Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/honeymoon-looking-more-like-seven- year-itch-449523243.html

Honeymoon looking more like seven-year itch

By: Paul Wiecek

On a day the Winnipeg Jets announced the second-richest sports signing in Manitoba history (US$42 million for Nikolaj Ehlers) and began play in the most anticipated season in these parts I can remember, it was the 15,321 spectators who packed Bell MTS Place Wednesday night who reminded us all, once again, that it is the fans, not the players, who remain the greatest single asset of this NHL team.

A honeymoon with this city that began back in 2011 the day Mark Chipman announced the NHL was coming back to Winnipeg is still going hot and heavy six years later.

There’s been squabbles and spats along the way, for sure. We’ve disappointed each other more than once. And there’s been more than a few nights that we’ve gone to bed mad at each other.

But seven seasons in, this thing still looks and feels on a nightly basis like the day these two first met.

It’s not just that the downtown barn was sold out Wednesday night.

Of course it was — it was opening night of the 2017-18 NHL season and this is Canada.

Throw in an opponent in the Toronto Maple Leafs that always attracts a disturbing number of Leafs jerseys in the crowd and there was no price too high to pay to be in the house Wednesday night.

And the prices were high, all right.

All regular-season games are not created equal in today’s NHL and the Jets price games in four different categories.

Want to see the Columbus Blue Jackets on a Tuesday night in October? That’s a ‘C’ game and you can get in the door for as little as $59.25 if you can find a ticket.

But that same cheap seat on Wednesday night would have set you back $77.50 for what the Jets categorize as an ‘A+’ game.

The top price Wednesday night? A cool $257.50.

Sadly, the only thing ‘A+’ about this home opener was the opponent, as every Jets fan’s best hopes and worst fears were realized in a first period.

Winnipeg shelled the Leafs with 17 shots (best hopes) and yet head to the dressing room down 3-0 thanks to — stop me if this sounds familiar — shaky goaltending and undisciplined play in their own end (worst fears).

It was a microcosm, in the first 20 minutes of an 82-game schedule, of all that ailed the Jets last season. And the season before that.

And it speaks volumes that the man who was supposed to be the solution to all of Winnipeg’s goaltending problems — Steve Mason — got pulled in his first regular-season Jets game after having given up five goals on 20 shots.

The final score — 7-2 Toronto — was the stuff of Jets nightmares. Billionaire part-owner David Thomson, who took in the game from Chipman’s box, had a private jet and his money to keep him warm on the way home to Toronto Wednesday night.

The rest of us spent the night in a cold shiver.

Now, I suppose this is the point in this column where I am supposed to say something about how ‘it’s still early’ and ‘it’s a long season.’

All of which is true, of course. But here’s something that is equally true — the Jets have a nightmarish October schedule, with 11 games, nine against playoff teams from last year, including a pair against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

This thing, in other words, has the potential to go sideways very quickly if the Jets don’t get right in a hurry. And it’s not like it would be the first time Winnipeg let a season slip away early on. The Jets had a losing record coming out of November in each of the last two seasons and both times spent the rest of the year trying and failing to recover lost ground.

That gets us back to where we started this journey — with the fans in this town who have, until this point, stuck with this team through thick (occasionally) and thin (mostly).

Because you have to wonder, with expectations running at a fever pitch right now, whether this long-simmering honeymoon is finally coming to an end as fans demand a team with whom they have been so patient — and so supportive — finally starts providing a return on their investment.

It is a monument to the loyalty of this community that we’re still all-in, and Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff basically admitted as much during an interview with TSN this summer.

"It’s a passionate market and they really understand the game. And that’s been really important in the process that we’ve gone through and we’ve had to do. I think maybe a less educated market might not have understood how you go about acquiring a Laine, an Ehlers…"

I’m not sure whether it’s hockey intellect or just blind faith that allowed the Jets to give contract extensions this summer to Cheveldayoff and head coach Paul Maurice, neither of whom have ever won a playoff game in this town.

But either way, Chevy is right — there are definitely some hockey markets around the league that would have met that kind of front office hubris with something much more than the collective shrug it was greeted with here locally.

For reasons good and bad, this market continues to believe in this team.

Consider: according to ticket reseller Vivid Seats, the secondary market right now for Jets tickets — people selling their tickets on the open market — is the seventh-most expensive in the NHL, with the average Jets ticket selling for US$176.

It says a lot about the loyalty of this city’s hockey fans — and their huge expectations for the Jets this season — that the only tickets more expensive on the secondary market than Winnipeg’s all belong to teams who made the playoffs last season.

Only in Winnipeg, in other words, are people tripping over themselves to pay more than face value for a ticket to see a team that has missed the playoffs in five of their first six seasons and just got shelled in the season opener.

Jets captain Blake Wheeler said last month that "it has to be this year" for the team to finally take the next step.

He’s right, in more ways than one.

Honeymoon? It’s looking more and more like a seven-year itch and there was a run on calamine lotion late Wednesday night. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/leafs-jump-on-jets-early-often-to-win- season-opener-7-2-449513863.html

Mason jarred in season opener New Jets goaltender gets little help in sloppy defensive effort from home side

By: Jason Bell

Put this baby back up on the hoist and give it a bumper-to-bumper inspection — it looks like the defective parts of the Winnipeg Jets’ game weren’t effectively repaired or replaced over the summer.

Things went dreadfully sideways for the Jets in their 2017-18 NHL season opener Wednesday night at Bell MTS Place. More than just a harmless case of surface rust after six months of NHL inactivity, Wednesday’s 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs was a complete clunker, with 15,321 rubberneckers watching the breakdown.

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck replaces Steve Mason during third period against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Winnipeg on Wednesday. Jets sophomore right-winger Patrik Laine was spot on, calling the defeat "embarrassing."

"It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the season. But it’s done. That’s good news that we have still 81 games left. We just have to be lots better," said Laine.

"We were just not defending very well. If the opponent scores seven goals, there’s something we did wrong with our defence. But it’s hard to say right now. It’s obviously frustrating because we were practising defence so much. The first regular-season game the opponent scores seven goals, that’s not the ideal start."

Patrick Marleau, playing his first game as a Leaf after 19 seasons with the San Jose Sharks, had a brilliant debut, firing a pair of goals, while Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews supplied singles.

Kadri, van Riemsdyk and Nylander all scored within two minutes, 38 seconds late in the opening period.

Jets forwards Mark Scheifele and Mathieu Perreault scored late, with the game well out of reach.

Subpar goaltending? Yes. New guy Steve Mason had a night to forget in his Winnipeg debut.

Mason allowed a couple of softies and, overall, gave up five goals on just 20 shots. He was swapped out for back-up goalie Connor Hellebuyck after Marleau notched his second goal of the game just 36 seconds into the third period.

"It wasn’t what we were looking for. Especially from my standpoint, it just wasn’t good enough," said Mason, who signed a two-year, $US 8.2-million deal with the Jets on July 1 after four-plus seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers.

"It wasn’t good. We’ll just come back, put it behind me and get ready for the next one."

Mason, beginning his 10th NHL campaign, was asked if he’d ever been pulled early in a season opener?

"Not that I can remember," he said. "It’s a bad game, it happens. It sucks when it happens but you put it behind you and get out of it."

For the record, he really got no help from his teammates.

Shoddy defensive play by the hosts, even after a two-week training camp designed specifically to try and fix what has habitually ailed them? Check.

Defencemen Jacob Trouba and Dustin Byfuglien spent the night chasing down Leafs instead of sticking to whatever plan Jets head coach Paul Maurice has been drawing up on the white board since mid-September. Trouba finished a minus-4, while Byfuglien was minus-2, looking particularly bad on the Nylander goal.

Ineffective special teams? Double-check.

After blazing to a 29.5 per cent efficiency rating (13-for-44) in the pre-season, the Jets’ power- play unit lost its lustre, getting blanked on eight opportunities.

Early on, it totally defused the upbeat mood at sold-out Bell MTS Place, coming away empty on three straight chances before the game was 12 minutes old.

Winnipeg set up shop in Toronto territory for extended stretches and fired plenty of pucks at Frederik Andersen but couldn’t get one past the Danish-born goalie.

The momentum shifted like a tectonic plate below the downtown rink. The Leafs didn’t need three power-play chances, just 45 seconds’ worth of one as Kadri stuffed his own rebound past Mason to open the scoring with just under five minutes left in the first, setting off the three-goal spurt.

"We had a number of power plays and it was doing everything but scoring. And then we took a penalty and kind of let a greasy one in," said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. "From there, you blink and it’s 3-0. We weren’t able to dig our way out of it."

Toronto finished 2-for-4 on the power play.

Matthews, van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak each had a pair of assists as Toronto led 3-0 and 4-0 at the period breaks.

Maurice said nearly all the fine-tuning done in the pre-season didn’t translate with two NHL points on the line.

"Yeah, just all of them," he said, dryly. "The power play wasn’t as bad as the number will tell. Their goalie was good. I’m not saying that’s the game. So, that part was good. The rest of it wasn’t.

"We did it to ourselves on some of them. The third goal (Nylander) is a reasonably easy read to make if you’re thinking about defending at that point. But we’re thinking about let’s get it back as fast as we can, and that is a bit of a holdover concept. And that’s how you get in trouble. Relax, patience. But we blew the zone on that and got in real trouble with it."

Hellebuyck stopped nine of 11 shots. He surrendered Marner’s power-play goal midway through the final frame and couldn’t handle a great tip-in by Matthews, named the NHL’s rookie of the year over Laine of the Jets and Columbus blue-liner Zach Werenski last season.

In contrast, Andersen was exceptional, particularly in the opening period when the Jets tested him 15 times, including a couple of open looks and deflections through traffic.

The Leafs netminder finished with 35 saves.

Maurice elected to give centre Nic Petan and defencemen Ben Chiarot and rookie Tucker Poolman an evening off to watch from the press box.

The Jets practise at home Thursday and Friday, and then depart on a three-game Western Canada road trip.

Winnipeg takes on Calgary’s newest foward, the venerable Jaromir Jagr, and the rest of the Flames on Saturday night, hooks up with the Connor McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers on Thanksgiving Monday and rounds out the swing west with a battle Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/jets-to-extend-ehlers-contract- 449422913.html

Ehlers signs 7-year, US$42-M deal

By: Mike Sawatzky

From the beginning, left-winger Nikolaj Ehlers hoped for a speedy, no-fuss resolution to contract talks.

In the end, the 21-year-old Dane got just what he wanted, when he agreed to terms on a seven- year, US$42-million extension that should keep him in Winnipeg Jets colours until the end of the 2024-25 NHL season.

Ehlers is beginning the third and final season of an entry-level deal worth US$894,167 a season.

"We didn’t start too long ago," Ehlers said following the pre-game skate Wednesday morning at Bell MTS Place.

"We all wanted to get something done before the season started. There wasn’t a lot of going back and forth. I think we were both pretty set on what it was going to be. I’m happy that they feel that they want me here and from the beginning I wanted to stay, so I’m really happy."

Negotiations between the club and his Swiss-based agent, André Rufener, proceeded quickly, beginning after the start of training camp last month and wrapping up Wednesday on the eve of Winnipeg’s regular-season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Above all, Ehlers — who gave up three years of unrestricted free agency under the length of the deal — wanted to avoid the distraction of prolonged negotiations.

"I didn’t want to worry about it during the season," he said. "If it was going to (drag) out, I didn’t want that. Not for me, not for the team, not for the organization. And they wanted that as well, so we got it done before the season started."

