EDMONTON, AB – Winnipeg Jets centre Mark Scheifele redirected the game-winning goal over the left pad of netminder Stuart Skinner at 1:07 of overtime to claim the extra point in a 3-2 defeat for the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Hockey Night in Canada.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each extended their respective league-leading home point streaks to 21 and 17 games with a pair of assists in the opening period, while Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard became the first pair of Oilers blueliners since April 4, 2022 (Kris Russell and Cody Ceci) to score consecutive goals to open a game after opening the scoring to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
Defenceman Josh Morrissey and centre Vladislav Namestikov got Winnipeg’s goals back midway through the first period and in the final two minutes of the middle frame – once on the power play and another shorthanded – before Scheifele lifted the visitors to victory in three-on-three overtime after McDavid was kept on the bench for the entire sudden-death period due to injury.
The Oilers were forced into juggling their regular three-on-three setup after McDavid was kept on the bench for the entire overtime, with the captain speaking with Head Athletic Therapist T.D. Forss after motioning to his left side when trying to skate the ailment off during a TV timeout in the third period.
“It appeared to be muscular more than anything to me as I watched during the play,” Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. “But we’ll see. We’ll have more information tomorrow.”
Netminder Connor Hellebuyck stayed composed in Winnipeg’s crease to earn the victory with 38 saves, while Stuart Skinner was given the loss after stopping 24-of-27 shots from the Jets.
“I thought their goaltender made a couple of saves on breakaways that kept them in the game and gave them a chance to be opportunistic,” Woodcroft said. “I thought in the game tonight, our players played hard. It was a good compete level. I thought we controlled the bulk of the play, had the majority of the chances, but we just didn’t find the two points.”
Edmonton hits the road for a one-game trip to Minnesota to face the Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night.