The Jets fired 29 shots at the Edmonton net, but were denied by Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, who split the game in goal for the Oilers. David Rittich made 22 saves on 26 shots in the loss.
"There were some breakdowns where he was hung out to dry a little bit, so you can't fault him on those," said Bowness. "Sometimes, in these games, you get all of the young players and they're out of position, your goaltender, it kind of falls on him."
It was a less than ideal start for the Jets, as Markus Niemelainen beat Rittich just 41 seconds into the contest.
That 1-0 lead held through the opening 20 minutes, with Winnipeg's best chance coming on a two-on-one rush for Saku Maenalanen and Jansen Harkins, but Skinner kept it out, as well as the rebound chance from Kevin Stenlund.
Winnipeg also had four power play chances in the game, including 50 seconds of five-on-three time, but couldn't convert. The power play personnel that saw the most time together as a combination of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Cole Perfetti, Kevin Stenlund, Kristian Reichel, and Kyle Capobionco.
"It got better as the game went on," said Capobionco, who played 4:31 on the power play. "We got better shot attempts, we got Grade A chances. The five-on-three, I might have to give it to better guys, give it to (Dubois) to shoot instead of me. The goalie made a good save. I thought we did our best."
Special teams haven't been a focus over the first three days of training camp, as the Jets work to establish new systems at five-on-five.
The Jets had four total shots on the man advantage. On the penalty kill, they held the Oilers off the scoresheet on three opportunities, giving up just three shots.
"They had a video session this morning with Brad (Lauer) and (Scott Arniel). We'll start working on those things now," said Bowness. "The power play, five-on-three, you've got to score there. If you score there, you've got a whole new game. Give their goalie credit, he made a lot of good saves."
After a scoreless second, Edmonton doubled their lead when James Hamblin potted his first of the preseason, getting to a loose puck in the slot after Rittich made an initial save off Jason Demers.
Then, with two goals in 27 seconds, that Edmonton lead grew to 4-0. First, Ryan McLeod won a foot race against Rittich and chipped the puck into the top corner before the Jets goaltender could clear it away. The very next shift, Evan Bouchard's blast from the point deflected off the stick of Dylan Holloway on the way to the net, and sailed into the top corner.
"Our structure wasn't there," said Stenlund. "We didn't get the puck deep. Those small details wasn't there in the end. We got to focus on that."
It was a necessary step in the process for the Jets, who aim to be confident and comfortable with the new systems come opening night on October 14.
The Jets are off on Monday before getting back into preseason action on Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators at Canada Life Centre.
"We'll decide what we're going to do Tuesday night, tomorrow," said Bowness. "For the first game, the energy was good. There are clearly areas we need to clean up and we'll continue to work on those."