Head coach Paul Maurice was pleased to have Ehlers’ contract status settled, as it can be an anxious process for younger players.

"Once they’ve been through it a couple times, they know it’s going to get done clearly," Maurice said.

"And then you’re just hopeful they don’t feel like they got to try earn it all on the first shift, that they can just go out and play. The sooner we get Nik into that mindset, it will be worth every penny."

Ehlers is coming off a productive sophomore season, showing some definite star qualities when he scored 25 goals and had 64 points in 82 games. He has played a total of 154 NHL games, with 40 goals and 102 points over that span.

Ehlers was chosen in the first round (ninth overall) in the 2014 NHL draft and is entering his third season with the club. He also skated for the Danish national team at the 2017 IIHF World Hockey Championship in Cologne and Paris, where he registered four assists and 18 penalty minutes in seven games.

Ehlers was asked what prompted him to sign a long-term deal.

"This team, this organization, the city, everything," Ehlers said. "From Day 1, I was happy here. Everybody helped me get settled from the start. It’s amazing playing in front of all these fans. Winnipeg as a city is amazing; they love their hockey. So, I could not see any reason to not want to stay here for long term."

Sophomore right-winger Patrik Laine, Ehlers’ closest friend on the squad and another high- profile player expected to be in the midst of negotiations for a long-term extension following the 2017-18 season, was thrilled with the development.

"As Nik’s linemate and good buddy, it’s awesome to see a nice guy like that get rewarded like that," Laine said. "It’s awesome for me. I’m super happy for him. It’s just nice to see that this organization thinks that and believes that he will be a franchise player for this team."

Alternate captain Mark Scheifele joined the chorus hailing the move.

"I think he likes it here," Scheifele said.

"He’s got his good buddy (Laine) here. Guys that play here love it here. We have a great organization, a great group of guys, a good group of young guys that are excited to do something big this year and in the future. That’s the biggest sales pitch we can ever put on anyone."

Laine already has an idea about where Ehlers can spend his new-found wealth.

"Yeah, I told him already that I’m not going to pay any room-service bills any more. That’s for sure," Laine said. "That’s on him." https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/manitoba-moose/connor-looking-ahead-after- cut-449519973.html

Connor looking ahead after cut Forward knows what he has to work on while in the AHL

By: Mike McIntyre

There was no sulking. No pouting. And no complaining. Instead, Kyle Connor seems to have taken his assignment to the Manitoba Moose in stride while vowing to do everything possible to get back to the big club as quickly as possible.

"Anybody who’s not frustrated… I wouldn’t tell you otherwise," Connor, 20, said Wednesday following his first American Hockey League practice after being sent down by the Winnipeg Jets one day earlier. "But it’s just the hand you’ve been dealt. You’ve got to make the most of it. For me, it’s just improve my game and get that much better."

The 2015 first-round pick made the Jets out of camp last year, but only dressed for 19 games — putting up a goal and three assists in limited playing time — before he was dispatched to the farm. After a bit of a slow start with the Moose, Connor took off. He scored a team-high 25 goals and added 19 assists in 52 games in antlers.

Connor was recalled for one more NHL game at the end of last season and scored a goal. He was hoping to build off that this season, but was held pointless in six pre-season games. He found himself on the outside looking in as Jets head coach Paul Maurice finalized his 23-man roster.

"He’s very positive. He’s taking it like a man," Moose head coach Pascal Vincent said Wednesday. "He knows what he has to work on. There’s one good thing that he does extremely well and that’s self-evaluation. He’s not down, he’s not negative, he’s not taking it as a demotion.

"He wants to show that he belongs to the NHL."

Connor said the Jets brass gave him some ideas on what he needs to get to the next level and stay there.

"Staying on the puck, winning more battles is kind of a big thing," he said. "Just keep playing my game, keep working hard and do all the little things right."

Although an AHL encore wasn’t his first choice, Connor said his confidence at this level should allow him to hit the ground running.

He’s excited to reunite with fellow first-round pick and good friend Jack Roslovic on what is expected to be the top line for the Moose when they open the season Friday night in Michigan against the defending league champion Grand Rapids Griffins.

"I think we mesh together. It’ll be fun to see what we can do," Connor said. "I’m just going to come out here and have a good start to the season and see how it goes. I don’t put any numbers on it. Just go out there and play my game and I think the results will come."

One of the most promising defensive prospects in the Winnipeg Jets pipeline could miss the entire season with a major injury.

Defenceman Nelson Nogier, 21, was hurt on the first shift of his first exhibition game with the Moose last weekend in Grand Forks, N.D., Vincent said Wednesday.

It happened during a seemingly innocent-looking play when an Iowa Wild skater rubbed him into the boards.

He requires surgery for an upper-body injury and will be out between four to six months.

It’s a major blow for Nogier, who was expected to be a key player with the Moose this season as well as providing some valuable defensive depth for the Jets.

"He had a good summer. He worked hard during the summer. He showed up in camp in good shape and the right mindset. He’s a solid kid. It’s really too bad for him. It’s too bad for us," Vincent said Wednesday.

"We’re going to have a plan for him to keep his mind sharp so he keeps learning the game. But for a while he’s not going to be able to do anything physically."

Nogier enjoyed a fine rookie pro season last year, appearing in 60 games with the Moose. He put up two goals and 11 assists and was rewarded with a late-season call-up to the big club, playing 10 games with the Jets.

The Moose are currently dealing with several injuried players. Forwards Patrice Cormier, Jansen Harkins and Francis Beauvillier and defenceman Jan Kostalek are all doubtful to be ready by this weekend.

Manitoba still has 28 skaters in camp, but only 23 are healthy enough to play.

Vincent said he’s likely to keep everyone around, at least for now. Unlike the NHL, there is no maximum roster size in the AHL.

"It’s going to give us a little bit more time to adjust and make the right decisions," Vincent said. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/manitoba-moose/moose-d-man-nelson- nogier-injured-could-miss-entire-season-449460743.html

Moose D-man Nelson Nogier injured, could miss entire season injured, could miss entire season

By: Mike McIntyre

Nelson Nogier, one of the most promising defensive prospects in the Winnipeg Jets pipeline, could miss the entire season with a major injury.

Nogier, 21, was hurt on the first shift of his first exhibition game with the Manitoba Moose last weekend in Grand Forks, head coach Pascal Vincent revealed Wednesday.

It happened during a seemingly innocent-looking play where an Iowa skater rubbed him into the boards.

He requires surgery for an upper-body injury and will be out four to six months.

It’s a major blow for the organization and for Nogier, who was expected to be a key player with the Moose this season as well as providing some valuable defensive depth for the Jets.

Nogier enjoyed a fine rookie pro season last year, appearing in 60 games with the Moose. He put up two goals and 11 assists and was rewarded with a late-season call-up to the big club, playing 10 games with the Jets.

Winnipeg Sun http://www.winnipegsun.com/2017/10/04/dont-panic-about-jets-just-yet

Don't panic about Jets just yet

BY PAUL FRIESEN, WINNIPEG SUN

WINNIPEG - Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain asking you to remain calm and keep your seat belts fastened.

Yes, that was one ugly takeoff, but Jets-Air Flight 2017 is now up and off the ground. Maybe not as safely as we’d expected, but off the ground, nonetheless.

The seat belt sign will remain on until further notice, as your crew tries to figure out what went wrong.

We want to assure you the wheels have not fallen off the aircraft, even if you did see what looked like a blown tire or two out your window.

Yes, we realize this is the same aircraft that caused so much trouble last year, and while many of the problems appear to be unchanged, we assure you this was simply an opening-day blip.

That lack of power on takeoff, I can assure you I felt it, too. Nearly filled my drawers, thinking we were going to run out of runway, ha-ha!

Yes, that substance on your windows is oil from a pretty significant leak. We could have sworn we took care of that in the off-season, but you know how these things go. Some problems are just more stubborn than others.

Rest assured the maintenance crew is working on that as we speak, so we can all enjoy a trouble-free trip to Western Canada.

We don’t plan on limping through Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, although we do have some special snacks for you to keep your minds off any more turbulence we do encounter.

In the seat pouch in front of you, you’ll find our special Jets-Air M&M’s, with the picture of Steve Mason on the wrapper. Each contains five bite-size surprises inside.

If for some reason those don’t agree with you, the air sickness bag — the one with the picture of Connor Hellebuyck on it — is right next to them.

In the unlikely event we lose pressure in the cabin, Ondrej Pavelec’s mask will drop from the overhead bin — just to give you a REAL scare!

Ha-ha, just kidding on that one.

What will actually drop out is an oxygen mask and a pair of rose-coloured glasses. Simply pull on the mask, breathe deeply and focus on the mantra flashing in the lenses. If we all repeat it — draft and develop — over and over, you’d be amazed how relaxed you’ll soon be.

Your flight crew will soon begin serving beverages. Yes, stiff drinks are available, ha-ha. You can’t say we’re not responsive to our customer’s needs!

If liquid medication isn’t your thing, turn your attention to the small screen in the seat-back in front of you, where you can watch our pre-takeoff video on a repeating loop. Wasn’t that a wonderful production?

If you somehow tire of that video — and we can’t imagine anybody could — just use the channel selector on your armrest to find videos of Kevin Cheveldayoff announcing his incredible draft picks over the years.

For some companion reading, we’ve included a copy of the Hockey News, the edition that predicted the Jets would win the Stanley Cup in 2019.

If all that doesn’t help erase the memory of that stomach-turning takeoff, refer to our future tracker, which shows how long young stars like Mark Scheifele and Nik Ehlers are locked up.

Disregard the blacked-out photo of Jacob Trouba. That hasn’t worked out, but you can’t win ‘em all, right?

On the flip side of that card, you’ll see Cheveldayoff and head coach Paul Maurice are also in it for the long ha—on second thought, maybe leave the back of the card for a smoother flight.

Should the loss of oil continue and we have an unscheduled landing event on water, your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device. The photo of Patrik Laine on it should reassure you things could be much, much worse.

Those seeking to use emergency exits should consult the card in the seat-pouch in front of you, where you’ll find a nifty little connect-the-dots game to keep your mind occupied.

You’ll be thrilled to know those cards are the same ones employed by the coaches for the power play and penalty kill! Actual, game-used equipment! It’s the little things we do for you here at Jets-Air.

Above all, remember our new slogan: Rise Together! Even if that sinking feeling in your stomach tells you something else.

LAINE ASHAMED Patrick Laine summed up the Jets’ season debut with the one word no team wants to hear.

“Just embarrassing,” Laine said after Wednesday’s 7-2 humbling.

“Seven-two, home opener — it wasn’t the way we wanted to start the season. We were just not defending very well. If the opponent scores seven goals, there’s something we did wrong with our defence. It’s obviously frustrating because we were practising defence so much.”

It seems everything the Jets worked on through training camp and the pre-season — team defence, the power play (0-for-8) the penalty kill (just 2-for-4) — was a disaster.

“Yeah, just all of them,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “The power play wasn’t as bad as the number will tell. Their goaler was good. I’m not saying that’s the game. We did it to ourselves on some of them.”

Maurice singled out Jacob Trouba’s “dumb penalty” which led to Toronto’s first goal and how Dustin Byfuglien blew “a relatively easy read to make if you’re thinking about defending at that point” on Toronto’s third.

The coach was also unhappy with his team’s passive play.

