Things worth mentioning…

• Mikko Koskinen had a strong game in net for the Oilers, stopping 31 of the 34 shots the Jets threw his way. An encouraging thing about this outing for Koskinen is that he flashed the leather a few times and made some nice glove saves. As we all know, the glove has been a major weakness for him throughout his time in the NHL. It’ll be interesting to see how Koskinen performs this season. He posted an ugly .899 save percentage in 2021, but was quite a bit better after Mike Smith returned from the Long-Term Injured Reserve than he was when he played every single game for the first month of the season. This was a nice start.
• Brendan Perlini yet again made himself noticeable on Saturday night. In the second period, Perlini found himself up at the point, took a pass from Darnell Nurse, and fired a clapper on the net that Devin Shore would tip past Eric Comrie. Given the way Perlini has contributed in the pre-season, it’s difficult to see him not cracking the team’s roster out of camp.

• Jesse Puljujarvi had an excellent game playing on Connor McDavid’s wing. The Big Finn scored a pair of goals, one at even-strength and one on the power-play. Puljujarvi has really found a home alongside McDavid. He thrives in this position because he’s willing to go to the net and he also boasts the skills to keep up with McDavid in the offensive zone. As nice as his season was in 2021, Puljujarvi is a very interesting breakout candidate this year. With restricted free agency coming up, he could soon earn himself a rich, long-term contract.
• The Philip Broberg and Filip Berglund pairing did very well for the Oilers. In about 10 minutes of even-strength play, they were on the ice for 12 shot attempts to Winnipeg’s eight and they were only on the ice for one high-danger chance against. The Oilers will take things slowly with Broberg, as they should, but Berglund has quite a bit of pro experience. He looks ready to step into a bottom-pairing role at the NHL level.
• On the flip side, Cody Ceci had a rough game playing alongside William Lagesson. The pair was on the ice for 20 shot attempts by the Jets over roughly 12 minutes of even-strength ice-time and they were involved on two of Winnipeg’s three goals. Hopefully, it’s just rust or learning his new team or a combination of the two, but Ceci has had a rough time so far in the pre-season.
• Next up… The Oilers will host the Calgary Flames on Monday evening for the second pre-season edition of the Battle of Alberta. The Oilers absolutely pounded Calgary in their first pre-season meeting but I imagine we’ll be seeing the Flames send something closer to an NHL roster up north for this one.