In Winnipeg, the Jets’ late surge in the third period was not enough to overcome a three-goal deficit to the Edmonton Oilers in a Saturday matinee.
A late empty-net goal by Darnell Nurse ended the rally and put the Oilers up 4-2 for the win.
“Everyone was calm,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “We’re saying the right things on the bench and we found a way to come out of tough building with two points, which is the most important thing.”
Mikko Koskinen made 22 saves in the Edmonton win.
“I really like how the team’s playing,” Koskinen said. “There’s still a lot of room to improve and we try to get better every day. That’s the key to be successful at the end of the year.”
Kyle Connor and Adam Lowry scored in the final frame to close the deficit to a single marker.
“I liked the way that we got down but we stayed with it,” Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. “We talked about going into the third, we had to get that first one to generate some momentum. Then we were able to get that second one.”
The Jets fell to 22-19-8.
“It’s nice to contribute,” Adam Lowry said. “I wanted to get back that one we gave up in the first. … You’re down by three, you want to obviously kill it, but if you can get one going the other way, it’s huge. I thought we springboarded off of the start of the third and that helped. Huge power-play goal to give us a chance at the end.”
The Oilers moved to 28-18-3.
Connor McDavid hit for a goal and three points in the win.
“I thought we had five guys all over the ice, having layers, making it hard for them to come through us,” McDavid said.
Zach Hyman and Kailer Yamamoto scored for a 2-0 Oilers lead.
“[McDavid] had it going on tonight, and he has it going on most nights,” Woodcroft said. “But in the end, it was a close game and some of the plays that our top players made were the difference in the game.”
Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves in the Jets loss.
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