The Edmonton Oilers arrive in Winnipeg on Thursday looking to fix their road game, while the Jets are simply trying to stop the bleeding.
Winnipeg is winless in its last 10 games (0-6-4), the franchise’s longest skid since relocating from Atlanta in 2011. The Jets sit last in the NHL, 10 points out of a Western Conference wild-card spot after Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
That defeat followed a familiar pattern. The Jets, who have lost five straight overtime games and 12 consecutive one-goal decisions, squandered a two-goal lead and twice surrendered third-period advantages against Vegas before losing late on the penalty kill in the extra frame.
“There is definitely anxiety creeping when we have these leads,” Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi said during the postgame show on 680 CJOB radio. “You can kind of sense it and feel it and we got to find a way to be comfortable in these uncomfortable situations. We’ve got to win. We can’t sit back. We can’t play anxious hockey or laid-back hockey because we’ve got a lead. … We’re kind of vulnerable right now with the lead and it’s not good.”
Special teams remain a major issue, as Winnipeg went 0-for-2 on the power play while allowing two power-play goals for the second straight game.
“This is just Groundhog Day,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said. “These things seem to be happening a lot recently, so just got to stay with it. I know it’s hard to say, and hard to hear, but we got to find a way. We’re (13) seconds away from getting out of (overtime).”
Thursday’s matchup offers Edmonton a chance to improve on the road, where the Oilers are 10-11-3 this season compared to an 11-5-3 mark at home. They’ve already beaten the Jets twice, earning 6-2 and 3-1 wins in December.
Edmonton enters the game off a dominant 6-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, led by Connor McDavid’s hat trick on 10 shots.
“Is anybody surprised here that this guy is doing this stuff?” said Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen, who returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing 36 games due to injury. “I’ve been watching it because I’ve been hurt and it’s remarkable what he can do with his speed and his hands. He just sees everything out there. I’m just happy to be on his side.”
McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, has 75 points and carries a 16-game point streak, one shy of his career high.
“I’m playing well,” McDavid said. “I feel good, doing a lot of things good. But it’s a credit to ever since (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman) got back and put that line back together. It’s gone well. It’s so fun to play with those two, fun to talk about the game, grow our game, work on our game together.”
On the injury front, Oilers forward Adam Henrique left Tuesday’s game and is expected to be out for a while. Jets defenseman Haydn Fleury was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a hard collision with the boards against Vegas and was released from hospital with a broken nose and bruised back.
–Field Level Media
