The term consistency cannot be used in the NHL this season. Just as the Edmonton Oilers were seemingly on the cusp of a run they have fallen back to all habits and outcomes.
On Sunday, the Oilers hosted the Winnipeg Jets and Connor Hellebuyck made 35 easy 
saves in a 5-0 drubbing of the Oilers for the Jets.
Five different skaters scored for the Jets including Kyle Connor, Bryan Little, Marko Dano, Blake Wheeler, and Mathieu Perreault.
“I think it was important to come out and get off to a good start,” Wheeler said. “This team [Oilers] if they get rolling, it can be a long night. We came in here with a tremendous amount of respect for the guys on the other side. With that, we played the right way.”
With the loss, Edmonton dropped back to 17-19-3 on the season.
“They got an early one and it seemed like we just got deflated after that,” the Oilers’ Milan Lucic said. “It was pretty evident that they outplayed us in every aspect of the game. At this point of the season, you figure which team should be the more desperate, and they played with a lot more desperation than we did.”
The Jets played an obvious solid defensive game with their blue line corps keeping the Oilers to the outside of the scoring lanes and away from the low slot.
“They’ve been so good all year,” Hellebuyck said. “They keep it to the outside and they let me see shots, they’re not getting too many deflections against me. Those things are small details, but they’re huge and I think that makes the biggest difference.”
Winnipeg improved to 23-11-6 and regained possession of the top spot in the Central Division.
[WATCH: All Jets vs. Oilers highlights]
Cam Talbot made 33 for the loss.
“We were outworked, simple as that,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. “When you’re outworked, outhustled, outskated, out-grinded and out-committed, the rest isn’t going to be in place. That’s the biggest disappointment for me.”
After a brief glint of hope prior to the Christmas break, the Oilers have returned to their foibles.
“Pre-Christmas we were on a roll and felt good about ourselves, but that doesn’t happen automatically. You have to show up and at least attempt to outwork the other team. We had none of that today,” McLellan said after the loss.
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