“The hardest hit we threw all night was on Mason (the Jets goalie) on the PK,” he said, referring to Andrew Copp bowling into the Jets net on the opening goal. http://www.winnipegsun.com/2017/10/04/jets-pounded-by-maple-leafs-in-season-opener

Jets pounded by Maple Leafs in season opener

BY KEN WIEBE, WINNIPEG SUN

WINNIPEG - It turns out some old habits are hard to break.

As the curtain rose on the 2017-18 season, the Winnipeg Jets renewed commitment to team defence was lacking, an undisciplined penalty opened up the floodgates for the opposition and the result was a 7-2 shellacking at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at Bell MTS Place.

The Jets actually came out with plenty of zip in their collective step and were bombarding the Maple Leafs net with quality scoring chances, only to be thwarted by goalie Frederik Andersen.

After clicking on the power play during the pre-season to the tune of a 29.5% clip, the Jets found some decent movement early on but were unable to convert.

The Jets had the first three power-play opportunities of the contest and it was only a matter of time before they found themselves shorthanded.

With Jacob Trouba in the box serving an unnecessary minor for hooking, the Maple Leafs needed only 45 seconds to cash in with a power-play marker, as Nazem Kadri banged home a rebound at 15:45.

“It just kind of snowballed,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “We had a number of power plays and it was doing everything but scoring. And then we took a penalty and kind of let a greasy one in. From there, you blink and it’s 3-0.

“Probably, if you’re into the season a little bit, you throw this one into the trash and move on. The fact that it was the first game, it’s not obviously the way you want to start, especially at home. So hopefully, it’s a good shock to the system.”

Tyler Bozak beat Mark Scheifele cleanly with a good second effort on an offensive-zone draw and James van Riemsdyk scored from the slot at 17:40.

Then during a delayed penalty call to Dustin Byfuglien, Jake Gardiner found William Nylander all alone on the backdoor for a tap-in at 18:23 — giving the Maple Leafs three goals in fewer than three minutes.

Talk about the roof caving in.

The Maple Leafs offensive outburst seemed to suck the life out of the Jets and Andersen took care of the rest, finishing with 35 saves.

“Yeah, it doesn’t feel good when the opponent scores three quick goals, but I think we’re pros and we just need to move on and try to be better in the next period,” said Jets forward Patrik Laine. “We didn’t do that and that was the result.”

Patrick Marleau scored on a breakaway at 8:32 of the second period and added another just 36 seconds into the third.

That prompted Jets head coach Paul Maurice to get out the hook, sending in Connor Hellebuyck to mop up.

It was not the debut Mason, who signed a two-year deal worth $8.2 million on July 1 to take over the top job, had envisioned — turning aside only 15 of the 20 shots on goal he faced.

You certainly wouldn’t place much of the blame for the loss on Mason, as the Jets were incredibly loose defensively and allowed far too many quality chances against — which was a common theme during the past several non-playoff seasons.

But the Maple Leafs got more saves when they needed to than the Jets, that point cannot be disputed.

“Not that I can remember,” said Mason, when asked if he could remember being pulled before in a season opener. “It just wasn’t good enough. It’s a bad game, it happens. It sucks when it happens, but you put it behind you and get out of it.”

Hellebuyck, meanwhile, gave up two goals on 11 shots, so it will be interesting to see if Maurice gives Mason a quick opportunity to jump back into the crease on Saturday against the Calgary Flames as the Jets open a three-game road trip against Pacific Division opponents.

“Five was enough,” said Maurice. “He’s going to have a couple he’d like to have back, but there wasn’t anything you’re looking at, saying, ‘My god, how did he miss that?’”

Scheifele and Mathieu Perreault scored goals in garbage time for the Jets, though a timely marker earlier in the contest might have kept things a bit more interesting.

Auston Matthews rounded out the scoring for the Maple Leafs and now has one goal and seven points in three career meetings against the Jets.

It’s only one game out of 82, but for all the talk about committing to being better in their own zone, it’s clear the Jets have plenty of work to do in order to be stingier.

And while one doesn’t expect the power play to be clicking at a 30% clip in the first game of the regular season, the Jets couldn’t afford to throw up a zero-for-eight performance in the season opener either.

“That’s a tough stat, especially with the way we were going in the pre-season. It was a real source of confidence for our team,” said Wheeler. “We did a lot of really good things early and we couldn’t get one to go in. From there, you start gripping (the stick) a little bit, you start over- passing and now you’re out of your structure a little bit and that’s how you throw a goose-egg up.” http://www.winnipegsun.com/2017/10/04/jets-lock-up-ehlers

Jets lock up Ehlers Speedy forward agrees to extension worth $42 million

BY KEN WIEBE, WINNIPEG SUN

The Winnipeg Jets have locked up another core piece to a long-term deal.

On Wednesday morning, a source confirmed that dynamic winger Nikolaj Ehlers had agreed to terms on a seven-year extension worth $42 million that carries an average annual value of $6 million.

As part of the contract, Ehlers receives a modified no-trade clause for the final three years.

Ehlers, 21, is entering his third NHL season and has 40 goals and 102 points in 154 games – including 25 goals and 64 points in 82 games in 2016-17.

Chosen ninth overall in the 2014 NHL Draft, Ehlers said the negotiations began up during the past two weeks and came together quickly.

“We all wanted to get something done before the season started, there wasn't a lot of going back and forth,” said Ehlers. “We were both pretty set on what it was going to be. I'm happy that they feel they want me here and from the beginning, I wanted to stay. It was nice that it came together so quick.

“This team, this organization, this city. From Day 1, I was happy here. No matter what, I knew that I wanted to stay, so why not sign now? This is where I want to play.”

The Jets are set to open the 2017-18 campaign tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ehlers is set to start the season on a line with veteran centre Bryan Little and Finnish sniper Patrik Laine and had two goals and six points in five pre-season games this fall.

“An incredibly dynamic young player and the strides he made from his rookie year to last year were extraordinary and he’s kind of trending in that direction again this year,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “He had an outstanding camp, he’s all over the puck right now, playing hard. Some of the areas of his game that could maybe use some improvement, he’s making those improvements and it’s going to make him an incredibly valuable asset to our team for a long time.”

On the first day of training camp, the Jets announced a six-year extension with Little and Mark Scheifele is entering the second year of an eight-year deal worth $49 million.

“(Ehlers) has been an exciting player for us. Right from the opportunity when we drafted him, we felt we had a special player,” said Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff. “For us to lock him up long term is a big step for us and it's something that we're very excited it did come together.

“This is the first time we've had an extension off an entry-level (contract). There are different nuances that come into play, but when it falls into place as quickly as it did, it's exciting.”

Why did seven years make the most sense for the Jets?

“I don't know if there was any magic there. But when you get into negotiations, like we've talked about before with term and money and money and term, you just find a sweet spot that both sides feel comfortable with,” said Cheveldayoff. “In this game here, from a cap standpoint, you're trying to project and you try to find where that right balance might fit.

“We've got spreadsheets that got out three or five years and they're all in invisible ink because it all changes on a daily basis. This worked for both sides and it feels great. I guess it does send a message that we're committed to building around our core. We've been judicious in how we've spent our money to make sure we have the right space available at the right time to do some things. This is part of the next step and part of the steps that have to be taken.”

Even if there wasn't a message intended, one was received by Jets players.

“It's huge for him and it's huge for the team,” said Scheifele. “(Ehlers) is a very important part of our team and every guy is excited to have him long term. We've got some key pieces signed long-term and now we've got to prove to everyone what we've got.

“It’s time to put our money where our mouths are.”

Several prominent Jets – including defencemen Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey – will be restricted free agents next summer and will be in line for a raise.

It’s possible Laine could sign an extension going into the final year of his entry-level contract that could carry an average annual value north of $10 million, but Cheveldayoff isn’t concerned about that right now.

“We’ve got a lot of work that’s coming up – whether it’s done throughout the season or done traditionally in the summer time,” said Cheveldayoff. “That’s all part of it. The good thing for us now is we can focus on playing hockey. Everyone’s under contract. Everyone’s here.”

Global Winnipeg https://globalnews.ca/news/3786392/toronto-maple-leafs-pound-winnipeg-jets-on-opening-night- of-nhl-season/

Toronto Maple Leafs pound Winnipeg Jets on opening night of NHL season

By Mitch Rosset Reporter/Anchor

WINNIPEG – Patrick Marleau put away two goals in his first game with the Toronto Maple Leafs to help ground the Winnipeg Jets 7-2 at Bell MTS Place on the opening day of the 2017-2018 NHL regular season.

The victory is the Maple Leafs’ first in Winnipeg in six games. It also snaps the Jets’ two-game home opener win streak.

Toronto scored three times during a span of 2:38 late in the first period starting with a Nazem Kadri power-play marker. James van Riemsdyk beat Jets goalie Steve Mason off a face-off shortly before William Nylander put the Maple Leafs up 3-0.

Winnipeg had several chances to strike first with four power plays in the opening frame. The Jets outshot Toronto 17-11 in the first twenty minutes of the game.

Marleau added to the Maple Leafs’ lead in the second by deking out Mason off an Auston Matthews feed mid-frame. He later chased Winnipeg’s new netminder from the crease with a goal 36 seconds into the third period. Marleau signed a three-year contract with the Maple Leafs as a free agent this summer. He arrives in Toronto following 19 seasons with the San Jose Sharks.

Both teams traded two goals apiece in the third period. Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews both scored for the Maple Leafs while Mark Scheifele and Mathieu Perreault replied for the Jets.

Mason turned away 15 of the 20 shots he faced in his Jets debut while back-up Connor Hellebuyck had nine saves in relief. Across the ice, Frederik Andersen made 35 stops.

Winnipeg finished the game with no goals on eight power plays.

The Maple Leafs return to Toronto for a three-game homestand starting Saturday against the New York Rangers. The Jets open a three-game Western Canadian road swing the same night in Calgary. https://globalnews.ca/news/3784711/winnipeg-jets-lock-up-nikolaj-ehlers-long-term/

Winnipeg Jets lock up Nikolaj Ehlers long-term

By Mitch Rosset Reporter/Anchor

WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets have signed forward Nikolaj Ehlers to a seven-year contract extension worth $42-million. The team made the announcement just hours before their season opener.

“From day one I was happy here,” Ehlers said. “Winnipeg as a city is amazing, they love their hockey so I could not see any reason to not stay here for the long term.”

Ehlers is entering the final year of his entry-level contract. He scored 25 goals and 39 assists in 82 games last season. The 21-year-old Dane has 102 points in 154 career NHL games.

After the announcement Patrick Laine said he was happy to hear his line mate was sticking around, joking that it also means form now on Ehlers will have to pick up the tab.

“I told him already that I’m not going to pay any room service bills anymore, so that’s on him!” Laine said.

Ehlers was selected by the Jets ninth overall at the 2014 NHL Draft.

Winnipeg hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday night at Bell MTS Place in its first game of the season.

Globe and Mail https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/maple-leafs-pile-on-the-goals-in-season- opening-rout-of-jets/article36498072/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&

Maple Leafs pile on the goals in season-opening rout of Jets

BY DAVID SHOALTS

It can be said the Toronto Maple Leafs would not have won their NHL season-opener without goaltender Frederik Andersen. But it can also be said they showed the merciless streak they need to become a consistent contender.

