Scheifele, Wheeler combine for six points in Jets win over Oilers

WINNIPEG -Sundays are a popular day for football, so it was fitting Blake Wheeler referenced it following a 5-3 Winnipeg Jets preseason win over the Edmonton Oilers.
He and Mark Scheifele combined for six points in the win, and as they have for a number of seasons, looked in-sync with each other from the first drop of the puck.
It's a credit to the work they put in together in the off-season.
"Quarterbacks and receivers work together in the off-season, so why not us? I think it helps when you come to camp like that," Wheeler said. "You build a rapport, and obviously we've had some good chemistry in the past, and there's no reason to keep building on it."

Wheeler assisted on both of Scheifele's goals Sunday night, and when Wheeler sniped a power play marker in the third, Scheifele picked up the secondary assist.
Chemistry like that can't be built in just one summer. Head coach Paul Maurice knows Wheeler and Scheifele have been working at it for a while.
"Certainly there is a chemistry on and off the ice. They both have a similar singular focus to get better. Their summer was spent doing that," said Maurice.
"Priority one was 'how do we get better as a hockey player?' The two of them come together and talk a lot about the things they do with each other on the ice that makes them better players. They really focused on getting better."

Skyler McKenzie, playing in his first NHL preseason game, had a pair at even strength to round out the Jets scoring.
"It felt unbelievable. I can't even explain the happiness that's going through me and my family right now. I'm just super excited," said McKenzie, who finished with 10:04 of ice time.
"The more I was on the ice, the more I felt I was doing a lot better. It just carried on for the rest of the game."
The Jets top power play unit didn't connect on three first period opportunities Friday night against Calgary, but that wasn't the case on Sunday.
With Brad Malone off for cross-checking, Wheeler slipped a pass to Scheifele in the high slot - where he had found some space between the Edmonton penalty killers. Scheifele whipped a wrist shot past goaltender Mikko Koskinen giving the Jets an early lead, just 3:45 into the game.
The power play would end the night converting on two of four opportunities.
"With the weapons we have, we're more of a quality over quantity power play," said Wheeler. "It's a tough match-up. We have the three one-timers that are pretty lethal. We're not a shot and get the rebound power play. We're a shot and in the back of the net power play. That's our process, just trying to get somebody open for a quality shot."

But the Oilers would tie things up 3:48 later, when Matt Benning's point shot was deflected right in front of Connor Hellebuyck by Kailer Yamamoto, his third of the preseason.
The Oilers would tack on another, as Ethan Bear's point shot got through some traffic and beat Hellebuyck on the glove side. The power play maker made it 2-1 for the visitors through 20 minutes.
McKenzie would pull the Jets even in the second, when he tipped home a Joe Morrow blast for his first of the preseason, in his first career NHL preseason game.
McKenzie has a knack for scoring in his debut. He played in three games for the Manitoba Moose in the AHL playoffs last season, scoring in his first game.
Then with Dustin Byfuglien off for slashing, the Wheeler and Scheifele duo would team up yet again. Wheeler drove wide before flipping a backhand saucer pass over the stick of Bear to Scheifele, who squeaked one past Koskinen for his second of the night.
"It was a pretty nice pass from Blake Wheeler. We worked on that one a few times this summer," said Scheifele with a laugh.
"Blake is the guy that drives this bus, and I'm a guy that likes to follow him and try to help out as much as I can."

Winnipeg's captain would get in on the scoring in the third. With plenty of room to work on a five-on-three power play, Wheeler took a pass in the right circle, and using an Oilers defender as a screen, sniped one bar down past Koskinen's glove, extending the Jets lead to 4-2.
McKenzie's second of the night came shortly after, as C.J. Suess fed the former Portland Winterhawk in the slot from the left wing boards, and McKenzie made no mistake, beating Koskinen - who had committed to Suess coming down the wing.
Yamamoto would add his second of the game with 40 seconds left in regulation, but it was too little too late, as the Jets skated to the 5-3 win, improving to 3-1-0 in the preseason.
ICE CHIPS
Kyle Connor didn't play in Sunday's game after taking a puck in his neck area at the morning skate.
He left the ice under his own power, and Maurice inserted Kristian Vesalainen into the line-up in Connor's place.
Even though Connor tried to get himself back into the lineup with a phone call to his head coach.
"He called me today on the way to the rink begging to be allowed to play in the game. The coach went all Scrooge on him and didn't play him today," said Maurice.
"We still sent him just to get looked at to make sure he was okay. He called me and I wouldn't let him play."
Maurice added Connor won't be in the line-up Monday night against the Calgary Flames.