Although putting up a good fight, the oilers fell 5-4 in extra time, as the Jets clawed back to take two of the three points awarded.
It took Winnipeg a while to strike, but when they did, the Jets struck gold, scoring twice in just over one minute of play in the final stages of the opening frame Thursday.
Winnipeg fell behind 1-0 to the visiting Oilers on a nice passing play between Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Spooner, who collected his third goal of the season from the slot halfway through the first period.
That lead only lasted five minutes, as the Jets responded on the power play with 4:17 to play. Mathieu Perreault took matters into his own hands, walking out of the corner untouched, before putting the puck past Cam Talbot midway up the net on his backhand.
Just one minute and eight seconds later, Nikolaj Ehlers collected his 10th goal of the season as he attempted to pass the puck cross-ice to Dustin Byfuglien. The disc redirected off of defender Kevin Gravel’s skate and into the visitors’ net, giving Winnipeg its first lead of the game.
Although applying heavy pressure for the majority of the opening frame, the Jets left the ice after 20 minutes with just a one-goal lead. Winnipeg put up five more shots than Edmonton, finishing the period up 16-11 on their Western Conference Opponent.
Although collecting the first goal of the second period, the middle stanza belonged to the Oilers. Edmonton found its groove, partially due to a handful of power play opportunities. Shortly after Patrik Laine found the twine on a wrist shot that, seemingly, went right through Talbot to give Winnipeg a two-goal cushion, the Oilers woke up.
Led by captain Connor McDavid, Edmonton scored three unanswered goals in the frame, beginning with a Darnell Nurse rebound redirection, before Jujhar Khaira and Alex Chiasson added two strikes in the period’s final three minutes, handing the visitors a one-goal lead.
The Oilers outshot Winnipeg 13-6 in the frame, jumping ahead 24-22 after 40 minutes, while scoring on their final shot of the period.
The Jets succeeded in knotting the game back up at fours midway through the frame, as Tyler Myers fired a slap shot intentionally wide, lodging the puck near the rear of the net. Captain Blake Wheeler positioned himself craftily, before finding a wide-open Mark Scheifele who made no mistake quickly one-timing it past Talbot.
Scheifele’s 18th was the only goal of the third period, as the Jets and Oilers exchanged chances en route to their second overtime battle at Bell MTS Place in 2018-19. After Edmonton came out on top on October 16th, December 13th was Winnipeg’s turn to prove victorious in the extra frame.
Just seconds after McDavid came an inch from blasting the winner, hitting the post on a rush up ice, Wheeler turned the puck up ice, found Scheifele, who in turn gave the puck over to Josh Morrissey. The swift blueliner walked into the Edmonton zone and ripped a wrist shot low glove past Talbot, sealing the deal for Winnipeg, handing the Jets their third-straight victory.
Winnipeg has now scored 18 goals in its last three games, putting up seven, six and five goals in their last three games, respectively. The Jets outshot Edmonton 40-26, once again piling on their offence in the third period. Talbot stopped 35 pucks, while Hellebuyck made 22 stops in victory.
Connor Hellebuyck struggled with his rebound control Thursday, allowing the Oilers back into the game, as he was unable to snare some of the loose pucks thrown on the Jets’ net that led directly to rebound/redirection goals against. However, he bounced back mightily in the third period, stopping all two shots he faced in the frame.
Winnipeg now heads out on the road to Chicago for a quick stop in Illinois on Friday, before returning home to host the streaking Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. Friday’s game will be available to viewers on TSN3 at 7:30 P.M. central, while Sunday’s game will begin at 6:00 P.M. on Sportsnet.
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