The Winnipeg Jets, on the other hand, need to go back to the video machine for another look at that defensive game they thought they had patched up in training camp. Their new goaltender, Steve Mason, was not great in his debut in front of the home crowd but neither were his teammates, caught staring off into the distance too many times, as the Leafs rolled to a 7-2 win in the NHL season-opener for both teams.

The Jets did come out strafing the Leafs goal but Andersen was outstanding. His teammates did their best to sabotage Andersen as they still have not got a handle on the tougher officiating standards, particularly when it comes to equipment violations. The Leafs took four minor penalties in the first period, including one to Leo Komarov for wearing his visor too high, something he was warned about during the pre-season.

But Andersen kicked away 15 shots in the first 13 minutes and 37 on the night, as the Leafs slowly found their legs.

"It was pretty tough starting like that. We had a lot of penalties," said Leafs winger Mitch Marner, who finished with a goal and an assist. "It's kind of tough to get your feet under you. The first [game] is always pretty nice to get, especially playing a home opener against another team. Fred was unbelievable in the first period and we did what we needed on the next two."

It was also a nice night for winger Patrick Marleau, who scored two goals in his first game as a Maple Leaf. He had lots of company in the nice-night category, as his centre, Nazem Kadri, had a goal and an assist. Both Auston Matthews and James van Riemsdyk had a goal and two assists. William Nylander scored the other goal.

The first period was one of the strangest 20 minutes of hockey anyone will see. The Leafs managed to take four minor penalties, get outshot 17-10, run afoul of the new emphasis on equipment violations and still take a 3-0 lead to the second period. That took care of the normally intimidating crowd of 15,321, which was not even bothering to drown out the Go Leafs Go chants from the usual gaggle of visitors by the third period.

The Leafs penalty killers were just as sharp as Andersen. They were perfect in fact, going eight- for-eight on the Winnipeg power-play.

"It was kind of a weird game, so many penalties, not so much flow," Matthews said. "Our penalty kill came up huge for us. We scored when it counted."

Andersen was the most obvious reason for the good fortune. He was mesmerizing in the Leafs goal, frustrating the Jets on at least a dozen good scoring chances before the halfway point of the game. Mark Scheifle spoiled Andersen's shutout bid in the third period and Matthieu Perrault also scored.

"It was nice to get a good start," Andersen said. "Of course you want to try give them a chance to bounce back, especially in this building. It's tough to come in here. Once we got that out of the way we did a good job."

Down at the other end of the ice it was a different story. And not a good one for goaltender Steve Mason, who was making his debut as a Jet in front of the home fans. Getting pulled at home in your first game is not one for the scrapbook but Jets head coach Paul Maurice had to use the hook less than two minutes into the third period when Marleau scored his second goal to put the visitors up 5-0.

Before that, Mason let in three on 10 shots in the first period, although his teammates could share some of the blame. Kadri was allowed at least two whacks at a rebound for his goal. But the worst came late in the first period when all the Jets stood still at once and ignored Nylander, who was by himself at the side of the net. When Mason was slow to get over, Nylander had all the time he needed to scoop the puck in the open net.

Maurice laid the blame on his defence and forwards for the first-period collapse, not Mason.

"It doesn't take much for [the Leafs]. They finish the opportunities they have," he said. "First goal, [Mason] got bowled over by our own guy, the next one was a quick little deflection and he's not going to do anything on the third one.

"I think we did it to ourselves. The third goal was a reasonably easy read to make if you're thinking about defending at that point but we were thinking it was 2-0, let's get it back."

One thing the Leafs, or at least Leo Komarov, need to work on are the equipment violations. Komarov was warned about wearing his visor too high in the pre-season and was assessed a penalty for it then but drew yet one more in the first period. It's part of the league's mandate to enforce a stricter standard on some violations, especially where it concerns player safety.

Komarov joked he was "not going to win the Lady Byng" this year but said he thought his visor was low enough on his face to meet the standard. After an adjustment following the penalty it was approved by a referee.

Leafs head coach Mike Babcock didn't want to discuss the matter, saying with a laugh, "You're not supposed to ask me those. What's next?"

Sporting News http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/news/auston-matthews-patrick-laine-toronto-maple-leafs- winnipeg-jets-nhl/1lvck9jpyohbk14zhd9rqlh59k

Matthews tops Laine as Leafs thump Jets in season opener

By Michael Augello Contributor

If head-to-head competition determined the best rookie of 2016-17, Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine would have won the Calder Trophy instead of Auston Matthews.

The second pick in the 2016 NHL draft scored five times in two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, including a hat trick in a 5-4 comeback victory in Winnipeg last October, but finished four goals and five points behind the top overall selection for the NHL rookie scoring lead.

Nearly a year later, the two franchise cornerstones met in the 2017-18 regular season opener and this time around Matthews prevailed, scoring a goal and two assists in a 7-2 Toronto victory over the Jets at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old center assisted on linemate William Nylander’s first period goal and set up veteran Patrick Marleau for a tally in his Leafs debut. Matthews saw just over 15 minutes of ice time, while Laine played over 18 minutes and was held to two shots on goal and an assist, in spite of being the trigger man on eight Winnipeg power plays and seeing 8:17 in time-on-ice with the man advantage.

“Our penalty kill came up huge for us. They’ve obviously got some shooters, some guys who can put the puck in the net and we definitely limited some of their chances and obviously Freddy (Andersen) came up just huge sometimes.” Matthews said following the game. http://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nhl/news/nikolaj-ehlers-super-excited-signing-seven-year- contract-extension-winnipeg-jets/o4d52v2epkym1gw1wfme5v8zn

Nikolaj Ehlers 'super excited' signing seven-year extension with Jets

By Scott Billeck

Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers was handed 42 million reasons to smile on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Danish-born playmaker signed a seven-year, $42 million contract extension with the Jets, which will kick in after this season, his final year on a three-year entry-level contract.

Ehlers's grin was firmly in place from ear-to-ear at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday morning.

“I’m super excited about it,” he said. “I’m staying here for additional seven years is amazing. So, I’m pretty excited. This team, this organization, the city, everything – from Day 1, I was happy here. Everybody helped me getting settled from the start. It’s amazing playing in front of all these fans. Winnipeg as a city is amazing, they love their hockey. So, I could not see any reason to not want to stay here for long term.”

The Jets now have locked up Ehlers, Mark Scheifele and Bryan Little to long-term extensions, though there's still work to be done on the contract front with Patrik Laine, among others, next in line.

“Nikolaj has been an exciting player for us ever since we had the opportunity to draft him,” Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said Wednesday. “We knew we felt we had a special player…. Certainly, his development, and talking to Paul, the development of his 200-foot game, is something that Paul really talks about.

“For us to lock him up long term is a big step for us. Something that we’re very excited that it did come together. Essentially this is the first time we’ve had an extension off of an entry level. They're different, different nuances that come into play. But when it falls into place as quickly as it did, it’s exciting.”

Cheveldayoff alluded to the "hard work" to come in the near future to sign other pieces of his young core.

“There’s Jacob Trouba, there’s Josh Morrissey, Lowry, and I’m sure I’m missing a few… Oh yeah, Laine,” Cheveldayoff said, smiling. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot of work that’s coming up – whether it’s done throughout the season or done traditionally in the summertime. That’s all part of it. The good thing for us now is we can focus on playing hockey. Everyone’s under contract. Everyone’s here.”

Ehlers' playmaking ability has been his strong suit since his rookie season in 2015-16. His defence? Well, that's something he’s had to work on.

“I’ve never really liked playing defensively, but at this level you got to be able to do it,” Ehlers said. “It’s not that I was horrible at it, but I wasn’t the best at it and it’s something I wanted to get better at and it’s something we as a team needed to get better at. I think I’ve taken some good steps, some really good steps over the past two years, and I’m still working on it. It’s going to the right way.”

That maturation for Ehlers has allowed Jets head coach Paul Maurice to play him on the same line with his good friend, the Finnish sniper, Laine.

“His training camp this year was really, really solid in terms of how many times you have to correct him where he is positionally on the ice,” Maurice said. “He’s picking it up, he gets it. He’s heard it enough times now that we stop worrying about it.

“It’s one of the reasons the lines ended up the way that they did. I didn’t love Ehlers and [Patrik Laine] playing together on the wings with either center when it wasn’t going, you had two really, really young guys. Nik’s game meant that I don’t feel I have two young guys on that line even though their age tells me that they are. Nik and Bryan [Little] have a lot of veteran in their game now and Patty clearly, on the right, had a pretty good exhibition. We like it.”

Laine also liked the extension. The pair became good friends once Laine arrived last year as the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, and Laine was just as happy as Ehlers was on Wednesday.

“As Nik’s linemate and good buddy, it’s awesome to see a nice guy like that get rewarded like that,” Laine said. “It’s awesome for me. I’m super happy for him. It’s just nice to see that this organization thinks that and believes that he will be a franchise player for this team. It’s just awesome.”

With Laine a couple years away from a big extension of his own, he said Ehlers will be flipping most of the bills for a little while.

“I told him already that I’m not going to pay any room service bills anymore, that’s for sure,” Laine said. “That’s on him.”

Canadian Press http://www.chrisd.ca/2017/10/04/patrick-marleau-scores-twice-maple-leafs-debut-toronto-routs- jets-7-2/#.WdZOlltSzIU

Patrick Marleau Scores Twice in Maple Leafs Debut, Toronto Routs Jets 7-2

By Judy Owen, The Canadian Press

WINNIPEG – Patrick Marleau’s birth certificate may say he’s 38 years old, but Toronto’s veteran free agent was feeling young and energized on Wednesday.

Marleau scored twice and added an assist in his Maple Leafs debut as Toronto cruised to a 7-2 rout of the Winnipeg Jets in the season opener for both teams.

His first goal began with youngster Mitch Marner passing up to sophomore Auston Matthews, who passed it across to Marleau in the high slot. The veteran kicked the puck up to his skate and went in alone on Steve Mason, dekeing before scoring the 509th goal of his career to make it 4-0 for the Maple Leafs.

“You can see how hungry they are out there, not only in games but in practice,” Marleau said of Matthews and Marner. “They’re striving to get better each and every day and you want to be part of that and you can feed off that for sure.”

Marleau spent the first 19 seasons of his NHL career with the Sharks, signing a three-year contract with Toronto on July 2.

“That was awesome,” Matthews, 20, said of Marleau’s first goal. “Unbelievable pickup by him and the move was even better. Pretty special play by him.

“I’m sure it feels good for him to get the ball rolling on that so we’re all happy for him.”

Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk and William Nylander scored in a three-minute span in the first period for the Leafs (1-0-0). Marner and Matthews each added their first goals of the season. Tyler Bozak, Matthews and Van Riemsdyk each had a pair of assists and Marleau, Marner and Kadri all contributed one.

Frederik Andersen made 35 saves in net for Toronto.

Mark Scheifele nixed the Leafs’ shutout bid at 11:31 of the third period to make it 6-1. Mathieu Perreault also scored for Winnipeg (0-1-0).

The seven goals tied Toronto’s highest output from last season, a 7-1 home win against the New York Islanders on Feb. 14.

Mason was pulled after Marleau’s second goal 36 seconds into the third period, the Jets goalie having allowed five goals on 20 shots. Connor Hellebuyck stopped nine of the 11 shots he faced in relief.

“Five was enough,” Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice said of the timing to pull Mason. “He’s going to have a couple he’d like to have back, but there wasn’t anything you’re looking at saying, ‘My god, how did he miss that?’ ”

The Jets dominated the opening period, getting three early power plays and testing Andersen with at least eight shots with the man advantage, but it was Toronto’s only power play of the period that paid off.

With Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba in the penalty box for hooking, Kadri went in front of Mason and took a shot, got his own rebound and then jammed the puck into the net at 15: 45. Van Riemsdyk added his goal at 17:40 and Nylander used Toronto’s 10th shot of the game to make it 3-0 at 18:23.

“We had a number of power plays and it was doing everything but scoring,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. “And then we took a penalty and kind of let a greasy one in. From there, you blink and it’s 3-0. We weren’t able to dig our way out of it.”

Winnipeg was 0 for 8 on the power play and the Leafs 1 for 2.

“There are going to be a lot of penalties called (this season),” Andersen predicted. “Hopefully, we can figure that out soon. Every player is smart. I think we can adjust and not take as many.”

Winnipeg heads out for a three-game road trip starting in Calgary Saturday. Toronto begins a three-game homestand Saturday against the New York Rangers.

Toronto Star https://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2017/10/04/leafs-stand-and-deliver-in-opener-arthur.html

One game for Leafs, but what a game: Arthur The stars come out for Toronto in season-opening rout of Jets.

By BRUCE ARTHUR

WINNIPEG—Look, it’s just one game. Yes, the Leafs went up 6-0 before the poor Winnipeg Jets got on the board. Yes, Winnipeg came into the NHL season opener with so much hope: they had just re-signed 21-year-old star forward Nikolaj Ehlers to a seven-year, $42-million (U.S.) contract on Wednesday morning, and they talked about how they were on the rise. There were banners outside that said that and everything.

And then the Leafs hung a touchdown on them, to start. Maybe the real trick to not blowing leads is to pile those leads a mile high. It was a weird, disjointed, 7-2 evisceration.

“The first period was not great,” Leafs defenceman Ron Hainsey said. “We were kind of surviving with a little bit of luck and our goaltender. We got better, though.”

True, and true. They took four first-period penalties, and eight on the night. One of them was for Leo Komarov’s errant visor, and he joked, there goes his shot at the Lady Byng. Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen had to be spectacular. And then . . . uh . . .

“After the first period we really got to where we wanted to be,” forward Mitch Marner said.

Yes, you could say that. At times, they were cycling like Harlem Globetrotters. In the first period the tide was turned by Nazem Kadri’s power-play goal, then James van Riemsdyk’s off-the- faceoff goal. Oh, and Auston Matthews.

“Opportunistic, I think,” Andersen said. “We have a lot of skill. No one’s doubting that.”

Matthews opened with four goals in his rookie year, and this time all he did was push the game, pull it, move it where he wanted. Late in the first he circled out of the corner, dragging Dustin Byfuglien in his wake, and the referee had raised his arm for a penalty, and it was like the Jets just watched Matthews so intently that they forgot about William Nylander, all alone. 3-0.

The fourth goal was a circus goal: Connor Carrick had zipped a 70-foot pass to Marner at the Jets blue line, and he slipped it to a flying Matthews, and as two Jets converged on Matthews — again, he pulls the game towards him — he flipped the puck to an open Patrick Marleau for a Zorro-style goal. Marleau scored the fifth one, too. Marner got the sixth, on a power play. After Winnipeg got a power-play goal, Matthews tipped in Toronto’s seventh.

The Leafs won’t get to face Steve Mason every night. (It’s sure something that the Jets could conceivably have a goaltender controversy on day two.) It’s one game. One 7-2, blow-their- doors-off game. Lord, this is a dangerous team.

“These guys can certainly score, our group of forwards,” Hainsey said. Asked if it was similar to Pittsburgh, where he played last year, Hainsey said, “a lot of good players who can score, yep. It’s very similar, where you have three lines on both teams where there’s no break for the other team’s players, as far as scoring chances, and speed, and creativity. So very similar in that regard.”

Asked what it was like to face a team like that, he said, “it’s terrible. It’s awful.”

These are the innocent days, before the big contract negotiations, before envy takes root, before things get too complicated. Right now, the Leafs’ stars are cheap, and if you want a prediction, Matthews will chase Connor McDavid all season, and in the contract realm. That he and McDavid were on a line with Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele at last year’s World Cup of Hockey remains an absurd, glimmering piece of hockey history.

“Oh yeah, you could tell he was a special player,” Scheifele said of Matthews. “And I think the biggest thing that I took away from it was how hard he worked on his game. We’d be out shooting pucks for hours on end, and he was always out there, he was always working on things. That’s the biggest testament to him . . . how hard he wants to be the best. That’s what makes him the player that he is. I like to stay out there for hours on end, and he was always there with me. A pretty special thing to do with his clout and his skill level.

“It’s the same for Connor, it’s the same for (Sidney) Crosby . . . and that’s what makes them the players that they are. That’s what all the best do. That’s what LeBron James does in his sport, that’s what Tom Brady does in his sport, that’s how you become the best in the world. And obviously Auston is someone who wants to be the best.

“I’ve never had so much fun playing hockey in my life. It was some fun hockey to play, to be a part of. It was awesome. It was the battle level of a playoff game, but the skill level of an all-star game.”

The Leafs didn’t quite look like Team North America, but boy, they were fun. Still, everyone needs to be cool, to stay cool. They won’t score seven every night. It’s not going to be this easy, and there’s work left to do.

As Matthews said, “Can’t get too far ahead of yourself, but can’t live in the past, either.” One game, one team with bad goaltending. One game.

Which just means it could be a hell of a thing to watch this team play the other 81, and more.

The Athletic https://theathletic.com/118974/2017/10/05/mirtle-what-we-learned-in-the-maple-leafs-big- blowout-on-opening-night/

Mirtle: What we learned in the Maple Leafs big blowout on opening night

By James Mirtle

It's tempting to look at the score of a game like this and start making some bold proclamations.

No doubt, the Maple Leafs absolutely crushed Winnipeg on the scoreboard, and their offensive gifts were a huge story line in the game. You pound in three goals in the span of about 2.5 minutes in a 0-0 game, and you're probably getting two points in the standings.

This wasn't a good night for Steve Mason in his Jets debut. But on the other side, Frederik Andersen was fabulous for Toronto. You look at his work in the first period alone, and it changed the complexion of this game:

The Leafs allowed 17 shots against in the first period; 10 of them came on the penalty kill. As you can see above, a decent portion of the Jets' 22 Fenwicks (shots plus misses) in that first 20 minutes were from right in tight, too.

Territorially, it felt like Winnipeg controlled the early portion of this game, but that was misleading because of how many power plays there were. The Leafs actually had 55 per cent of the shot attempts at even strength in the first two periods and finished the game at 56.5 per cent possession if you adjusted for score.

Yes, they spent way too much time in the box. And, yes, Mason's poor night swung the game heavily in their favour. But the Leafs played well beyond that.

“Obviously, we can play way better, and we’re going to play way better, but a good start for us,” Mike Babcock said.

Jonas covered off the big night from the offence well in his story here, so I'll skim over some of the highlights and focus on some other interesting things I saw in this game.

What I'm watching for this early in the season is a little different than December or January, as there's a feeling out process for the coach and staff that happens coming out of preseason. Babcock has made it clear he is still formulating what this team will be — lines, defence pairs, scratches — and that evolution is based on what happens in the games.

The PK “We’ve got guys who normally play 10 minutes a night; they played a ton. And guys that play big minutes didn’t get on the ice.” ~ Babcock

The Leafs took eight minor penalties. They killed all eight off, which meant they spent 16 minutes — 27 per cent of the game — down a man.

Last year, they averaged about five minutes a game on the penalty kill, which was about the NHL average.

So it's going to be hard to pull a lot of insight out of ice time doled out tonight.

What we can pull insight out of is what this team looks like shorthanded. That's not a bad thing to get a look at this early given Babcock and the Leafs have made more changes there than in any other situation.

Here's a comparison of who was getting what percentage of the penalty kill ice time last season with what transpired against the Jets:

So the mainstays from last season are Brown, Hyman and Komarov up front and Zaitsev and Rielly on defence.

What's new is big minutes for Hainsey (who played more than 12 minutes shorthanded in Game 1!) and Eric Fehr. Both were on the top penalty kill units with partners (Brown and Zaitsev) who were on second units a year ago.

It also looks like Gardiner and Marner could get a little more time killing penalties, and Marleau and Borgman will fill in some of the blanks as well.

The new-look PK was both aggressive and disjointed to start the game, but I thought they improved as it went on. Hainsey had some bad turnovers. Fehr stood out as being a bit slow to get to his man at the point. But they kept the puck out.

The Leafs were 27th in the NHL in shot attempts allowed per 60 minutes while shorthanded last year, a big red flag that their PK wasn't as sound as their kill rate. They allowed 110 attempts per 60 last season; in Game 1 against the Jets, with this new look, that was up to 116.

Zaitsev and Komarov had the worst rates against, at more than 130 when they were on the ice.

Some of that could simply be a result of fatigue, as killing 16 minutes in penalties in a game is way outside the norm. But this bears watching as Babcock searches for the best fits to play those minutes this season.

The forwards “You can see how hungry the [young Leafs] are out there. Not only in games but in practice. They’re striving to get better each and every day. You want to be part of that and you can feed off that for sure.” ~ Marleau

You couldn't see it on the scoresheet, but Brown had a great game. He was all over the ice, relentlessly pursuing the puck, and it showed in his 63 per cent score adjusted possession at even strength.

Brown actually led all Leafs forwards in ice time on the night, too.

A lot has been made of Brown being the odd-man out given he's on the fourth line with Martin and Fehr, but it helps provide the Leafs with a real boost down the lineup at 5-on-5. You could probably count on one hand the number of times the fourth line was Toronto's top possession line last season.

Against the Jets, Martin-Fehr-Brown was the top possession line — albeit in only about eight minutes together.

The other forwards that really stood out at even strength were Kadri and Marleau. Marleau's hands and ability to convert when he's got the puck in tight have been immediately obvious — you can see why he was a great fit with Joe Thornton, Logan Couture and the other talented passers in San Jose.

Marleau's shot might not be as deadly as it was four or five years ago, but it's still got some nice pep to it.

One former Leafs player mentioned to me the other day that he didn't see Kadri as a great fit with Marleau given he's never been that kind of setup man — the guy to grab the puck in the corner, map out the entire offensive zone in his head and turn it into an easy goal for a teammate.

But I thought they were pretty good together in Game 1.

All the penalties meant there were some brief looks at cheat code lines like Marleau-Matthews- Marner (which resulted in one goal) that might give Babcock some ideas for later in the year, if the goals dry up.

Which feels unlikely…

The blue line One of the big questions on D this season is who gets the tough matchups? Gardiner-Zaitsev or Rielly-Hainsey?

This game made it hard to tell. They were on the road, for one, so Paul Maurice got to pick the matches. And the lines were so disjointed from all the PKs that Babcock was more worried about getting fresh bodies than necessarily the right ones on every shift.

For what it's worth, Patrik Laine mostly faced Rielly-Hainsey, who were on the ice often with the Kadri line, which was the shutdown trio all of last season. Blake Wheeler and his linemates got the Gardiner-Zaitsev treatment.

The pair that stood out to me though was actually Borgman-Carrick. Babcock threw them easy minutes in terms of opposition and zone starts, but they controlled the ice in them. Borgman still has a ton to learn, and needs to be a bit less impulsive, but his skating is so strong that it gives the Leafs that dynamic on all three pairings now.

