PENTICTON, BC – The Oilers Rookies concluded their Young Stars Classic schedule on Monday morning with a 2-0 shutout defeat to the Jets Rookies at South Okanagan Events Centre, finishing the tournament 0-3 after goaltender Brett Brochu made 32 saves on 34 shots.

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

Centre Carl Berglund left the game in the first period following a high hit delivered by Mark Liwiski, leading to defenceman Nate Corbett dropping the gloves with the Jets’ forward a few shifts later for his third scrap of the tournament.

The Oilers Rookies will return to Edmonton on Monday evening, with a select group of skaters poised to begin competing for NHL roster spots for the upcoming season at Oilers Main Camp, which begins on Tuesday morning with fitness testing and medicals at Rogers Place.

FIRST PERIOD

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

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

Brochu, who signed with the Bakersfield Condors on a one-year AHL deal this past August, rose from the ranks of Junior C with Ontario’s Dresden Jr. Knights to the OHL with the London Knights, setting a League record in 2018-19 for the most wins by a rookie goaltender (32) before winning gold at the 2022 World Juniors with Canada and being named OHL Goaltender of the Year that season with a 29-11-2 record. During the 2023 postseason with the Knights, Brochu went 9-1-0 and set another Knights record with the most shutouts in a playoff run when he recorded four in nine contests.

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

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

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

SECOND PERIOD

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

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

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

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

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

THIRD PERIOD

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

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

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

With 4:59 remaining in regulation, the Jets Rookies found a decisive second goal on a deflection delivered in front by forward Henri Nikkanen, who redirected a shot from Chibrikov over the right pad of Brochu to make it 2-0.

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