The Winnipeg Jets were back at Canada Life Centre tonight for their 2nd pre-season game. The Edmonton Oilers were in town, looking to hand the Jets their 2nd straight loss after the Jets fell 3-2 in overtime against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. There is only Andrew Ladd (16) days to go until the Jets 2025-26 NHL regular season begins, so the intensity will start to ramp up as October 9th approaches.

Tonight’s lineup featured a handful of players that played on Sunday against the Wild, but all eyes were on number 19, as Jonathan Toews made his Jets pre-season debut. The top forward line for tonight featured the trio which could be the Jets 2nd line to start the season: Cole Perfetti, Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist. All of the Jets “top 5” prospects were in the lineup, and Eric Comrie got the start in goal. Here’s how tonight’s game unfolded in front of an energized crowd at Canada Life Centre.

The first 5 minutes of the game were pretty typical to other pre-season games, with the Jets outshooting the Oilers just 2 to 1. The pace and energy in the crowd picked up shortly after when Adam Henrique was called for hooking, sending the Jets to the powerplay. Despite 2 shots on goal during the man advantage, the game remained scoreless.

Both teams battled as they tried to generate chances, but it was the Jets that were doing the better job at limiting opportunities. The rest of the opening 20 minutes went by pretty quietly, as the game remained scoreless. The Jets outshot the Oilers 6-3, and it was interesting to note that Toews led all Jets players in ice time in the 1st period with 6 minutes and 37 seconds. This game definitely had a “pre-season feel” to it as both teams were looking for that important opening goal.

The 2nd period opened with Luke Schenn taking a delay of game (puck over glass) penalty that sent the Oilers on their 1st powerplay of the night. Comrie and the Jets penalty killers shut the door, and this game continued to remain scoreless. Finally this game got it’s first goal (at the 7:39 mark), but it came from the visiting team. The puck was brought into the Jets zone, and just a few seconds later the puck was sent in front from the side, where Quinn Hutson tipped (re-directed) the puck past Comrie to give the Oilers the 1-0 lead.

Unlike the 1st period, the Oilers seemed to now be the team controlling the play. That momentum was halted when Colby Barlow scored what he thought was his 1st of the pre-season. A nice play around the boards quickly found Colin Miller at the point, and his point shot was seemingly re-directed by Barlow past a screened Matt Tomkins, who replaced Calvin Pickard at the halfway point of this game. The goal was later changed and awarded to Colin Miller.

The Oilers re-gained the lead two minutes later on the powerplay, after Walker Duehr was called for high sticking. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, one of the few Oilers veterans in the lineup tonight, made a great pass across to Isaac Howard who snapped one past Comrie to give the Oilers their 2nd lead of the night. The 2nd period ended with the Oilers leading 2-1, while the Jets led in overall shots on goal 12-11. Jonathan Toews continued to be the Jets player with the most ice time on the night at just over 12 minutes, and the Jets would need to battle back tonight if they wanted the victory.

The Jets had a late powerplay in the 2nd period, which they hoped would give them some momentum heading into the final 20 minutes. Both teams were searching for that next important goal, and halfway through the 3rd period the Jets were outshooting the Oilers 7-1. You could tell that the Jets weren’t giving up easy this game, and they were hoping the veteran players would help the lineup get the game tying goal.

Despite the momentum, the Oilers would get the next goal in this game. A turnover in the Jets zone by Cole Perfetti was sent back to the point, where an unmarked Ty Emberson skated in and wristed one post and in past Comrie. The Oilers now led 3-1 with 8 minutes to play. With just over 2 minutes to play, the Jets sent Comrie to the bench for the 6 on 5.

With 1:01 left in the game, Colby Barlow notched his first of the pre-season to make it a 3-2 game with 1 minute left. A point shot from Ville Heinola was wonderfully deflected in by Barlow, and this time the goal was officially awarded to him. After a final push in the last minute, the Jets couldn’t get the game tying goal, and fell 3-2 the Oilers on this Tuesday night.

Brad Lambert led the Jets with 2 assists, while Cole Perfetti finished 20 seconds ahead of Toews for most ice time with 18:56. Luke Schenn made his typical physical presence felt with 7 hits, and the Jets outshot the Oilers 23-17. Overall this game was fairly even from the beginning, but the Jets couldn’t find one more late goal after trailing 3-1 in the 3rd.

The Jets will play their 3rd pre-season game on Friday night against the Oilers in Edmonton. Puck drop for that game will be at 8:00 pm CT. Here at Jets Nation we’ll continue to monitor possible line up changes for that game, and we should hear about the set of roster cuts in the coming days.