Skinner Picks up 3-1 Win Over Colorado for Jets in Pre-Season Debut

Helle Who? Welcome Stu.

As Connor Hellebuyck continues to rot at home, Winnipeg Jets fans got an opportunity to enjoy the work of his replacement, Stuart Skinner.

On Monday evening, the Jets hosted the Colorado Avalanche in pre-season game No. 2 for Winnipeg. 

Skinner, 27, the Jets' prized off-season signing, came through big for Winnipeg, shutting the door on 29 of 30 shots, en route to the two-goal victory in his debut. 

“Honestly, just the love from the fans, especially at the beginning there before the anthem, that felt fantastic," Skinner reflected post-game.

"The “Stu” chants around a couple saves, those always feel really good. You can tell how much the fans love it here, how much they love their hockey, how much they love their players. So, it was a lot of fun, it was great to put on the jersey, it was great to go out on the ice with all these guys in here. All in all, I just had a blast, I think we all had a lot of fun tonight; I was happy with it.”

The Jets dressed a veteran-heavy lineup in their first of two home pre-season games. Offensive stars Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Gabe Vilardi, Cole Perfetti and Josh Morrissey also dressed, while Mario Ferraro also suited up for the first time on defence.  

It was the Jets' second pre-season game, but Winnipeg will actually play its two exhibition contests at Canada Life Centre in a span of just 24 hours, as the Jets host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. 

"There's lots of things I liked. Some structure, some coverage, playing fast," head coach Scott Arniel said.

"Our forecheck, especially early on, I thought was really, really good. We didn't get hemmed in too much in our end. I like the fact that we were quick to close. For me, I think it was a good game to pull out some really good teaching clips, both positive and... Predominantly positive. On one side, there are some teaching things that will have to go in there but I like a lot of what I saw tonight."

The first period provided little to nothing offensively for either team. The two biggest impact moments came on hits by Colorado on Jets forwards Viggo Bjorck and Cole Koepke. 

That is, until the 19-minute mark. With 1:05 to play in the frame, Gabe Vilardi fired home his first of the pre-season, capitalizing off a play from Isak Rosen and Vladislav Namestnikov. 

Winnipeg also had the lone power play of the opening frame, but the team's big-five were unable to get the job done against three-and-a-half Avalanche penalty killers. 

The Jets doubled their lead with another late-period marker as the middle stanza wore to a close. This time it was a pretty passing play between Scheifele and Perfetti.

Morrissey picked up the puck at the point off a Koepke setup. He found Scheifele, who worked his way through the Avalanche defence, before dishing to his new linemate Perfetti, who made no mistake hammering it into the cage.

Winnipeg led on the shot chart (15-14) and on the scoreboard after 40 minutes of play. 

Colorado thought it had finally found the twine, but an animated Skinner drew the attention of Coach Arniel, who challenged for goaltender interference on the play. After a thorough review, it determined that Skinner's plea proved accurate, and the goal was reversed. 

“I just thought he was – I forget who it was – but I just thought he was in the blue paint way before any other action happened, so that's kind of why I was talking to the ref there and then he thought Demelo was pushing him in," Skinner said.

"From my point of view, he was pushing him sideways. So, I felt like I knew right away, but at the same time, sometimes I think I know what I'm talking about and I don't. Just fortunate that I saw it clearly this time.” 

Just seconds later, Dylan DeMelo flipped the script, putting home his first of the pre-season, as Vilardi and Morrissey each picked up their second points of the game in setting him up. 

Perfetti came within inches of added another on another back-and-forth passing play with Scheifele, but Sam Malinski just got his stick on the puck before it could make its way to the net. 

With 5:26 to play, the Avalanche spoiled Skinner's shutout, as Georgii Merkulov pushed home a puck that Skinner thought he had covered under his glove.

Skinner ultimately turned aside 29 of the 30 pucks sent his way, picking up his first win as a Jet.

Winnipeg is right back at it on Tuesday, as the Oilers come to town for a clash. The Jets then hit the road for their final stop of the shortened four-game pre-season on Friday in Colorado.

The Jets open things up officially on October 2 at home against he Boston Bruins