That potential combination of the fourth line and the third defence pair being better at dominating in a sheltered role could be one tangible area of improvement over a year ago.

What else? The Leafs' firepower is… unreal. Toronto was fifth in scoring with 3.05 goals per game a year ago; they could be headed far higher than that if this game was any indication. They just have so many forwards that are going to be a handful for anything but the deepest teams.

If the offence continues to look like that and Andersen throws up a .946 save percentage frequently, this team is going to win a ton of games. The difference between being a 98-point team and a 108-point team, however, is going to be in a lot of the other details — details that weren't always there against the Jets.

The Leafs weren't a particularly disciplined team a year ago. They struggled defensively — and especially when it came to defending leads. They're not going to put up seven every night, so it's in the closer games we'll get a better look at how far they've come on that front.

But these early returns are pretty impressive. They look like they've improved — even in areas they probably didn't need to.

NHL.com https://www.nhl.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-winnipeg-jets-nhl-game-recap/c-291584890

Maple Leafs score seven in win against Jets in season opener Marleau has two goals in debut, Matthews gets three points by Scott Billeck / NHL.com Correspondent

WINNIPEG -- Patrick Marleau scored two goals in his debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 7- 2 win against the Winnipeg Jets in the season opener at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday.

Marleau, who spent the past 19 seasons with the San Jose Sharks before signing with the Maple Leafs on July 2, scored his 509th and 510th NHL goals.

"Great play by [Auston Matthews] getting it over to me and then kind of kicked it up to my skate and was able to deke around [Jets goalie Steve Mason]," Marleau said of his first goal.

Nazem Kadri, William Nylander and Mitch Marner also scored, and Matthews and James van Riemsdyk each had one goal and two assists for Toronto. Frederik Andersen made 35 saves, 17 in the first period.

Mark Scheifele and Mathieu Perreault scored for the Jets.

Mason allowed five goals on 20 shots and was pulled for Connor Hellebuyck 36 seconds into the third period. Hellebuyck made nine saves.

Toronto killed all eight of Winnipeg's power plays. The Jets scored 13 of their 17 preseason goals with the man-advantage.

"Our penalty kill came up huge for us and we scored when it counted," Matthews said. "They've obviously got some shooters, some guys that can put the puck in the net, and we definitely limited some of their chances. Obviously, Freddie came up just huge sometimes. That's what you need, especially in a game like this. We know they're calling it tight so we've got to be better in that area."

The Maple Leafs scored three times in a span of 2:38 in the first period.

Kadri made it 1-0 at 15:45 on the power play. Van Riemsdyk was unsuccessful on two quick shots on goal before Kadri scored off a rebound.

Van Riemsdyk made it 2-0 at 17:40 followed by Nylander, who scored 43 seconds later to make it 3-0.

"You blink and it's 3-0," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "We just weren't able to dig our way out of it."

Marleau scored at 8:32 of the second to make it 4-0.

"You can see how hungry they are out there, not only in games but in practice," Marleau said of Matthews and Marner, who assisted on his first goal. "They're striving to get better each and every day and you want to be part of that and you can feed off that for sure."

Marleau scored his second of the game 36 seconds into the third, his wrist shot beating Mason from the slot.

Marner made it 6-0 on the power play at 8:07.

"We did it to ourselves on some of them," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "The third goal is a reasonably easy read to make if you're thinking about defending at that point. But we're thinking about let's get it back as fast as we can, and that is a bit of a holdover concept. And that's how you get in trouble. Relax, patience. But we blew the zone on that and got in real trouble with it."

Scheifele scored at 11:31 to make it 6-1 but Matthews scored 26 seconds later to make it 7-1.

Perreault made it 7-2 at 12:57.

"There's a lot of things that we did right tonight, and then you can see when you don't do it right you end up giving up a couple goals so it's a good reminder," Marleau said.

Goal of the game Matthews drew two defenders to the right corner, allowing a clear path to the net. Matthews passed the puck out to Marleau and his deke beat Mason.

Save of the game Andersen got his right pad on a wrist shot by Shawn Matthias on a breakaway with the Maple Leafs leading 3-0 early in the second period.

Highlight of the game Patrik Laine took the puck at Toronto's blue line and carried it down low, backhanding a cross- ice pass through the crease to Scheifele, who scored on a one-timer at the side of the net.

They said it "We took so many penalties. The goalie had to be so good early. You know how hockey is, if they score on one of those early, and they get confidence, who knows, the game could be different, especially in their building. We were able to make a few adjustments on our penalty kill and we scored timely goals. You don't have to worry about scoring goals when you score right away." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock

"I think we came out the way we wanted to. We played hard, we played fast, put it to the net, got a lot of shots through. I think they got a couple lucky bounces. I don't know what happened." -- Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers

What's next Maple Leafs: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, MSG, NHL.TV) Jets: At the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; SN1, CITY, NHL.TV) https://www.nhl.com/news/nikolaj-ehlers-agrees-to-seven-year-contract-with-winnipeg/c- 291558810

Ehlers agrees to seven-year, $42 million contract with Jets Forward had 64 points in 82 games last season by Scott Billeck / NHL.com Correspondent

WINNIPEG -- Forward Nikolaj Ehlers showed he was more than happy to commit his long-term future to the Winnipeg Jets by agreeing to terms on a seven-year, $42 million contract on Wednesday.

The contract has an average annual value of $6 million and takes effect next season.

Ehlers, 21, would have been a restricted free agent on July 1.

"This team, this organization, the city, everything," Ehlers said, citing the reasons for his decision, after the Jets morning skate at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday prior to their season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV). "From day one, I was happy here. Everybody helped me getting settled from the start. It's amazing playing in front of all these fans. Winnipeg as a city is amazing, they love their hockey. So, I could not see any reason to not want to stay here for the long term."

Chosen by the Jets with the No. 9 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Ehlers had 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 82 games last season, his second in the League. He also had four assists in seven games playing for Denmark at the 2017 IIHF World Championship.

Ehlers, who has 102 points (40 goals, 62 assists) in 154 regular-season games, has made big strides since the end of last season, Jets coach Paul Maurice said.

"His training camp this year was really, really solid in terms of how many times you have to correct him where he is positionally on the ice," Maurice said. "He's picking it up, he gets it. He's heard it enough times now that we stop worrying about it."

The evolution and maturity of Ehlers' defensive game made Maurice comfortable with playing Ehlers on a line with center Bryan Little and right wing Patrik Laine, 19.

"It's one of the reasons the lines ended up the way that they did," Maurice said. "I didn't love Ehlers and [Laine] playing together on the wings with either center when it wasn't going, you had two really, really young guys.

"Nik's game meant that I don't feel I have two young guys on that line, even though their age tells me that they are. Nik and Bryan have a lot of veteran in their game now and Patty clearly, on the right, had a pretty good exhibition. We like it."

For Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, signing Ehlers means locking up another piece of Winnipeg's young core for years to come.

"Nikolaj has been an exciting player for us ever since we had the opportunity to draft him," Cheveldayoff said. "We knew we felt we had a special player. Certainly, his development and talking to Paul, the development of his 200-foot game is something that Paul really talks about.

"For us to lock him up long term is a big step for us, something that we're very excited that it did come together. Essentially this is the first time we've had an extension off of an entry-level [contract]. … But when it falls into place as quickly as it did, it's exciting."

Laine, who is close with Ehlers, was happy to hear the news.

"As Nik's linemate and good buddy, it's awesome to see a nice guy like that get rewarded like that," Laine said. "It's awesome for me. I'm super happy for him. It's just nice to see that this organization thinks that and believes that he will be a franchise player for this team. It's just awesome."

Laine also said Ehlers is going to be responsible for most of the bills while the Jets are on the road.

"I told him already that I'm not going to pay any room service bills anymore, that's for sure," Laine said. "That's on him."

NBC Sports http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2017/10/04/a-memorable-debut-for-marleau-a-forgettable-debut-for- mason/

A memorable debut for Marleau, a forgettable debut for Mason

By Cam Tucker

Patrick Marleau‘s first regular season game with the Toronto Maple Leafs could not have gone any better for him.

The 38-year-old forward, who had spent his entire NHL career with the San Jose Sharks before signing in Toronto this summer, scored twice and had five shots on goal, helping the Maple Leafs to 7-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets actually had a decent start to this game — except it didn’t show on the score board.

Winnipeg held a territorial advantage thanks to three consecutive power plays, but couldn’t finish their chances and it quickly went off the rails for the home team.

The Maple Leafs made them pay with three goals late in the first period. Marleau struck in the second period, taking a puck off his skate and making a move to the backhand on Steve Mason, and he struck again in the third period, too.

With the pressure of a three-year, $18.75 million contract, it’s hard to envision a better start to Marleau’s time in Toronto.

The same cannot be said for Mason, who was making his regular season debut for the Jets.

Signed to a two-year, $8.2 million deal this summer, Mason gave up five goals on 20 shots and was pulled early in the third period, giving way to Connor Hellebuyck.

Toronto, with its youth and talent, has a solid offensive attack and it showed once the Maple Leafs were able to get through their early penalty trouble, thanks largely to the performance of goalie Frederik Andersen. The Jets ended the night 0-for-8 on the power play.

While the Maple Leafs are likely going to score plenty of goals this year, that’s not the start Mason would’ve been hoping for with his new team. Nazem Kadri started the onslaught and less than three minutes later, Toronto had a three-goal lead going into the intermission.

The Hockey News http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/jets-gm-cheveldayoff-strikes-again-signs-ehlers-to- remarkably-team-friendly-deal

JETS GM CHEVELDAYOFF STRIKES AGAIN, SIGNS EHLERS TO REMARKABLY TEAM-FRIENDLY DEAL

By Jared Clinton

Nikolaj Ehlers had his breakout season and turned heads in Winnipeg, but amidst high-priced second contracts for some notable names, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff managed to get the young star signed to a long-term deal that's great for the team today as well as the future.

Despite all the optimism in Winnipeg as the Jets prepared for opening night, there was cause for at least some concern about the future. Not when it came to the on-ice product, mind you, but with regard to the team’s salary structure. One can understand why.

With contracts for Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and now Jack Eichel drastically changing the parameters when it comes to a player’s second contract, it looked as though Winnipeg’s youth movement could prove incredibly costly rendering it remarkably difficult to keep intact. Nine players were set for restricted free agency next season, many of whom were roster regulars for the duration of 2016-17 and some who were legitimate top-unit talents in Winnipeg. Yet, to suggest the Jets would find themselves in some sort of financial peril in the next few seasons would be to overlook the fact that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has been nothing but brilliant when it comes to locking up his homegrown talent.

Case in point? On Wednesday, mere hours before the Jets kick off their campaign against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg locked up RFA-to-be Nikolaj Ehlers to a seven-year, $42-million contract. To call that anything other than a resounding win for the Jets — and their salary cap situation — would be downright foolish.

Over the past two seasons, and especially during the 2016-17 campaign, Ehlers has proven himself to be a ready-made NHL scorer and his untapped potential is enough for Jets fans to salivate over. As a rookie, he posted 15 goals and 38 points, but he blew away all expectations in 2016-17, upping his goal total to 25 and producing 64 points while suiting up in all 82 games for the Jets. He was a second-line winger, a power play producer and his combination of speed and skill made him a threat every time he touched the ice. The expectations for Ehlers this season are more of the same and it is no doubt safe to suggest that he’s in for a campaign that sees him elevate his totals even further.

