Jets close the preseason with a 3-2 win in Calgary – Winnipeg

Finally it’s time for real hockey.

The Winnipeg Jets wrapped up the six-game preseason with a 3-2 win in Calgary on Friday night, with both teams fielding lineups that will look very similar to their opening night units.

Calgary had the first good scoring chances of the match, hitting both the post and the crossbar in the opening minutes.

Each team then failed on a power play opportunity before the even-strength Jets opened the scoring with just over five minutes left in the opening frame.

Haydn Fleury launched a backhand pass high in the air across the ice, but Calgary couldn’t handle it as he headed to their corner. Mason Appleton won a race for the puck when two defensemen converged on him and Adam Lowry, leaving Nino Niederreiter wide open for Dan Vladar, and Niederreiter buried the puck after a great feed from Appleton to open the scoring.

Both teams managed to get seven shots on target in the first twenty minutes.

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After each team failed to convert on a second power play opportunity in the second, Winnipeg doubled their lead with 4:01 remaining.

Rasmus Kupari won an offensive zone faceoff against Colin Miller, whose snapshot through traffic eluded Vladar to make it 2-0, the third goal of the preseason for Miller.

The Jets carried the two-goal lead into the third, but it didn’t take long for Calgary to erase that lead.

Just 64 seconds into the frame, Jonathan Huberdeau deflected an innocent-looking point shot from Daniil Miromanov through the legs of Connor Hellebuyck to make it 2-1.

Less than three minutes later, Mikael Backlund scored in similar fashion, tipping a Kevin Bahl point shot through Hellebuyck to level the score.

Calgary kept the pressure on as the period wore on and had a 12-2 advantage in shots on goal through the first half of the third, but Hellebuyck kept the game in the balance.

That proved crucial as with 3:09 to go, a loose puck from a Calgary faceoff ended up loose in the slot where Kyle Connor contained it, tapped Vladar and put it in the net to give the Jets to take the lead. again.

Connor then took a penalty with 1:28 left, giving the Flames a chance to pull their goalie and go 6-on-4, but the Jets managed to hold the lead before the final horn sounded.

Hellebuyck finished the game with 31 saves, including 18 in the third period, as Winnipeg killed all five Flames power play chances.

The Jets begin their regular season schedule Wednesday night in Edmonton, with the puck dropping just after 9 p.m.

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