|
 The Jets rolled out to a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes and then held
strong for a 4-1 victory.
"I like the way we were prepared to play," said Jets coach Paul
Maurice, whose club is trying to fend off the Los Angeles Kings for
the final wild-card spot in the West.
"It wasn't perfect, but we're scratching and clawing right now."
Winnipeg (38-23-12) is four points ahead of Los Angeles, which has a
game in hand.
The Jets came to Edmonton with a four-game win streak despite
missing defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and center Bryan Little, and
they had little difficulty making it five straight. They turned in a
solid, workmanlike effort and were never in trouble.
"We didn't do anything special out there tonight, but I thought we
played a solid, simple game," Jets defenseman Tyler Myers said. "It
was a little sloppy at the end, but for the most part, we kept it
simple. We just stuck to our game plan and got the job done."
The Oilers (20-40-13) put up a decent struggle, especially after
losing veteran defenseman Andrew Ference (upper body) and center
Boyd Gordon (back) in the first three minutes of the first period.
However, when a team has lost as many games as Edmonton has, moral
victories mean very little.
"It's past the point of 'good try,'" Oilers center Derek Roy said.
"At this point, it's get the job done, that's about it. Our power
play (0-for-4) is not getting the job done.
"We have to go out there and work harder. When something's not going
well, work harder."
Winnipeg scored the only goal of a fairly even first period, a
breakaway by Drew Stafford, who was gift-wrapped the puck by Oilers
defenseman Oscar Klefbom at the Jets' blue line. The right winger's
goal was his ninth in 10 career games against the Oilers.
The Jets stretched their lead to 2-0 in the second period on right
winger Lee Stempniak's goal at 5:31, and they pretty much salted
away the win on a long two-man advantage late in the period.
With Oilers defensemen Mark Fayne and Martin Marincin taking minors
four seconds apart, the Jets had a five-on-three for 1:56, but they
only needed 29 seconds of it to go up 3-0. Myers put a point shot
into the top corner with four minutes left before the second
intermission.
"We went into the power play (two-man advantage) knowing that we
didn't want to do anything fancy, just keep things simple," Myers
said. "I was fortunate to find a lane there. I had that lane to the
net, and I was just trying to get it to the far side, and luckily
(Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens) was leaning the other way."
Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins broke Pavelec's shutout bid in the
first minute of the third period, putting his 23rd of the season
into the top corner, but Winnipeg right winger Michael Frolik's
power-play goal restored the three-goal lead with 7:43 to play.
[to top of second column] |
Edmonton outshot Winnipeg 34-24 but could get only one attempt past
Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec. The Oilers' hot power play went 0-for-4,
and Edmonton gave up two power-play goals.
"Winnipeg played a very solid game, they competed hard and they
played with structure," Oilers coach Todd Nelson said.
"Five-on-five, I thought we were competing hard as well. It really
came down to special teams."
Pavelec made 33 saves for the win, while Scrivens stopped 20 shots.
The Jets are right back at it Tuesday against the Canucks in
Vancouver.
"We want to continue to keep this thing rolling," Stafford said.
"We're not looking any further than tomorrow night against a
desperate Vancouver team. They need the points as much as we do, the
race is tight, so we're going to make sure we're trying to take care
of our job and stay focused on the task at hand."
NOTES: The Jets seem to have settled on their playoff goalie. After
the team went with a 50-50 rotation the entire season until
recently, G Ondrej Pavelec made his fifth consecutive start Monday.
... Winnipeg D Dustin Byfuglien and C Bryan Little each missed an
eighth consecutive game due to an upper-body injury. ... Oilers RW
Jordan Eberle began the night with 14 points in his past seven
games, the hottest stretch of his career. He didn't add a point
Monday. ... With the return to health of LW Taylor Hall, the Oilers
sent LW Ryan Hamilton to Oklahoma City of the AHL. ... The Oilers'
final nine games of the season are all against Western Conference
teams fighting for playoff spots or home-ice advantage in the first
round. ... Jets RW Lee Stempniak played in the 699th game of his NHL
career. ... After registering two points in his first 24 games this
season, Oilers D Oscar Klefbom has 14 in the past 27 games.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
