Scheifele scores in OT to help Jets rally from two goals down early to beat Oilers 3-2
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Mark Scheifele scored at 3:53 of overtime and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Saturday night.
Josh Morrissey and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Jets, who rallied after falling behind by two goals in the first 6 1/2 minutes. Connor Hellebuyck finished with 38 saves.
“There was zero quit,” Scheifele said. “Going down early was tough, but we just kept on battling back. We didn’t try doing anything too crazy on one shift and just battled back.”
In overtime, Morrissey sent the puck toward the net and it was redirected by Scheifele past goalie Stuart Skinner for the win.
“A huge win for us and it’s nice to get a little validation, to see a win in the win column when we feel we’ve been playing well," Morrissey said. "It’s nice to get a result. That’s one and we’ve got to build on it.”
Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard had goals for the Oilers, who have lost two straight and four of five this season (1-3-1). Leon Draisaitl had two assists and Skinner had 24 saves.
“We are just too up and down, not consistent enough right now,” Draisaitl said. “It feels like every mistake we make ends up in the back of our net. We have lots of things to fix. It is very frustrating, of course. Our plan was to get off to a good start and we haven’t been able to find that. It is frustrating.”
Edmonton played without star forward Connor McDavid late in the third period and in overtime. The Oilers’ captain remained on the bench and appeared to be dealing with back pain.
“It appeared to be muscular more than anything as I watched the play,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “We’ll have more information (later). When he wasn’t available down the stretch and in overtime, it was an opportunity for others to step up.”
The Oilers had a quick start to the game, scoring just 1:25 in. McDavid dropped the puck to a pinching Nurse, who beat Hellebuyck glove-side for Edmonton’s first goal by a defenseman this season.
They got their second by a defenseman 4:46 later thanks to their potent power play as Leon Draisaitl swung a pass back to Bouchard, who fired it in for his first of the season.
The Jets responded with a power-play goal of their own midway through the period as Morrissey fired a slap shot through traffic that beat Skinner.
Winnipeg tied it with a short-handed goal with 1:39 remaining in the second period as Skinner gambled by coming way out of his net to play a puck and lost the puck to Alex Iafallo, allowing Namestnikov to bank a shot off defender Mattias Ekholm’s skate and into the open net.
NOTES
McDavid's assist on Nurse's goal extended his home scoring streak to 23 games, while Draisaitl’s streak reached 17. ... Jets D Nate Schmidt returned to the lineup sitting out the previous game for Logan Stanley’s season debut. ... Hellebuyck came in on his career-worst start with an .843 save percentage and a 4.38 goals-against average in his first three appearances. ... Edmonton has not scored a goal in the third period in its first five games this season.
UP NEXT
Jets: Host St. Louis on Tuesday night.
Oilers: At Minnesota on Tuesday night.
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