, and there was no shortage of solid arrows for the Oilers and their prospects. The game itself was highly entertaining, and both teams showed some solid things.

The Game:

For the first 30 minutes of this game, Edmonton look tired and totally out of it. As a result, the Jets were clearly the better of the two teams, and seemed to have an extra step in the early going. Winnipeg led the shot clock 9-6 over Edmonton, and got the better of the chances, including a TJ Galiardi goal in the opening period.

In the second, the Jets totally hemmed in Edmonton and once again capitalized, as Matt Halischuk bombed home a goal glove-side on the power-play. There was a mistake by the Oiler defender on the play, but this was still a shot that LB could have had, making it a bit of a disappointing goal.

Edmonton woke up about midway through however, as Edmonton’s energy line got the momentum turned around with a few big hits. RNH got the offense going with a wrist shot from Jordan Eberle at the 10:48 mark, his second of the pre-season.

Edmonton added two more goals late in the period, and both were set up on beautiful plays by Russian skill player Vlad Tkachev. The first was on a two-on-one with Bogdan Yakimov, were he set the big pivot up for a one-time blast that found the back of the net. Moments later, Vlad found Justin Schultz who ripped his second of the pre-season home.

The third period saw Edmonton out-shoot the Jets 13-10, and saw Ty Rimmer make ten saves in his relief appearance, sealing the 3-2 comeback win for the Oilers.

The Good:

Vlad Tkachev looks good, real good. Vlad had two absolutely beautiful feeds in the second period to set-up goals and was creating offense for most of the night, especially when he was reunited with his fellow countryman Bogdan Yakimov. Tonight was Vlad’s first real test against an NHL team, and he passed with flying colors. Personally, I think he’s earned an NHL contract, and think he’s earned another pre-season game on Sunday. This kid is money.

Speaking of Russians, big Bogdan Yakimov looked solid as well. Yak-2 had a goal and was doing the little things right all night, which is a great sign. I still don’t think he makes the team, but he’s certainly earned another look or two with the big squad in the next wave of pre-season tilts. Leon Draisaitl looked a little tired tonight, but he too did a lot of little things right, which was a good sign.

Curtis Hamilton really stood out, showing real progress. He did a lot right and didn’t look like a black-hole offensively, which is a great sign for his development. Tyler Pitlick didn’t knock anyone’s socks off, but he was solid on the night, which is a good thing for him. The Oilers don’t need him to put up points for the fourth line spot, just play solid hockey.

Ty Rimmer looked really good in the third period, stopping all ten shots he faced and making some very impressive ones in that stretch. Rimmer, in my mind, has already past Tyler Bunz and Frans Tuohimaa, and quite frankly he impresses me more than Laurent Brossoit.

The Bad:

Keith Aulie really struggled for the second game in a row. He looks slow and doesn’t look like an NHL-level defender, in fact he really reminds me a lot of Mark Fraser, which as we all remember was a horrifying experience. Aulie was brought in to be the number seven defender, but I truly feel that he is currently playing his way out of that job. He’s in danger of seeing the AHL with his early camp performance.

Wasn’t really impressed with Andrew Miller tonight, who I felt was a non-factor. I’m not expecting him to be the next Mark Arcobello, but I at least expected to see something out of him following his solid ending to the AHL season a year ago. Didn’t really see that at all tonight from him.

The Next Wave Of Cuts:

AHL camp is opening up soon, and I suspect we see a few more cuts in the coming days. The players heading to OKC? I think defender Martin Gernat will be among the group. He’s disappointed to this point in camp, and was one of Edmonton’s worst blue-liners tonight. Forward Andrew Miller will likely be in this group as well. I suspect we see him get a top-six job in Oklahoma this winter however, so we can see what he really is.

AHL vet Jason Williams is still in camp, but hasn’t seen a pre-season game, so I’d wager he goes with the next group of players. Other candidates include Ty Rimmer, Dillon Simpson, Jordan Oesterle, Mitch Moroz, Travis Ewanyk and Jujhar Khaira.

The Road Ahead:

Edmonton will practice back in town on Friday, and will then head to Saskatoon to battle the Chicago Blackhawks in a neutral site game. The Oilers and Hawks will only meet once in the pre-season, and this is it. Edmonton returns home to host the Jets the following night, and then battles Arizona on Wednesday, October 1st at Rexall Place.