Recap: Winnipeg Jets @ Edmonton Oilers
The Winnipeg Jets were coming off their most humbling loss of the season and were looking to finish their short road trip up in a positive manner when they visited the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. So lets find out how things went….
GAME RECAP
Things didn’t start out great for the Jets, as an early penalty sent the Oilers to a powerplay and allowed Edmonton to start controlling the puck. While Winnipeg was able to withstand the man-advantage without giving up a shot on net, a neutral zone turnover shortly after the powerplay allowed the home squad another scoring rush and a long wrister from the high slot cleanly beat Connor Hellebuyck’s blocker to break the scoreless tie. EDM 1-0. The Jets responded with a strong shift by the top forward line that saw Kyle Connor amazingly miss a wide open net on a rebound. Scoring chances were limited for both franchises in the 1st, with the teams only combining for 9 shots, yet Winnipeg was able to create one good look. Speedy Nikolaj Ehlers skated the puck through the neutral zone before handing the puck off to Dylan Samberg near the right point. The big defender had traffic in front of Stuart Skinner, so he unleashed a shot that created a juicy rebound, allowing Cole Perfetti to notch his 15th goal of the season. TIE 1-1. The Jets got a late PP in the opening frame, but the Oilers did a fine job of clogging up the neutral zone and denying Winnipeg the offensive zone.
The 2nd period began with very little action in the first 5 minutes, but then another weak goal got by Hellebucyk when an Edmonton 1 timer from the low slot was partially whiffed, sending the puck trickling slowly through the five hole. EDM 2-1. Winnipeg challenged for goaltender interference, but the officials determined that Colin Miller pushed the Oiler into our goalie, so the marker stood. The Jets were able to kill off the resulting penalty though and used that spark to help them search for the tying goal. When Morgan Barron corralled the puck in his own end, he sent a quick pass to Nino Niederreiter and the Swiss winger skated up the ice to gain the Oilers’ zone. Good awareness allowed Nino to spot Josh Morrissey driving to the net and the resulting pass helped Winnipeg knot things up with just over half of the game remaining. TIE 2-2. The teams traded a few scoring chances over the rest of the 2nd, but the Jets got another PP late in the period. While they only had 8 seconds to work with before the horn sounded, this was the best the man-advantage unit looked as they came close to taking the lead on two occasions.
The 3rd period began with the news that Edmonton star Connor McDavid would not be able to return to action, but Winnipeg did very little with the remainder of their powerplay. That was despite the refs calling another infraction on the Oilers and giving the Jets over 1 minute of 5 on 3 play. The True Northers’ 4th line provided a display of their tenacity on the forecheck when they won the puck on a dump in before setting up the cycle. Eventually the Jets were able to get a point shot through to the net and it created a rebound for Brandon Tanev, whose first attempt at the empty net hit the post only to bounce right back to him for a second try. WPG 3-2. Unfortunately, with 16 minutes to play, Winnipeg started to fall into the dreaded “prevent defense” and allowed Edmonton to continuously storm the Jets’ end. The inevitable eventually occurred when a failed zone exit by Winnipeg got them scrambling in the defensive zone and allowed the Oilers to tie things up with a screened point shot & the resulting rebound. TIE 3-3. Shortly after, Edmonton’s starter Skinner had to leave the game due to an injury, sending in a cold Calvin Pickard for the rest of the match. Both squads had some looks for the winning goal, but the tenders both made some key saves to send the game to overtime.
The Oilers were able to start the extra frame with the puck, but they couldn’t create anything before turning the puck over to the Jets. Morrissey gained possession in his own end before spinning away from an Edmonton forechecker. The defenseman then rushed up the ice with the puck before dishing it off to Mark Scheifele along the right boards. Winnipeg’s top center cut to the high slot and when Connor criss-crossed with him, the puck was exchanged to create some room for the Jets’ best sniper. The American winger didn’t wait long before he unleashed a shot that cleanly beat Pickard’s blocker to give his team the victory.
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FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 4 EDMONTON OILERS 3 (OT)
FINAL STATS
Shots: 24-20 EDM / Hits: 23-16 WPG / Face-Offs: 52.9% WPG / x Goals: 3.01 EDM – 2.42 WPG /
MoneyPuck’s Deserve to Win: 65% EDM / High-Medium Danger Scoring Chances: 16 to 3 EDM
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SCORING SUMMARY from ESPN
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SHOT CHART from MoneyPuck
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ADVANCED SKATER STATS from MoneyPuck
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GOALIE STATS from ESPN & MoneyPuck
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If you would like to dive deeper into the game’s stats, follow the links below to the game pages:
MoneyPuck: Winnipeg Jets vs. Edmonton Oilers – Thursday March 20 2025 – MoneyPuck.com
NaturalStatTrick: Winnipeg Jets @ Edmonton Oilers, 2025-03-20
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BOJA’s Observations:
A win is a win, right. It wasn’t the best example of Winnipeg Jets hockey, but it was a far cry from the shambles that the Canucks’ game was. The Jets did a pretty good job defensively against Edmonton, but their lack of sustained attack time is a bit concerning. The magic number is now down to only 9 with our squad’s win over the Oilers.
Another rough outing for Connor Hellebuyck, though he did end up with a positive Goals Saved Above Expected rating (+0.01). I am far from a goaltending expert, but Bucky seemed less than his usual focused self in his last two or three matches.
Congrats to Brandon Tanev for scoring his 1st goal since being re-acquired by the Winnipeg Jets. He has provided more offense (3 pts in 7 gms) than I really expected when Kevin Cheveldayoff brought him back to the Peg.
The Winnipeg powerplay units need to go back to the drawing board, as they have returned to the old static pass around the perimeter approach that isn’t nearly as successful as it was for most of the season. Good thing there are some days coming up that should allow the coaches to work with the players and get the PP units back to top form. They will be needed come the playoffs.
The Winnipeg Jets will have a couple days off as they return home to Manitoba for their last long homestand of the season (4 games). Our franchise is inching closer to locking up the top spots in the Central Division & Western Conference…but that can’t come quick enough for me. Just get it done already….no need to stress us out unnecessarily.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the game in the Comment section below. Have a great day!!
UP NEXT: Buffalo Sabres @ Winnipeg Jets – Sunday, March 23rd @ 2:00 pm CST...
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