That alone makes the fact that Ehlers is now signed to a long-term deal that pays him $6 million annually incredible. It gets even more impressive when you consider some comparable contracts.

This summer, Jonathan Drouin, Bo Horvat and David Pastrnak all signed deals that carried a cap hit somewhere in the $5.5-million to $6.7-million range, and Ehlers was impressively productive when compared to those players. In terms of 5-on-5 production, Ehlers had the highest points per 60 minutes (2.29), the second-best primary points per 60 minutes (1.72) behind only Pastrnak (1.74) and scored more total points at five-a-side than the three others, putting up 44 for the Jets last season.

In fact, and maybe even more notably, Ehlers was actually a more impactful 5-on-5 player than Draisaitl, who scored an eight-year, $68-million deal from the Edmonton Oilers this summer. While Draisaitl produced a healthy 2.05 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, it was less than Ehlers’ mark. Draisaitl’s mark of 1.49 primary points per 60 also paled in comparison to Ehlers' impressive production, as noted above. The kicker there, too, is that while Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine are no slouches, Ehlers wasn’t playing alongside McDavid all season. Draisaitl, for the most part, was.

That said, if we’re going to dive into numbers, it’s worth noting that Ehlers was more middle of the pack when it came to all-situations totals. Among the aforementioned group of five, Ehlers finished third in points, points per 60 and primary points per 60, while Pastrnak and Draisaitl were 1-2 in each respective category. Even still, that Ehlers is earning a salary closer to that of Drouin and Horvat than he is either Pastrnak or Draisaitl is almost incredible.

That brings us back to Cheveldayoff, who has pulled off something of a masterstroke. It’s not the first time he’s done this, either, and you need look no further than the eight-year, $49-million deal Scheifele was awarded ahead of the 2016-17 season. Over the back half of the 2015-16 season, leading into restricted free agency, Scheifele was a better than point-per-game player, a bona fide star down the middle for the Jets, yet he walked away with a long-term extension that paid him $6.125 million per season. Already, Scheifele has made his deal look like a steal — and Cheveldayoff like a genius — by posting 32 goals and 82 points in 79 games for Winnipeg last season.

And while some wondered aloud why Cheveldayoff, who hasn’t been able to build a team capable of winning one playoff game since the Jets arrived in Manitoba, was handed an extension earlier this off-season, it’s very evident it’s because of signings like those of Scheifele and Ehlers. Cheveldayoff has shown an ability to sign young talent to good value contracts, ones that will allow a team with high hopes to grow together and stay together for years into the future.

So, while the Jets are staring down a summer in which Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey, Adam Lowry, Joel Armia, Marko Dano, Nic Petan and Brandon Tanev, and several others are due new deals, there may be no reason for concern at all. Sure, signing Ehlers is only one part of a larger puzzle, one that’s going to include a new deal for Laine in the near future, but Cheveldayoff has shown that he’s the right man for the job when it comes to keeping the band together in Winnipeg and doing so at a price that works for the Jets.

Sportsnet.ca http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-prefer-dream-opener-vs-jets-last-seasons- fairytale/

Maple Leafs prefer ‘dream’ opener vs. Jets to last season’s ‘fairytale’

By Chris Johnston

WINNIPEG – Auston Matthews had earlier described his four-goal debut as a “fairytale” and yet still found a little more to like about the way his second season started with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“This feels a lot better,” Matthews said after Wednesday’s 7-2 dismantling of the Winnipeg Jets.

It was a night that immediately washed away a training camp’s worth of optimism in one city while prolonging the blissful excitement in the other. That, too, will be chipped away over the grind of 82 games in 186 days, but the Leafs bought everyone a little more time to dream.

They also produced some compelling evidence that at least one prevailing theory about their makeup may last through the winter. This group seems capable of outscoring its problems.

I mean they took the first three penalties of the game and surrendered 15 shots over 13 minutes. Frederik Andersen possesses a heart surgeon’s composure, but even he reported dealing with a quickened pulse after turning back a Patrik Laine one-timer and out-waiting a Jacob Trouba surge across the crease.

And, yet, when the horn sounded on the intermission Toronto was ahead 3-0. Calm was quickly restored after some early chaos on the visitor’s bench.

The Leafs were aided by a shaky debut for Jets goalie Steve Mason, but they also made their own luck. There was a nifty Mitch Marner-Tyler Bozak-James van Riemsdyk passing sequence before Nazem Kadri opened the scoring on a power play.

William Nylander had all day and an open net after Matthews swooped across the top of the zone with Dustin Byfuglien shadowing him and crossed up the defenders by sliding the puck to Jake Gardiner, who promptly threaded it through.

There was a gravitational pull towards Matthews early in the second period when both Byfuglien and Trouba shaded to his side of the ice. His response? A backhand flip pass to send Patrick Marleau in alone for the first of his two goals in blue and white after scoring 508 for San Jose.

A.M. to P.M.

“That was awesome,” said Matthews. “Unbelievable pick up by him and the move was even better. Pretty special play.”

Between the disjointed rhythm created by penalties, between all of the fashion crimes – Leo Komarov’s rare “illegal equipment” penalty for wearing his visor too high; warnings to Eric Fehr and Connor Brown for having their sweaters tucked in; Andersen being ordered to cover the knob of his stick in white tape – the Leafs looked like a group that can globe trot.

Three lines that can skate and score and carry stretches of play at 5-on-5. In the words of new defenceman Ron Hainsey, a team that is “awful” to play against and bears some resemblance to the Pittsburgh Penguins crew he won a Stanley Cup with in June.

“A lot of good players who can score, yup,” said Hainsey. “It’s very similar (to Pittsburgh) where you have three lines on both teams that you’re like – there’s no break for the other teams’ players as far as scoring chances and speed and creativity. Very similar in that regard.”

“You can see how hungry they are out there,” Marleau said of his young teammates. “Not only in games but in practice. They’re striving to get better each and every day and you want to be part of that.”

Matthews, Nylander and Mitch Marner all scored in the same game for the third time in their young careers – well, fourth, if you’re willing to include pre-season action.

In this opener, the Leafs managed to silence the Winnipeg crowd – no small feat. The locals didn’t even find a chance to dust off the “Laine’s better!” chant from a year ago.

With Laine and Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers and Blake Wheeler, the Jets should do their fare share of scoring as well this season. There’s a good reason for all of the optimism coursing across the country.

However, in the long run, it will arguably be the play at the other end of the ice that defines the season in both Toronto and Winnipeg.

“Their offensive numbers are really, really good,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “Our offensive zone time and numbers are really good. So both teams want to play in the other team’s end because we’re really good at it. Getting the puck there and controlling the puck to get it there is going to be all based on how well you play defensively and how well you battle.

“Neither one of our defensive metrics are great, but they’re both going to get better this year.”

It’s still early. Now the work gets done.

With the season finally underway, there need not be so much talk about expectations and sophomore jinxes – as if such a thing truly exists.

“I just think when you do your work in the off-season, and you get prepared, you don’t tend to have any sophomore jinx,” said Babcock. “If you feel good about yourself and you don’t work, you come back and it doesn’t go as good. You know, I’m not as concerned about that as some might be.

“I just think the guys are good players and they worked hard this summer and so it’ll show this winter.”

Averaging north of three goals a night in today’s NHL puts you in elite company and Toronto should be there again for a second straight year.

They put seven in on opening night. Might as well try to keep up that 1980s-esque pace as long as possible.

“We hope to,” said Andersen. “You can only dream, right?”

At this point, it’s only natural. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/marleau-scores-twice-maple-leafs-crush-jets-season- opener/ (VIDEO LINK)

MARLEAU SCORES TWICE AS MAPLE LEAFS CRUSH JETS IN SEASON OPENER

Patrick Marleau scored twice in his debut for the Maple Leafs as they chased Steve Mason from the net and beat the Jets 7-2 to kick off the season.

TSN.ca http://www.tsn.ca/marleau-scores-twice-in-toronto-debut-as-leafs-rout-jets-1.876049

Marleau scores twice in Toronto debut as Leafs rout Jets

By Kristen Shilton

WINNIPEG – In Patrick Marleau’s first game as a Toronto Maple Leaf, the very first goal he scored was assisted by two players (Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner) who were born the same year (1997) he made his league debut.

Prior to Wednesday night, Marleau’s name had appeared on the scoresheet for just one NHL team – the San Jose Sharks – over nearly two decades in the league.

It may not have been as empathic an entrance as Matthews’ four-goal NHL debut a year ago, but at age 38, Marleau’s two-goal night was as near to a fairytale beginning as he could have hoped.

“Pretty darn close [to perfect],” Marleau said following the Leafs’ 7-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. “That’s the way you want to see it go.”

The Leafs had already overcome a rocky opening 15 minutes, in which they took three penalties and established no rhythm or flow, by the time Marleau lit the lamp for the first time. Toronto was ahead 3-0 in the second period when the stars aligned on a post-penalty kill shift to bring the best of the Leafs’ relentless youth and veteran guard together.

Marner was headed to the bench for a change when he saw an opening to catch the Jets in a change of their own. He put on the brakes on and got the puck to Matthews who was driving into a 2-on-1 with Marleau to his left. Matthews flipped the disc to Marleau and let him do the rest.

“That was awesome,” Matthews said of watching Marleau in action. “An unbelievable pick up by him [with the puck in his skates] and the move [on the goalie] was even better, a pretty special play by him. I’m sure it feels good for him to get the ball rolling and we’re all happy for him.”

With Toronto up 4-0, Marleau needed just 36 seconds in the third period to score again, this time with his regular linemates Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov. It was just one week ago that Leafs head coach Mike Babcock was calling out that line for not gelling as quickly as he’d expected, telling reporters, “that group has got to better…way better, way quicker, a lot more diligent. They’ve got to upgrade. That group has to find some chemistry and get going.”

With a little more time, that trio is showing signs of finding their way.

“I think instead of talking about it for three weeks…suddenly your linemates aren’t good, and this isn’t good,” Babcock said after Wednesday’s win. “Let’s just play hockey now. So I thought it was a positive night that way.”

It was Babcock who mentioned the Leafs’ “fountain of youth” that Marleau could use to his advantage when he signed as a free agent in July. So far, channeling the kids’ seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm is exactly what Marleau’s tried to do. And he wasn’t alone in racking up the points Wednesday, either. Matthews finished with one goal (off an incredible deflection out of the air and between Connor Hellebuyck’s legs) and two assists, while Marner tallied a goal and an assist.

“You can see how hungry they are out there, not just in games but in practice,” Marleau said. “They’re striving to get better each and every day and you want to be part of that and you can feed off that for sure.”

There’s a mutual admiration from the youngsters as well, who haven’t shied away from picking Marleau’s brain and using his experience to their advantage. Marner’s been trying to shake his pass-first tendencies and work more on his shot to “keep defences honest.” Marleau has been offering his services to help the 20-year-old grow in that area.

“He’s been great with me here, really good guy to talk to,” Marner said. “He’s been a great leader for me and all the young guys, been a big role model to me. On the ice I’ve been talking to him about where I want to shoot the puck from more often and as soon as I told him that, the last couple practices we’ve been on together working on that. That’s a thing I’m going to learn off of and hopefully something I’ll do [for someone else] when I’m that age.”

