A sellout crowd at the Canada Life Centre showed up to watch the hometown Jets take on the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Winnipeg was in need of a win or at least a well-played game, so let’s see how things went….
From the puck drop to start the game, the True North squad had a lot of jump to their steps and it resulted in a very effective forecheck causing difficulties for the Oilers defensemen. Winnipeg controlled early play as they jumped out to a 8-1 shot lead in the first 7 minutes, including a few looks to open the scoring on Edmonton’s Skinner (Ehlers in alone on goalie, Niederreiter attempt from slot, and a great 1 timer chance for Scheifele on a PP). Stanley rubs out Perry in the corner and the Oiler took exception with the physicality and the two ended up dropping their gloves. Despite the bigger Jets’ d-man winning the scrap, it was Edmonton who seemed to get the momentum. Shortly after, a defensive zone face-off loss resulted in a quick point shot and Hellebuyck had to stone Hyman on the rebound to keep the game scoreless. Both teams had their scoring opportunities as play evened out, but the Jets probably had the better looks (Toffoli deflection, Perfetti setting up Barron in slot, & Monahan in alone on Skinner). Check out MoneyPuck’s stats & shot chart below to see how the opening period played out.
First Period MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 0 to 0 tie, shots 13 to 10 for the Jets, 60% Deserve To Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (1.08-0.64 WPG), & 5 on 5 (0.95-0.64 WPG)
The Oilers had an early opportunity on a 2 on 1 to start the 2nd period, but Hellebuyck came flying across the crease to make a large save. Winnipeg’s 2nd line responds with some pressure, resulting in another Ehlers breakaway and a quality look for Monahan. Four minutes into the middle frame, Connor skated the puck up the ice and was able to work his way to the high slot before letting a low shot go. A juicy rebound popped out and it was Appleton who was there to capitalize to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead. Edmonton started to push back and Bucky had to make some big stops, but yet another scrap (Dillon versus Nurse after a huge hit by the Jets’ d-man) seemed to give the visiting team more momentum. The Oiler dominance struck gold when McDavid skated the puck up the ice and drew too much attention from Jets’ defenders, allowing him to find Draisaitl with a cross-ice pass as Edmonton tied things up. They were right back at it with a 2 on 1 rush against Hellebuyck, but Schmidt made a nice sliding block to stop the shot attempt. Yet another Oiler rush was allowed easy access to the offensive zone due to lack of backcheckers and that saw Brown step into the slot and fire a shot into Winnipeg’s net. The Jets got a powerplay chance to try to regain momentum, but they were ineffective and couldn’t manage a shot on net in the final 10 minutes of play.
After Two Periods MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 2 to 1 for the Oilers, shots 27 to 17 for the Oilers, 50% Deserve to Win, Expected Goals – all situations (2.14-2.01 EDM) & 5 on 5 (2.05-1.72 EDM)
The final frame opened up horribly for the Jets, as they had to kill off three early Edmonton PP’s, but somehow they managed to escape unscathed. But as the teams returned to even strength, an Oiler counter attack saw McDavid once again set up a teammate (Nugent-Hopkins) for another goal and the hometown Jets were down 3-1 with 14 minutes remaining. Miraculously, Winnipeg woke up and did their best to try to get back into the match. A great cycle shift by the top line saw them hit a post before a Dillon point shot made its way through a bunch of bodies and by a screened Skinner. Exactly a minute later, Ehlers was circling the zone with the puck and eventually let a point shot go, giving Monahan the chance to make a wonderful deflection to tie the match up. Lowry was totally stoned on a great chance near the Oilers’ crease and then Edmonton started to pick up their pace. Neither squad could find the winner before the horn went, so check out how MoneyPuck saw things after 3 periods.
Despite losing the face-off, Winnipeg got the puck early and came close when a pass narrowly missed Scheifele at the back door. In transition, Connor lost his player allowing an odd man rush to occur the other way. Scheifele backtracked to try and break up the play, but he missed a stick check on Hyman, allowing the Oilers’ winger not one, but two quick chances on Bucky. Unfortunately, our tender couldn’t stop the rebound and our squad will have to be happy with the “loser point” and the knowledge that they came back from a two goal deficit to give themselves a chance to win the game.
After OT MoneyPuck Stats: 77.5% Deserve to Win for the Oilers, Expected Goals – all situations (4-.61-3.00 EDM) & 5 on 5 (3.36-2.47 EDM)
FINAL SCORE: EDMONTON OILERS 4 WINNIPEG JETS 3 OT
SHOTS: EDMONTON OILERS 42 WINNIPEG JETS 25
Sorry, but will have to skip the Game Observations as I am running out of time. Here are a couple scraps to tide you over:
- Medium/High danger chances – EDM 7 med & 8 high and WPG 9 med & 3 high.
- Despite letting in 4 goals, Connor Hellebuyck still had 0.93 Goals Saved Above Average as Winnipeg’s defense continued to be porous (especially in 2nd).
- Bottom six won the expected goals battle, with the 3rd getting 64.6% and the 4th netting 57.2%. The Jets’ top line ended the game with a pathetic 1.7% of expected goals.
NEXT GAME: Vegas Golden Knights @ Winnipeg Jets – Thursday, March 28th @ 7:00 pm Central
Back to the drawing board for the coaching staff, but at least they got about a half game of really good hockey from their players versus Edmonton. Possibly a positive sign they are working towards playing a full 60.
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