New captain Connor McDavid scored twice as the Edmonton Oilers won their second straight pre-season game, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Thursday.
Patrick Maroon, Mark Letestu and Tyler Pitlick also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 5-2-0 in exhibition action.
Brandon Tanev and Bryan Little responded for the Jets, who dropped to 4-2-0.
READ MORE: Connor McDavid ‘right guy’ to be Edmonton Oilers captain: Darryl Sittler
The Oilers struck first on the power play five minutes into the opening period. McDavid, who was named the youngest captain in NHL history on Wednesday, took a drop pass from Jordan Eberle and danced past a defender before beating Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck. It was McDavid’s second goal of the pre-season, playing in his first game at the new Rogers Place.
Edmonton had 11 first-period shots to Winnipeg’s 10 on Oilers backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson.
The Oilers made it 2-0 on another power-play goal. Maroon stole the puck off the faceoff and did a great job waiting for Hellebuyck to go down before sliding it in from a bad angle for his second goal and fourth point of the pre-season.
Edmonton rookie Drake Caggiula was awarded his second penalty shot in exhibition play a couple of minutes later, but once again was unable to score on the opportunity. He left the game with an injury later in the period, as did Oilers head coach Todd McLellan, who was hit with a puck.
READ MORE: Oilers centre Drake Caggiula makes impact at training camp
Winnipeg got on the board midway through the second as Tanev got loose on a breakaway and beat Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, who came in while Gustavsson dealt with an equipment problem.
Edmonton went up 3-1 four minutes into the third as McDavid bounced off a check and sped up ice to score a short-handed goal. The Oilers then got another short-handed goal on the same penalty, as Letestu scored his second of the pre-season.
READ MORE: Photo of Oilers’ captains gets #OilersBoyBandNames trending in Canada
The Oilers got their fifth goal of the game from Pitlick during a scramble in front midway through the third.
Little got one back for the Jets with four minutes remaining.
Both teams conclude exhibition play on Saturday. The Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks and the Jets are in Minnesota.
Comments