At last, it’s time for the real hockey to begin.
The Winnipeg Jets finished off their six-game preseason slate with a 3-2 win in Calgary on Friday night, with both teams icing lineups that will closely resemble their opening night units.
Calgary got the first good scoring chances of the game, hitting both the post and the crossbar in the opening minutes.
Each team then failed on a power play chance before the Jets opened the scoring at even strength with just over five minutes remaining in the opening frame.
Haydn Fleury launched a backhand pass high in the air down the ice, but Calgary couldn’t handle it as it made its way to their corner. Mason Appleton won a race to the puck as two defenders converged on him and Adam Lowry, leaving Nino Niederreiter wide open in front of Dan Vladar, and Niederreiter buried the puck off a great feed from Appleton to open the scoring.
Both teams managed to get seven shots on goal in the first 20 minutes.
After each team failed to convert on a second power play opportunity in the second, Winnipeg doubled their lead with 4:01 to go.
Rasmus Kupari won an offensive zone faceoff back to 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 advantage into the third, but it didn’t take long for Calgary to erase it.
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 then 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 rolled along, holding a 12-2 edge in shots on goal through the first half of the third, but Hellebuyck kept the game even.
That proved crucial because with 3:09 to go, a loose puck off a faceoff in the Calgary end wound up loose in the slot where Kyle Connor corralled it, put a juke on Vladar and tucked it into the net to give the Jets 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 onto the lead before the final horn sounded.
Hellebuyck finished the game with 31 saves, 18 of them in the third period, while Winnipeg killed off all five Flames power play chances.
The Jets will begin their regular season schedule Wednesday night in Edmonton with the puck dropping just after 9 p.m.