In Edmonton, the Winnipeg Jets held 4-1 and 5-3 leads on Monday night before the Oilers rallied on a goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to tie the game at 5-5 early in the third period.
The Jets replied with a goal from Blake Wheeler on a deflection from a shot from the point to regain the lead at 6-5. This time they held the lead for the win.
The game-winner was driven by Mark Scheifele who had a steal of the puck at the blue line.
“I’m pretty happy, we got the win, so there’s nothing else to think about,” Scheifele said. “There are things we want to tighten up, but all in all, we got the win. That’s what we’ve come here for is to get the two points and we got that. That’s really all that matters.”
Connor Hellebuyck made 40 saves to get the win.
“We will feel like we gave up way too much, but there is a section, when you play Edmonton, that they take away from you, that they generate and it’s just so good,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “And then, Kyle Connor is probably an example on our team, of guys that can do the same going the other way. There’s some high, high-end skill there. Even if you are in the right spot, they’re going to make the play. Aside from that, there was still a big chunk of the game that was loose and ugly, and really fun to watch, unless you would like to live a long life as a coach.”
Alex Chiasson and Nugent-Hopkins each had two goals in the game.
“It was a weird game, every time we would get our game back and get something we would get scored on, and then we were trying to get that goal back,” Chiasson said. “It was a weird night and we can’t play that type of game against that team. They’re too dangerous up front and they capitalize on their chances and I think a lot of their chances were on us making errors, and it’s tough to win that way.”
Scheifele (three points) and Kyle Connor scored for Winnipeg.
“It was a weird game, every time we would get our game back and get something we would get scored on, and then we were trying to get that goal back,” Chiasson said. “It was a weird night and we can’t play that type of game against that team. They’re too dangerous up front and they capitalize on their chances and I think a lot of their chances were on us making errors, and it’s tough to win that way.”
Mason Appleton scored with less than a minute gone in the middle frame for a 3-1 Jets lead and Nikolaj Ehlers pushed it 4-1.
“We will feel like we gave up way too much, but there is a section, when you play Edmonton, that they take away from you, that they generate and it’s just so good,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “And then, Kyle Connor is probably an example on our team, of guys that can do the same going the other way. There’s some high, high-end skill there. Even if you are in the right spot, they’re going to make the play. Aside from that, there was still a big chunk of the game that was loose and ugly, and really fun to watch, unless you would like to live a long life as a coach.”
Connor McDavid scored a single marker for the Oilers.
“Anytime you give up six, it’s obviously not a great night,” the Oilers’ Tyson Barrie said. “We left [Smith] out to dry there early and we tried to claw back, but it was just not a good enough defensive game from us, and we just made some mistakes that cost us.”
Mathieu Perreault also scored for the Jets.
Mike Smith made seven saves into the second period and yielded four goals to the Jets; he was given the hook in the second period.
Mikko Koskinen made 11 saves in relief.
“You make some mistakes and they end up in the back of our net, so you’re chasing the game,” Oilers chead oach Dave Tippett said. “The disappointing thing about that is, we got ourselves back in the game, then we gave it away again.”
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