7:00 pm CT – TV: WinnipegJets.com; Radio: 680 CJOB/Power 97
The Winnipeg Jets are playing the fifth of their six game preseason at Grand Casino Arena on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.
The big news coming from morning skate at hockey for all centre is the preseason debut of the reigning Hart and Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck. The 32-year-old goaltender left the ice early on Monday morning and had people fearing the worst especially after the Jets lost Dylan Samberg for six-to-eight weeks to a broken wrist.
Defenceman Dylan DeMelo smiled when asked about Hellebuyck being ready to go.
“We knew a little bit more information than you guys did,” said DeMelo.
“We knew he’d be alright.”
Slated for an MVP's preseason debut 🤩@PlayNowManitoba | #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/QFSVVZzz6n
It will be Jonathan Toews third game of the preseason as he prepares for the October 9th home opener against the Dallas Stars. Toews will centre a line with Nino Niederreiter and Cole Perfetti.
“Bulk of the lineup will be in Friday (in Calgary). There are some kids that we want to see again tonight. Guy like JT wanted to be in four games, so that’s an opportunity,” said head coach Scott Arniel.
“I wanted to make sure he had some good wingers with him. With Vladdy’s line, Gabe (Vilardi), wanted to make sure he got his game in too, he’ll get three in a row in.”
One of the kids that Arniel wants another look at is Brad Lambert. The 2022 first round pick has looked more confident in each game that he has played in as he will shift from the wing to centre tonight against Minnesota.
“I think I’ve taken a big step in my battling and coming out of one-on-one battles with the puck. I think I feel a lot stronger,” said Lambert.
“I feel better. I think battles are a big thing, even some of the faceoffs I’ve taken in practice, I feel better. My shot’s gotten better so I think those are big things towards taking that next step.”
Arniel was in Montreal for Lambert’s first game of the preseason with the Jets prospects and obviously has been watching him since camp began almost two weeks ago and has been impressed with the improvements in the battling part of his game.
“I get to see it over my years here watching the growth of these young guys and he’s a young guy who is kind of learning that part of the game every time,” said Arniel.
“He came into training camp here, played games for us, in practice against our big guys. You see it. Starting to see that he’s winning more of those. It’s what the game is about. It’s a lot of speed and skill, there’s that side of it but there’s also a lot that happens to get the puck back.”
The forward group isn’t the only part of the lineup tonight that will have a newer look. On the backend, it will be Logan Stanley and Neal Pionk, Ville Heinola and Colin Miller and Dylan DeMelo and Haydn Fleury. It will be the first time that DeMelo and Fleury have played together to start a game in their careers.
“Looking forward to playing with him, really came on last year for us, stepped in when we had injuries and guys out, and stepped in and did an amazing job. It’s not easy sitting out for long stretches and coming in and having to play a lot of minutes,” said DeMelo.
“So, he’s a guy that’s got a lot of skill and skates really well and closes a lot of space, big, rangy guy. So, look forward to playing with him tonight.”
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