TAKEAWAYS Great Dane As good as Wednesday’s win looked for the Leafs on paper, the game could have rapidly devolved against them in the first 15 minutes. Toronto took three penalties in 11:21, two for high-sticking and one because of Leo Komarov’s “illegal equipment,” keeping their best players on the bench instead of the ice. Enter Frederik Andersen, who put the ghosts of his own bad start to the season a year ago to rest for good with a stellar 35-save performance.

The Jets had outshot the Leafs 15-5 by midway through the first period, and if even one shot had gone in, Toronto’s confidence could have been lost along with the game. Andersen held the Jets at bay until midway through the third frame when his teammates got sloppy in the defensive zone and Mark Scheifele finally found a way through. But letting in two goals with the win essentially secured was hardly enough to diminish Andersen’s night, even if it did rob him of being the first Leafs goalie to open the season with a road shutout since Ed Belfour in 2002.

Special teams siege If there’s one thing Wednesday’s game lacked it was any extended flow for either team. There were 12 penalties called between the sides before the halfway point of the third period, eight against the Leafs and four against the Jets. In the end, Toronto capitalized on two of their four opportunities, while Winnipeg went 0-for-8, which was one of the primary differences in how the game unfolded. The Jets fired 18 shots at Andersen with the extra man and none found the back of the net, compared to two of Toronto’s 11 shots getting past Steve Mason. Even though they ultimately won the special teams battle, the early test of their penalty kill wasn’t ideal for the Leafs.

“It was pretty slow [to start],” said Matthews. “You have a shift, get out there again, get things going, control the puck and then you’re sitting on the bench again for two minutes. We can take care of that as a team, just being more disciplined.”

In his first game with the Leafs, Ron Hainsey played in excess of 12 minutes on the penalty kill.

Goals on goals Wednesday’s game was just the seventh time in the Leafs’ 101-year history they’ve scored seven goals in their season opener, and the first time since 1987-88. The Leafs responded to the early penalty adversity by scoring three goals in just 2:22, starting with Kadri on the power play and followed up by James van Riemsdyk and William Nylander in rapid succession. Asked whether Toronto can maintain that output every game, Andersen could only smile and say, “we hope to. You can only dream, right?” http://www.tsn.ca/video/button-jets-loss-isn-t-all-on-mason~1224756 (VIDEO LINK)

Button: Jets' loss isn't all on Mason

Craig Button joins SportsCentre to explain why the Jets' defence didn't do much to help Steve Mason in his debut and also touches on Patrick Marleau's two-goal performance. http://www.tsn.ca/video/jets-had-no-answer-for-leafs-speed-and-skill~1224908 (VIDEO LINK)

Jets had no answer for Leafs' speed and skill

With the Maple Leafs on the penalty kill for much of the first period, they were able to unleash their offence late in the frame and it paid off with a trio of goals. Craig Button breaks down their attack and how they were able to get behind the Jets' defence. http://www.tsn.ca/video/dreger-it-was-a-collective-meltdown-from-the-jets~1224754 (VIDEO LINK)

Dreger: 'It was a collective meltdown from the Jets'

Steve Mason allowed three goals on 10 shots and was eventually pulled in his Jets debut. Darren Dreger and Mark Masters discuss Winnipeg's situation in goal and also touch on the eight penalties taken by the Maple Leafs.

TSN 1290 (AUDIO LINKS) http://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-1290/dreger-ehlers-an-exceptional-deal-for-winnipeg-1.875763

Dreger: Ehlers an exceptional deal for Winnipeg

TSN Hockey insider Darren Dreger joins the Afternoon Ride to discuss the extensions signed by Jack Eichel and Nikolaj Ehlers, two players still in their entry-level contracts. http://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-1290/morrissey-disappointing-opening-night-for-jets-1.876479

Morrissey: Disappointing opening night for Jets

Winnipeg Jets d-man Josh Morrissey joined the Big Show following the club's 7-2 blowout loss to the Maple Leafs to break down what went wrong and the team's defensive zone structure. http://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-1290/wiebe-ehlers-extension-an-erudite-move-for-the-jets- 1.875753

Wiebe: Ehlers extension an erudite move for the Jets

Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun joins the Afternoon Ride to discuss the Nikolaj Ehlers contract extension with the Winnipeg Jets, and previews the Jets home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs. http://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-1290/cerny-jets-have-a-nice-core-moving-forward-1.875654

Cerny: Jets have a nice core moving forward

Jim Cerny of The Sporting News previews the upcoming NHL season with Kevin Olszewski. They discuss Jack Eichel's new contract, Nikolaj Ehlers extension, his expectations for the Winnipeg Jets and why Patrik Laine is his prediction as the Rocket Richard Trophy winner. www.winnipegjets.com https://www.nhl.com/jets/news/jets-drop-regular-season-opener-to-maple-leafs/c-291588890

Jets drop regular season opener to Maple Leafs Scheifele, Perreault score for Winnipeg in the loss by Mitchell Clinton @MitchellClinton / WinnipegJets.com

WINNIPEG - It wasn't the night the Winnipeg Jets were looking for.

After scoring 13 power play goals in seven preseason games, the Jets couldn't light the lamp on three early opportunities on the man advantage against the Toronto Maple Leafs, ultimately falling by a score of 7-2 in front of a sold out Bell MTS Place.

Patrick Marleau scored twice for Toronto, with Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, William Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner added singles.

Mark Scheifele and Mathieu Perreault scored for the Jets in the loss.

"It doesn't take much for them. They finish on the opportunities they have. They're a good, sharp offensive team. They got the pucks to the net real quick," head coach Paul Maurice said postgame. "Their goalie was good. He made some real good saves. I'm not saying that's the game. He handled his rebounds especially well I thought."

The Jets would finish 0-for-8 on the power play on the night, and captain Blake Wheeler said the game changed quickly after Toronto's opening goal, the first of three in a 2:38 span.

"We had a number of power plays, and it was doing everything but scoring. Then we took a penalty and let a greasy one in. From there, you blink and it's 3-0," said Wheeler. "We just weren't able to dig our way out of it.

"It's tough to on the spot regroup and try to get your game going again. It's too bad we couldn't find a way to try to salvage one somewhere within the next 10 minutes and get some momentum going our way."

That first goal came with Jacob Trouba off for hooking. Kadri banged in a loose puck after Steve Mason turned away two chances from James van Riemsdyk in tight.

Less than two minutes later, Tyler Bozak won an offensive zone face-off to van Riemsdyk, who's wrist shot deflected off the stick of Josh Morrissey at the hashmarks, and beat Mason on the stick side.

Nylander rounded out the scoring in the opening frame. With a delayed penalty coming to Winnipeg, Auston Matthews circled the Jets zone and left a drop pass at the point for Jake Gardiner, who found Nylander by himself back door for the tap-in.

"It definitely wasn't what we were looking for. It just wasn't good enough," Mason said.

"At the end of the day, it's my job to be sharper than that. … It just wasn't a good game for myself."

Marleau - playing in his first game with Toronto after signing July 2 - made it 4-0 when Matthews sent a backhand saucer pass over the stick of Trouba to Marleau, who broke in alone, faked forehand and beat Mason on the backhand to make it 4-0.

Marleau would score his second of the night 36 seconds into the third, ripping a pass from forechecking Kadri past Mason from the top of the circle.

That was the end of the night for Mason, who gave way for Connor Hellebuyck after stopping 15 of 20 shots.

"Five was enough. He's going to have a couple he's going to want to have back," said Maurice. "The first goal, he got bowled over by our own guy, he's got no chance on that. The next one is a real quick deflection, and he's not going to do anything with the third one."

After Marner made it 6-0, Scheifele was the benefactor of a slick goal line backhand saucer pass from Patrik Laine. Scheifele one-timed the feed from the bottom of the circle for his first of the season.

Perreault and Matthews would score late to bring the final score to 7-2. Wheeler says it's important the team leaves this result behind when they reconvene at Bell MTS Iceplex for practice tomorrow, even if it may be difficult.

"Probably if you're in the season a little bit, you can throw this one in the trash and move on. The fact it's the first game, it's not obviously the way you want to start, especially at home," said Wheeler. "Hopefully it's a good shock to the system and we can get back at it tomorrow." https://www.nhl.com/jets/news/mason-puts-opening-night-loss-behind-him/c-291587660

Mason puts opening-night loss behind him by Ryan Dittrick @ryandittrick / WinnipegJets.com

Winnipeg's newest netminder had just made a gargantuan save off Patrick Marleau to keep the contest even after William Nylander and the visiting Maple Leafs turned back on a 2-on-1 break.

The hometown crowd of more than 15,000 erupted in cheers and The Heavy's 'How You Like Me Now?' blared over the speakers, all to the beat of his 19 teammates banging the boards in a show of appreciation.

Then, less than 10 minutes later and on Toronto's third shot of the new season, Nazem Kadri found a loose puck at the side of the net and buried the icebreaker on the power play, mere seconds after Mason made two big saves on James van Riemsdyk.

Three of the Leafs' next 10 shots found the twine, too, and the rout was on despite the Jets heavily outshooting their Canadian counterparts in the opening 30 minutes.

"It definitely wasn't what we were looking for. It just wasn't good enough," Jets goalie Steve Mason said.

"At the end of the day, it's my job to be sharper than that. … It just wasn't a good game for myself."

Marleau scored his second of the night just 36 seconds into the third period, and Mason's night came to an early end after allowing five goals on 20 goals.

Head Coach Paul Maurice wasn't pinning any of them on his goaltender, saying his debut was no rougher than anyone else's in a 7-2 final.

"He's going to have a couple he'd like to have back, but there wasn't anything you're looking at saying, 'My God, how did he miss that?'" Maurice said. "The first goal, he got bowled over by our own guy; he's got no chance on that. The next one was a real quick little deflection, and he's not going to do anything with the third one."

Patrik Laine, who had an assist on Mark Scheifele's first of the season, was disappointed in how the team left Mason to fend for himself.

"It's frustrating because we practiced our defensive play so much during training camp, and then in the first regular-season game the opponent scores seven goals. It wasn't the ideal start, but we'll just try to move forward."

As for Mason, he has full confidence in his ability to bounce back.

He'll look for redemption when the Jets begin a three-game road trip on Saturday in Calgary.

"It's a bad game. It happens. It sucks when it does happen, but you put it behind you and get out of it." https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/postgame--maple-leafs-7-jets-2/t-277437442/c-53159503

POSTGAME | Maple Leafs 7 - Jets 2

JetsTV's Jamie Thomas wraps up the first game of the Winnipeg Jets' regular season https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/postgame--patrik-laine/t-277437442/c-53158003

POSTGAME | Patrik Laine

Patrik Laine on his team's effort following their 7-2 loss to the Maple Leafs https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/postgame--steve-mason/t-277437442/c-53157403

POSTGAME | Steve Mason

Goaltender Steve Mason spoke to the media following tonight's loss to Toronto https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/postgame--blake-wheeler/t-277437442/c-53157603

POSTGAME | Blake Wheeler

Jets captain Blake Wheeler on his team's play following tonight's game https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/postgame--mathieu-perreault/t-277437442/c-53157803

POSTGAME | Mathieu Perreault

Mathieu Perreault on his team's performance vs. Toronto https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/postgame--nikolaj-ehlers/t-277437442/c-53158203

POSTGAME | Nikolaj Ehlers

Forward Nikolaj Ehlers spoke to the media after tonight's 7-2 loss https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/postgame--paul-maurice/t-277437442/c-53158303

POSTGAME | Paul Maurice

Head Coach Paul Maurice shares his thought following game one of the regular season