Edmonton Oilers finally get shots, but not enough goals in loss to Jets

The Winnipeg Jets won their fourth game in a row, knocking off the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 Wednesday night at Rogers Place.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves for his 31st win of the season.

The Oilers opened the scoring nine seconds into the second period. Hellebuyck lost the puck behind his net, allowing Edmonton’s Kailer Yamamoto to poke the puck to teammate Tyler Ennis. Ennis nudged it over the line for his second goal as an Oiler.

Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler tied it when Edmonton’s James Neal tried to break up his pass in the slot, but instead deflected past Oilers goaltender Mike Smith.

“That’s karma,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said after the game.

“We’ve had a couple games where we’ve gotten points when we probably didn’t deserve points, and tonight I thought our game was pretty good and we don’t get any points, so that’s the way it goes.”

Smith was caught out of his net playing a puck late in the second. Winnipeg forward Cody Eakin centred to teammate Patrik Laine, who drilled home his 28th goal of the year.

“I thought we created a lot of chances, but Hellebuyck played outstanding,” Ennis said. “He made a lot of crazy saves and that was probably the difference.”

With 1:37 to go in the frame, Edmonton forward Zack Kassian fed a streaking McDavid, who cut in behind the defence and tucked his 34th goal of the year behind Hellebuyck.

Kyle Connor beat Smith five-hole on a breakaway to give the Jets the lead 29 seconds into the third.

With Smith on the bench for an extra attacker, Connor slid the puck into the empty net with 39.5 seconds left to seal it.

“We had more chances. We played better tonight as a team than we have the last few games,” Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. “We made a couple mistakes that they capitalized on. That’s the difference in the game.”

LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett

After being badly outshot in their last two games, the Oilers had a 38-25 edge on the shot clock.

The Oilers (37-25-9) are scheduled to host the New York Islanders on Friday.

During the game, the NBA announced it was suspending its basketball season, effective immediately, because one of its players had “preliminarily” tested positive for COVID-19.

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Players on both the Jets and the Oilers said they were made aware of the coronavrisu-related development during the first intermission.

“You’ve got to put public safety and public health ahead of everything,” Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse said. “Obviously it’s an unfortunate situation, but sports and life are two things that are very different, so you’ve got to worry about one over the other.”

“It’s such a serious issue, it’s hard to separate the two,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “I didn’t know they were aware of it. I should have known they were aware of it because they know everything that fast. They know how many minutes they play, they know all those things on a period by period basis.

​–With files from 630 CHED’s Brenden Escott and Scott Johnston

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