GAME RECAP: Jets Rookies 2, Oilers Rookies 0

PENTICTON, BC – The Oilers Rookies concluded their Young Stars Classic schedule with a 2-0 shutout defeat to the Jets Rookies at South Okanagan Events Centre, finishing the tournament without a victory after goaltender Brett Brochu made 32 saves on 34 shots on Monday.

"I thought I kept a lot of pucks to my chest," Brochu said post-game. "I was really square, kept things simple and thought my skating improved a lot. The speed of the game was quick, so it was nice that I could keep up with it and I felt good."

Winnipeg netminder Thomas Milic made all 27 saves for the clean sheet against Edmonton, with the Jets' opening goal coming off the stick of Daniel Torgersson in the second period before Henri Nikkanen added insurance with less than five minutes left in regulation on a deflection that capped off their two-goal victory.

Centre Carl Berglund scored the lone goal of the weekend for the Oilers Rookies against Calgary on Saturday and would leave Saturday's game in the first period following a high hit delivered by Mark Liwiski, resulting in defenceman Nate Corbett dropping the gloves with the Jets' forward a few shifts later for his third scrap of the tournament. Jayden Grubbe also had a fight and was assessed a 10-minute conduct late in the defeat.

The Oilers Rookies will return to Edmonton on Monday evening with a select group of skaters poised to compete for NHL roster spots at this week's Oilers Main Camp, which begins Wednesday morning with fitness testing and medicals at Rogers Place.

"Unfortunately, we didn't push it over the goal line, but it's about the process at this point," Head Coach Colin Chaulk said. "We all understand it's a result-driven business, but they understand that they're not as far as they think. There were a lot of good things and we'll celebrate those good things and try to stack them on top and try and have a few more of those good things.

"We shook their hands, we said we got better and we hope they enjoyed their experience wearing a National League jersey. Wherever they go next, we wish them the best of luck."

FIRST PERIOD

Brochu continued the trend for the Oilers Rookies at the Young Stars Classic of making a big save in the opening minutes that steadied his team defensively as he made his tournament debut between the pipes for the Blue & Orange.

"Especially after a long summer, it was nice to get into it and get some shots early, too," Brochu said. "The first two games, I was really [excited] to play and hoping I could get into one. I wasn't sure if I would, but I'm glad that I did. It felt nice to be back in the crease."

Winnipeg forward Colby Barlow chased down a cleared puck into Edmonton’s zone to beat out an icing and find his linemate Nikita Chibrikov for an in-close chance, but the 22-year-old former London Knights’ Cinderella story flashed the right pad as he sprawled across to deny the Russian and keep it scoreless early at 16:40 of the opening frame.

Brochu, who signed with the Bakersfield Condors this past August on a one-year AHL deal, rose from the ranks of Junior C in Ontario with the Dresden Jr. Knights to the OHL, joining the London Knights in 2018-19 and setting a League record that season for the most wins by a rookie goaltender (32) before going on to win gold at the 2022 World Juniors with Canada and being named OHL Goaltender of the Year with a 29-11-2 record.

During the 2023 postseason with the Knights, Brochu went 9-1-0 and set another club record with the most shutouts in a playoff when he recorded four clean sheets in nine contests. The 22-year-old is poised to play for the Fort Wayne Komets in '24-25 after going 7-11-1 with a .920 save percentage and 2.66 GAA last season for the Oilers' ECHL affiliate.

"It's honestly been an awesome journey," Brochu said. "My time in London was incredible. I'm sure that [Oilers TV's Paige Martin] got to watch me play a decent amount. Last year was my first year of pro and it was a great experience, too. I got a lot better, learned a lot of new things and I'm really looking forward to this year. I'm extremely excited. I think our team is going to be good in Fort Wayne and I'm excited."

"My expectations are to win a lot of hockey games and I'm a little bit upset that we didn't get to win today, but at the end of the day, our job is to win hockey games as long as I can do my job to help our team win, that's what I'll do."

