Jets Nation YoungStars Recap: Nik Ehlers takes wing, Winnipeg Jets win in overtime

After what was a bit of an embarrassing show the first two games in the torunament, the Winnipeg Jets were able to bounce back strong and take the then undefeated Edmonton Oilers in overtime.

It may be a Monday afternoon in September, but there was hockey today in Penticton, British Columbia.

The Jets jumped into attack mode early, with Andrew Copp scoring two goals early in the first. Copp’s linemates, Michael Spacek and Nikolaj Ehlers, each took a turn with gaining the primary and secondary assist on each.

In typical Winnipegian fashion, the younger version let a goal with only four seconds on the clock.

The second period turned out to be a bit more even. The Oilers were able to create some chances, and Braden Christoffer scored one on the power play off a sweet pass from Lean Draisaitl.

The third saw Ehlers earn his third assist of the night, with Chase De Leo picking up the goal. Josh Morrissey later scored the rebound from a net drive by Jimmy Lodge.

The Jets were unable to hold the lead, with the Oilers getting goals from both Josh Winquist and Alexis Loiseau’s second of the game. 

The game went into overtime, which ended four minutes in off a goal by Scott Kosmachuk.

Ehlers lifts off – The young Nikolaj Ehlers was expected to dominate this tournament as a player pushing for a roster spot in the bigs. Other than a few flashes, Ehlers seemed to be a bit of a disappointment for the first two games. Not so in the third match. Ehlers was flying and the Oilers had no way to contain him. Ehlers had 12 zone zone entries, three assists, and dominated in Corsi.

Slow start Josh Morrissey – There has been a bit of trend with Morrissey and slow starts. Morrissey, like Ehlers, was expected to be one of the Jets leaders. The Jets arguably had the weakest level of depth on the backend, and Morrissey was leaned in heavily to move the puck and generate the second wave of offense. Morrissey had a much better game and was often the Jets only defender able to move the puck out of their zone. Thirty per cent of the successful Jets zone exits with puck control came from Morrissey, and 40 per cent with Morrissey on the ice.

Father like son – The Winnipeg Jets last season had a bit of a reputation as a rough team that controlled play at 5-on-5 evens but struggled to stay out of the box. It looks like the apple does not fall that far from the tree, as the Jets dominated at evens once again but had six infractions throughout the game.

I hope you enjoyed the coverage by the Canucks Army and Jets Nation crew have given while being over at Penticton. It’s been a blast.