EDMONTON 鈥� It didn鈥檛 take long for the Winnipeg Jets to prove that Tuesday鈥檚 6-2 loss in Vancouver was an aberration.
Playing another top Western Conference squad, Kyle Connor scored the overtime winner as the Jets came away with a narrow 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
The Oilers were without the league鈥檚 leading goal-scorer Leon Draisaitl for the game and then lost fellow star Connor McDavid to an upper-body injury in the third period and goalie Stuart Skinner late in the final frame after a collision in the crease. There was no post-game update on McDavid.
鈥淥bviously, they were missing Leon, and Connor went down, and their goalie at the end,鈥� Connor said. 鈥淛ust sticking with it, obviously this is the last game of our road trip, sticking with it, staying tight together.
"For the most part, we did a good job defending and coming back and playing as five, supporting each other in the D-zone.鈥�
The Jets reached the 100-point milestone for the third time and it is the fastest in franchise history they have done so. It took Winnipeg 70 games this season 鈥� four games faster than its previous mark of 74 in 2017-18.
After Edmonton鈥檚 Zach Hyman tied the game 3-3 with 5:34 to play in the third, Winnipeg was able to get the extra point in overtime following a big save by Connor Hellebuyck on Hyman. The Jets did a solid job cycling in the Edmonton zone before dropping it back to Connor who wired home his 37th goal of the season on replacement goalie Calvin Pickard just 1:13 into extra time.
鈥淚t was the result we wanted, two points is big coming into a good team, playing in their building, but some things we need to get better at,鈥� said Jets forward Brandon Tanev.
鈥淎t the end of the day, good teams find a way to win, so we gutted that one out. 鈥楬elley鈥� made a 10-bell save for us in overtime to keep us in that, and 鈥楰.C.鈥� goes down and puts one in for us. So, it鈥檚 the little things in the game that matter and we鈥檒l keep harping on those.鈥�
Cole Perfetti, Josh Morrissey and Tanev also scored for the Jets (48-18-4) who have won four of their last five.
鈥淎t the end of the day, it鈥檚 the last game of a road trip and we did what we had to do,鈥� said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. 鈥淲e got the lead and I would have really liked to see us lock that down, but obviously a good goal in overtime.鈥�
Connor said it was important that his team showed the ability to quickly bounce back from a poor outing.
鈥淵ou can definitely fall into that trap of getting complacent, but that鈥檚 been a focal point every single day for us; leave the game behind and focus on the next one, and the task at hand,鈥� he said.
鈥淎nd we have to match the desperation. The other night, we were facing a team in Vancouver who was on the line fighting for a playoff spot and we weren鈥檛 able to match it.鈥�
Hellebuyck made 20 stops to collect the win in net for the Jets, giving him a 40-10-3 record on the season, five wins shy of setting a new career high.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2025.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press
