Jets Dazzle Oilers in 5-2 Loss

The Edmonton Oilers dropped a 5-2 score to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

Mikko Koskinen battled the puck early and only saw 40 minutes of action while Leon Draisaitl added two more to his goal totals to maintain his league lead.

Not a great showing by the Oilers as they once again find their game way too late in the game.

First Period:

There wasn’t a lot of room for either team in the early goings as both clubs were playing a tight and physical game. Yet, it was the Jets that got on the board first after Adam Lowry put a muffin on net that found a hole through Koskinen. A very weak goal for Koskinen to give up and it resulted in the Oilers letting up the game’s first goal in their sixth straight game. 1-0 Winnipeg.

The defensive game struggled after the goal as the Jets were getting far too many chances on net. Luckily, Koskinen was able to rebound and made a few critical stops to bail out his team.

Jesse Puljujarvi got Edmonton’s first high-danger chance midway through the period after sending a wrist shot from the slot and then following up on his rebound. Connor Hellebuyck was sharp in the Jets net to keep it out of the net.

Outside of that chance, there wasn’t much else going for Edmonton in the Jets zone. The period ended with the Jets holding on to a 1-0 lead.

Second Period:

McDavid opened up the period with a 2-on-1 chance that landed on the stick of Hyman, but Hellebuyck spoiled the chance by moving across the crease with ease to shut the door.

Edmonton nearly tied the game on a power-play chance that fooled Hellebuyck but, after plenty of chaos in front of the Winnipeg net, the play would evolve into a breakaway chance for Andrew Copp. Koskinen would make a spectacular pad save to deny the chance and keep Edmonton in it.

Kyle Connor followed that up with a point-blank chance that was denied by Koskinen, Those saves would only go so far as the Oilers struggled to keep the Jets from the attack. Nikolaj Ehlers let loose a long-range slapper that beat Koskinen clean over the shoulder. 2-0 Winnipeg.

The bleeding wouldn’t stop as Duncan Keith would give the puck away on the boards and that would lead to a point shot by the Jets on the PP that gets tipped past Koskinen. 3-0 Jets and it was starting to get ugly in the ‘peg.

Schiefele tipped a point shot in the last minute to extend the Winnipeg lead to 4-0 and that is how we ended the first 40.

Third Period:

The Oilers had a golden opportunity to begin the third with a 5-on-3 PP. They made sure to convert quickly as Leon Draisaitl lasered a one-timer for his 16th of the year. 4-1 with more than 17 minutes left on the clock.

Draisaitl would score yet another one on the remaining power-play time but it was immediately called off due to goaltender interference. Edmonton disagreed and challenged it and, wouldn’t you know it, it was determined that Puljujarvi was pushed into the net by a Winnipeg player.

We had a good goal and Leon had 17 on the season and two quick ones to start the period and it’s a two-goal game with lots of time left.

It would be too little too late as Kyle Connor added an empty-netter to take the 5-4 win.

Takeaways:

• The poor defensive play has become increasingly evident over the past five games and man did it ever come to a head to tonight. The team was sloppy, inefficient, and just downright bad in their own end. The downgrades over the summer need to be addressed either through trade or internal options. This current group isn’t good enough.
• It will be very easy to look at some of the goals against and pin the loss on Mikko Koskinen but I disagree. The first goal against was on him, no doubt about it, but the Oilers left him out to dry all night. I’d classify it as a mercy-pull tonight.
• Stuart Skinner was excellent in the third period as he shut the door. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t start Thursday’s rematch.
• Darnell Nurse had a terrible night. It’s clear that he decided to prioritize offensive production over effective defensive play. I’ve never seen him more passive in his own end and so eager to jump up in the play...which isn’t a good thing.
• I’ll keep this one short: Kyle Turris isn’t an NHL player, stop giving him the benefit of the doubt literally every time.
• Leon Draisaitl is on pace for 88 goals. Absolutely insane pace for the German. Even when they lose he finds a way to get ANOTHER multi-goal game.
• I got one more bright spot in Ryan McLeod. I liked his game tonight and thought he was much more engaged in the play. He had a very nice sequence where he won a hard-fought battle along the boards in the o-zone. The hope is that he stays with the club...but knowing the coach he’s destined for a one-way ticket to Bakersfield when Devin Shore comes back. A very wrong decision if you ask me.
• The Oilers record drops to 11-4-0 on the season and will look to rebound as they welcome to the Jets to Edmonton on Thursday for a rematch.