HERE WE GO
After a long training camp that included six preseason games and a team building trip to Banff, the Jets open the 2022-23 campaign against the New York Rangers at Canada Life Centre. Enough meetings, enough practices, it’s time to see what the Jets have to offer as they look to quickly put last season behind them. The Rangers will be playing their third game of the season already and are off to a 2-0 start following wins over Tampa Bay and Minnesota. New York scored seven times against the Wild last night and are a talented, opportunistic squad. The Jets will need to take care of the puck and keep the giveaways down to avoid playing into the Rangers hands.
TOP LINE
Right from the start of training camp, head coach Rick Bowness put together Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers on the top line. Clearly, the line is loaded with a lot of speed, skill and all three can score with the best of them. With the small sample size, the chemistry was there. Connor paced the Jets in the preseason with eight points and is coming off one of the best offensive seasons in Jet 2.0 history with 93 points in 21-22. Tonight, Connor, Ehlers and Scheifele will also be charged with going head-to-head against Mike Zibanejad’s trio or Vincent Trocheck’s line.
NEW SYSTEM
Bowness and his coaching staff have put in a new system, and it will be put to the test here tonight for the first time when it matters. Bowness says the team has taken positive steps in the right direction for the most part, but from time to time, he sees the old habits coming back in practice and during the preseason. It’s not easy for players to get from thinking to just reacting, so it is expected that there will be some bumps along the way. That being said, in the final two preseason games against Calgary, the Jets did a fantastic job of now allowing the Flames any second or third scoring opportunities following the initial shot.
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