Leon Draisaitl scored just before time expired in the third period to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
“We had a couple of chances at the end there, but obviously we got a nice fortunate one at the end,” said Draisaitl.
LISTEN BELOW: Leon Draisaitl
Jesse Puljajarvi was moved up to play with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and nearly opened the scoring nine minutes into the game. He took a goal mouth pass from McDavid but was robbed by the pad of Laurent Brossoit. Adam Lowry gave the Jets a 1-0 lead a couple of minutes later.
“It felt really good being (on) the first line with those great players, and I just try to work hard and help those guys, said Puljajarvi. “It was really nice to play with those guys.”
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LISTEN BELOW: Jesse Puljajarvi
Andrew Copp thought he made it 2-0 with 6:32 to go in the first. He chopped at a rebound in front, and the puck fluttered in over Mikko Koskinen’s glove. The Oilers challenged for goalie interference, and the goal was waved off after review. It was ruled Copp’s stick interfered with Koskinen’s glove while the puck was in the air.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tied it 21 seconds into second, jamming in a loose puck after Puljujarvi drove to the net. The Oilers kept the pressure on and went ahead on Kyle Turris’ first of the season. They outshot the Jets 19-6 in the second.
Nik Ehlers one-timed a shot under Koskinen to make it 2-2 with 6:06 left in the third. With Darnell Nurse in the box for tripping, Blake Wheeler’s pass banked in off Kris Russell to give Winnipeg the lead with 4:53 to go. Kailer Yamamoto came back 1:48 later, knifing home a pass from McDavid.
With 2:03 left, Dylan DeMelo took a penalty for high sticking Puljujarvi. The Oilers didn’t score on the power play, but had pressure in the dying seconds. McDavid centered it to Draisaitl, who rifled a shot past Brossoit with under a second on the clock.
Koskinen made 35 saves for the win.
“Hopefully it reinforces some of the things we did well, and then reinforces some of the areas that we’ve got to clean up in our game,” said head coach Dave Tippett. “We didn’t start very well; the whole first period I was disappointed in how we played and how we executed. The second period was a lot better, and third period we found a way to win. So there’s some things to like and there’s lots to improve on.”
LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett
The Oilers, 3-4, will play in Winnipeg again on Tuesday.
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