After the Oilers exited their own zone following Brochu’s stop, centre Carl Berglund was caught coming through the middle with a high hit to the head from the shoulder of forward Mark Liwiski, ultimately exiting the Oilers bench and not returning for the remainder of the contest. Berglund had scored Edmonton’s lone goal of the tournament prior to Monday’s meeting with Winnipeg after he found the back of the net in his side’s 3-2 defeat to the Flames Rookies on Saturday.

Liwiski inevitably answered for his hit on Berglund minutes later by dropping the gloves near the benches with Nate Corbet, with the Oilers tryout defenceman from the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers fighting for the third time in as many games this tournament as payback for his teammate.

Late in the frame, defenceman Max Wanner struck the right post with a wrist shot from inside the right circle, marking Edmonton's best look in a scoreless opening 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

The Oilers Rookies were pressed into their own end by the Jets Rookies coming out of the intermission and needed centre Sam O'Reilly – Edmonton's first-round pick at this past summer's 2024 NHL Draft – to bat the puck out of mid-air in the crease to save a goal early in the middle frame and keep it scoreless.

Brochu made his second crucial stick save soon after to maintain his clean sheet as the Jets kept applying the pressure, but a Grubbe hooking penalty off a faceoff near the period's midway mark ended up costing the Oilers Rookies, leading to a one-timer in the right circle for forward Torgersson that he buried to open the scoring for Winnipeg at 9:37 of the frame.

Forward Matt Savoie had the best chance to equalize for Edmonton by trying to tuck in a rebound inside the near post, but with a defenceman draped over him in the blue paint, the 22-year-old from St. Albert couldn't scrape it over the line as the puck went through the crease and was pushed out the other side by Milic.

Coach Chaulk said the urgency was put on his players to attack the blue paint more aggressively, and Savoie's attempt was a strong sign that the message was being received.

"If I start with how we started the game, we were a little sleepy and we didn't like that," Chaulk said. "But what I did like is some of our breakouts and our transitions, our forecheck, staying on pucks and getting to the net and finishing on the inside.

"I think a big thing that we talked about is offensively, it was frustrating for everybody that we weren't rewarded, but one play that I think everyone sticks out in their minds is when Savoie finished at the paint first and that's what we're talking about. He was tackled and it was unfortunate balance, but it's the process and that's what it's about in these camps. It's about some moments of building to try to be a National League player and that was a good moment today.

"Unfortunately, we didn't convert for our goaltender today."

With offence at a premium nearing the second intermission, the physicality ramped up and reached a breaking point in the final five minutes on a dangerous hit by Dylan Anhorn against Oilers' forward Connor Clattenburg, who immediately took exception in the ensuing scrum by taking a roughing call that resulted in four-on-four hockey for the next two minutes.

The Jets Rookies led 1-0 on the scoreboard and 25-19 in shots through 40 minutes in both sides' final matchup of the Young Stars Classic.

THIRD PERIOD

Every bodycheck had a price, but the goals didn't come for the Oilers Rookies on Monday afternoon.

Forward Jayden Grubbe took another check from behind near the benches from Barlow before getting up and tussling with the Jets forward to earn himself a roughing penalty that evened up the call and gave us more four-on-four hockey as we approached 13 minutes remaining in the contest.

O'Reilly and Clattenburg orchestrated a terrific passing play as Edmonton chased the equalizer, with the London Knights' forward setting up the Flint Firebirds' skater just outside the blue paint for a chance that was broken up with a poke check from Milic.

With 4:59 remaining in regulation, the Jets Rookies found a decisive second goal on a deflection delivered in front by Nikkanen, who redirected a shot from Chibrikov that Brochu couldn't track to keep Winnipeg from making it 2-0.

"It kind of caught me off guard," Brochu said. "I thought he was going to grab onto that and try and cut across the crease, but he ended up tipping it past my skate there. 'll have to reassess and watch video on that and just see how I could handle things differently."

The Oilers couldn't crack Milic with the net empty late in the game, ultimately settling for defeat and a winless Young Stars Classic tournament in Penticton that ended with a 0-3-0 record for the Blue & Orange.