*Photo from Yahoo! Sports*
Maybe a new face behind the bench was what the Edmonton Oilers needed. Zach Hyman scored, Connor McDavid contributed a goal and two assists, and the Oilers defeated the Winnipeg Jets with a 4-2 win on Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg.
The 3 points for McDavid gives him 71 on the season, leading the NHL in overall points scored, two ahead of teammate Leon Draisaitl. This was also the 5th straight win for the Oilers, all under new head coach Jay Woodcroft. They've catapulted into 3rd place in the Pacific Division, thanks to a power play that has been working again, and got them on the board tonight.
Oilers D-Man and power play quarterback Tyson Barrie said of the PP that "We've been fighting it a little bit on the power play. If you watch us over the last few years, we make plays off of shots and getting pucks back. That's where Connor, Leon and Nuge, those guys go to work. Trying to establish a shot and be a threat up top opens up a little more space for them, so that's where that mentality comes from."
On the power play at the 12:17 mark of the first period, Hyman redirected a shot into the back of the net to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead, with McDavid and Barrie assisting. Kailer Yamamoto picked up his 10th goal of the season 7:46 into the second period, doubling the lead to 2-0, with the assist from McDavid. That became 3-0 when McDavid scored his 26th goal of the season 10:50 into the second.
While shorthanded in the 3rd period, Adam Lowry got the Jets on the board, with his 4th goal of the season coming 10:45 into the 3rd, making it a 3-1 game. Kyle Connor scored on the power play 14:38 into the period, his 30th goal of the season cutting it to 3-2. They didn't get any more, with Darnell Nurse scoring on an empty net to seal the 4-2 Edmonton win.
Woodcroft said after the game that "What I really, really enjoyed about tonight's game was the fact that they got a little bit of momentum in the last eight or nine minutes of the game but our team didn't flinch. Everyone was calm, saying the right things on the bench and we found a way to come out of a tough building with two points, which is the most important thing."
Getting his first win since before a stay in the league's Covid-19 protocols for the Oilers was Mikko Koskinen. He put together a solid outing, saving 22 of the 24 shots he faced from the Jets. His .917 save percentage was enough to get the win and push his record to 17-8-2 in 26 starts.
The opposing goalie against Koskinen was Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck, who just couldn't best Koskinen. Hellebuyck stopped 36 of 39 shots the Oilers had, good for a .923 save percentage. With another loss for Hellebuyck, his record drops to 17-17-7 in 41 starts on the season.
Jets head coach Dave Lowry said that "I liked the way that we got down but we stayed with it. 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."
Up next, the Oilers finish a back to back with a Sunday matchup with the Minnesota Wild, where Mike Smith is expected to start. The Jets hit the road and face the Calgary Flames on Monday night, with Hellebuyck the likely starter.
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