Skinner makes 31 saves in Jets debut

WINNIPEG – There was plenty to be excited about as the Winnipeg Jets opened their preseason home schedule.

Fans got their first glimpse of the team’s new-look top two lines. Viggo Björck made his home debut after being selected eighth overall back in June. And with anticipation building inside Canada Life Centre, there was no shortage of storylines to watch.

But by the time the final horn sounded, one player had stolen the spotlight.

Stuart Skinner.

The Jets’ 27-year-old offseason addition put on a goaltending clinic, turning aside 31 shots to backstop Winnipeg to a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

On a night filled with new faces and fresh possibilities, Skinner gave Jets fans perhaps their most exciting reason yet to believe in what’s ahead.

“Honestly, just the love from the fans, especially at the beginning there before the anthem, that felt fantastic. The “Stu” chants around a couple saves, those always feel really good," said Skinner.

"You can tell how much the fans love it here, how much they love their hockey, how much they love their players." 

Some slick work along the wall helped set up the Jets’ opening goal of the night. Vladislav Namestnikov battled to keep the puck alive before shovelling it across to Isak Rosén. The Swedish forward quickly spotted Gabriel Vilardi alone in the slot, and Vilardi wasted no time, snapping a quick shot past Scott Wedgewood at 18:55 to put Winnipeg on the board.

The second period was Stuart Skinner’s time to shine. The Jets goaltender was dialed in, coming up with one big save after another to keep Winnipeg in front. Each stop brought the home crowd to its feet, with Jets fans showing their appreciation with a booming chorus of “STUUUUUUUU!”

Building off their goaltender’s stellar play, the Jets added another late goal in the period on a beautiful passing sequence. Josh Morrissey found Mark Scheifele in the middle of the slot, and the Jets centreman quickly slipped a backhand pass across to a wide-open Cole Perfetti. Perfetti made no mistake, burying the chance to give Winnipeg a two-goal lead heading into the third.

“I kind of circled the net and all of a sudden once I got around the net I’m coming right down the middle and just tried to present myself," said Perfetti.

"Sure enough he makes a play. That’s a pretty nice play."

In the third, it looked like the Avalanche had finally solved Skinner. Gustav Stjernberg fired a shot from the point that found its way through traffic and past the Jets netminder, cutting Winnipeg’s lead to one. But before Colorado could celebrate, the Jets challenged the play for goaltender interference. After review, the call was overturned and the goal was waved off, preserving Winnipeg’s two-goal advantage.

“Yeah, we didn't have it the other night in Edmonton, but then we had it tonight," said Scott Arniel.

"We've been trying to figure this out for a few years on goalie interference and the red light came on right away in the sense of from Matty (Prefontaine) and from Flats (Wade Flaherty), it was pretty quick. So we were pretty sure."

At 6:37, DeMelo made it 3-0 after Vilardi sent the veteran defenceman a pass and DeMelo had all kinds of time to walk in and wrist a long shot past Nabokov.

Colorado finally beat Skinner at 14:34, Georgii Merkulov wristed a shot home to close out the scoring.

The Jets will be back at it again tomorrow night when they host the Edmonton Oilers at 7 CT.