Perfetti scores twice, but Jets fall in shootout to Oilers

WINNIPEG -On a night that the Winnipeg Jets honoured the legendary number 10, Dale Hawerchuk, the 10th overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft - a pick announced by Hawerchuk's wife, Crystal - nearly propelled the team to victory.
Cole Perfetti scored two power play goals on Saturday night, and had a chance in overtime, but ultimately the Jets fell by a 3-2 score to the Edmonton Oilers in preseason action.
"It was a big deal tonight, you saw the crowd. That shows you how much he meant to the city, to the team," said Perfetti. "Having a little bit of a connection there, Ms. Hawerchuk doing the selection a couple years ago, is pretty cool. A great night to honour him. It was special all around."
The Jets outshot Edmonton 35-27 in the contest, and with Perfetti's two goals went 2-for-6 on the power play, but it was Devin Shore's quick shot in the shootout that beat Connor Hellebuyck and stood up as the eventual game-winner.

Perfetti, Brad Lambert, and Pierre-Luc Dubois were all stopped by Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner in the shootout.
Lambert's speed was also on display in the three-on-three overtime as he nearly ended it in the opening minute of the extra frame. Making use of all that open ice, he cut to the middle, beating an Oilers defenceman with a quick fake before his wrist shot was turned away by skinner.
"In open ice, he's going to make something happen," said head coach Rick Bowness. "I love the way that he gets the puck and just goes. For an 18 year old kid, he's confident with the puck."
After Tyler Benson opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the left wing with 5:06 remaining in the opening period, Perfetti responded just 1:49 later. Dubois played the puck toward the net and Perfetti was parked to Skinner's left, and pounded away at the rebound until it trickled over the line.

Blake Wheeler was on that power play unit, and spent the night on a line with Perfetti and Dubois - a trio that has been steady through training camp.
"He's a real smart player and can make plays and can go to the right spots," Wheeler said of Perfetti. "He thinks the game at an NHL level. He's going to be a guy that's going to be a lot of fun to watch here for a long time."
The score stayed locked at one until the third, when Dubois got body position on Derek Ryan near the bottom of the right circle, and quickly slid a cross-ice feed to Perfetti who made no mistake from just outside the crease.
The goal came less than a minute after an offside challenge took away a brilliant three-way passing play between Lambert, Perfetti, and Dubois.
"I went to the bench and a couple guys were like 'Yeah, that might come back,'" Perfetti said. "that was frustrating, because that was a nice little play all around as a five-man unit. Lucky enough we were able, 30 seconds later to score another one. It worked out."

The Jets got into penalty trouble and weren't able to kill off their second five-on-three of the night. Jason Demers was the recipient of a cross seam pass from Dylan Holloway, and then made no mistake snapping into the net past a sprawling Hellebuyck.
"The penalties are an issue," said Bowness, although he's not looking too far into things until the team gets their penalty killing units set.
However, penalty kill and power play will play a role in who makes the team on the blue line.
"It will come down to that, the role we're looking for from the third pairing D. It'll come down to that," said Bowness. "Do we need a power play guy, do we need a penalty killing guy, do we need a physical guy. It's really going to come down to the needs of the team at the time."
With the game tied at two at the end of regulation, the Jets did everything they could to end it and send the fans home happy. Lambert had his chance, Nate Schmidt broke in on a partial break, Perfetti had a rebound chance, and Dominic Toninato nearly converted a perfect set-up pass from Wheeler on a short two-on-one.
Alas, none of those chances got by Skinner, and with only Shore scoring in the shootout, the final decision went to Edmonton.
The Jets are now 2-1-1 in the preseason and have a few days of practice before hosting the Calgary Flames on Wednesday at Canada Life Centre.