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PREVIEW:
OILERS vs. JETS
STREAM: 8:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet West
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers are set for a quick turnaround, heading home to Rogers Place after playing the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena the night before.
Edmonton stormed over the Emerald City team, picking up a 7-2 victory on Friday night. Connor McDavid recorded four assists to extend his point streak to a career-high tying 17 games, while Zach Hyman and Klim Kostin each scored a pair of goals.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins helped facilitate a large chunk of the Oilers offence as well, recording four assists of his own to push his season-point total to 45 -- good for a tie for eighth in league scoring.
"I don't think or look at that too much," Nugent-Hopkins said after the win. "I mean, obviously I'm just trying to play and contribute where I can, but tonight is just a big team win."
The Oilers completed the romp without the services of Leon Draisaitl, who missed the contest with an undisclosed injury. The Oilers star left the bench for a bit against the Calgary flames on Dec. 27, but returned to play the rest of the game. It's unclear whether Draisaitl will be available for Saturday's contest against the Jets or not, but the team did not skip a beat in his absence.
"I just thought it was a complete team effort. I thought we had 20 players pulling on the same rope tonight," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said about the team's performance. "We were able to assert the game. We wanted to play right off the bat and put the other team on the back foot. We took the game to them and that allowed us to settle into the game and play the game we wanted."
Jets Team Scope
Winnipeg comes to Edmonton fresh off a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Mark Scheifele recorded a hat trick to bring his team-leading goal total on the season to 23. His first two goals came on the power play, while the third came with the Canucks net empty.
Pierre-Luc Dubois would net the only other goal on the night for the Jets, scoring the game winner with less than five-minutes remaining in the contest.
The game also happened to be the 1000th of former Oilers sixth-overall pick from all the way back in 2007 in Sam Gagner, with more than half of them coming in the Blue & Orange (or copper). Gagner suited up for 542 games in two separate stints with the Oilers, recording 111 goals, 206 assists, for 317 points.
"The fan reaction was great to see," Dubois said about the Jets pre-game ceremony for Gagner. "Seeing his kids, his wife, the speeches on the (scoreboard), I'm sure it was a special moment for him because it felt special for us."
Connor Hellebuyck had a fairly quiet night, turning aside 20 of 22 shots on the evening with his only blemishes being the opening goal by Andrei Kuzmenko and a third period tally by Conor Garland.
By The Numbers
The Oilers have won eight of their last nine contests against the Jets dating back to Feb. 17, 2021... Edmonton has averaged 3.11 goals for over that time while only allowing 1.67 goals against per game... Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 17 games on Friday with a five-point effort against Seattle... The Richmond Hill, ON native has tied a career high withe the 17-game streak, while recording an impressive 37 points (16G, 21A) in the run...
McDavid also has a 14-game point streak against Saturday's opponent with 31 points over that stretch... The Captain's 47 all-time points against the Jets is his third best total against any NHL club... Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 31 points against the Jets in his career, his second-best total versus any team...
Connor Hellebuyck leads the NHL in shots faced with 869 and shots stopped with 805 this season... The Jets goaltender also ranks fourth in the National Hockey League with a .926 save percentage this year... Mark Scheifele enters the contest with 23 goals through 36 games and is on pace to tie Ilya Kovalchuk's franchise record of 52 set while with the team was the Atlanta Thrashers...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR; Evander Kane (wrist) is on IR; Ryan Murray (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Leon Draisaitl (undiscolosed) is day-to-day.
JETS - Logan Stanley (lower-body) is on IR; Nikolaj Ehlers (abdomen) is on IR; Nate Schmidt (upper-body) is on IR; Cole Perfetti (upper-body) is day-to-day; Saku Maenalanen (upper-body) is on IR; Josh Morrissey (lower-body) is day-to-day; Blake Wheeler (groin) is on IR
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com
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