There was no scoring in the opening frame, but there were a lot of good looks for Winnipeg. They outscored Edmonton 15-9, but went 0-for-2 on the power play.
The Oilers opened the scoring eight minutes into the second period when Logan Stanley was stripped of the puck behind the Jets’ net due to Curtis Lazar’s cross. The puck flew to the side of the net and Max Jones beat the unprepared Connor Hellebuyck for his first of the season.
Former Jets first-round pick Jack Roslovic made it 2-0 at 12:49 of the second period after the power play. A rebound blasted off Hellebuyck’s path to the right, and Roslovic picked his spot for his 11th of the season.
Despite outscoring the Oilers 11-4 in the middle frame, Winnipeg trailed by a few after 40 minutes.
Adam Lowry, playing in his 800th NHL game, got the Jets within one 5:46 into the third period, ending a 17-game scoreless drought. Morgan Barron fired a shot off Pickard’s pads, and it bounced straight to Lowry in front of the net, where he backhanded it past the Winnipeg native.
The Jets continued to push and shoot pucks at Pickard, but could only get one past him. Zach Hyman ended the game at 6:43 with an empty-net goal, his 11th.
The Jets fall to 18-15-3 with the loss, going 0-for-3 on the man advantage, outscoring Edmonton 42-21 and 80-45 in shot attempts.
“Again, it’s us finishing. The finishing aspect. Our power play spent almost the entire time at the end of the rink during our three power plays,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said after the game. “We had eight good scoring opportunities on our power play. When everything seems to be working, we score three, four, five goals a game, and you’re not talking about that.”
The Jets’ top trio of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi each logged more than 24 minutes tonight, Connor 24:15, Scheifele 26:44 and Vilardi 25:09, highlighting just how much of a one-line team Winnipeg is right now. Don’t get me wrong, every line had their chances, including Lowry’s goal, but the top line and the first power play unit were absolutely rolling, they just couldn’t buy a goal.
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