[37-35-10]
2
6
12/23/2013
FINAL
[29-44-9]
123T
WPG1102
20SHOTS30
24FACEOFFS36
25HITS19
78PIM25
1/4PP2/8
14GIVEAWAYS15
11TAKEAWAYS8
11BLOCKED SHOTS11
     

Oilers aim to end skid against Jets

Monday, 12.23.2013 / 1:04 AM

JETS (16-17-5) at OILERS (11-24-3)

TV: TSN-JETS, SNET-W

Last 10: Winnipeg 4-5-1; Edmonton 2-7-1

Season series: This is the second of three games between the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers. The Jets beat the Oilers 5-4 on Oct. 1 at Rexall Place.

Big story: The Oilers are reeling again. After a rough start, it appeared they were headed on the right track. Instead, Edmonton enters Monday with a six-game losing streak. Each defeat has come in regulation.

"Have we not done well this year? Absolutely," Oilers coach Dallas Eakins told the team website Sunday. "Have I seen, quietly, progress in players and in our game? I do. But I understand that the fans and the people in the city are going 'Hey, you — and I mean me, Dallas — you've been losing for seven years.' I understand that.

"They look at the jersey, they look at the colors, they look at the team on the ice. And I'm okay with that, because I fully understand it."

Team Scope:

Jets: Winnipeg's brief two-game trip to Western Canada concludes Monday night. The Jets fell short in a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Sunday. Evander Kane had the lone goal and Ondrej Pavelec made 23 saves.

"It's tough … they're a good team," defenseman Zach Bogosian said after the loss. "I thought we played pretty well against them … 1-1 going into the third, you're in a pretty good position to win the game. Unfortunately, we didn't get the job done that way. We have to be better next time. We have to capitalize on our chances and we've just got to keep it simple on the road."

Oilers: Edmonton's latest loss was a bad one, a 6-0 defeat against the St. Louis Blues at Rexall Place on Saturday. The Oilers recorded 23 shots on goal against Blues goalie Brian Elliott, but came up empty. Ilya Bryzgalov allowed six goals on 33 shots.

Edmonton trailed 2-0 after 40 minutes before giving up four goals in the third period.

"When we were in the last one, it was really bad. And this is not fun, either," Eakins said of his club's losing streaks this season. "I still feel like the previous spot we were in was a horrible spot where we just had zero confidence. We couldn't make a play, we would see zero flashes and I thought that was a real negative downtime and that was a point where I was trying to keep them very positive.

"Because we’re seeing full periods and two periods of how we want to play — [Saturday's] chances were 10-2 for us in the first period. And then to shoot ourselves in the foot like we did, that's for me saying the next day we come to the rink is not going to be a fun day. I don't want you all smiles and giggles coming in here.

"The one thing I shared with the group today before practice is, I always prided myself as a coach on coming in the next day, yesterday's gone. We've got to get ready for tomorrow. I just let them know, don't let plays die today in practice because I haven't let yesterday go yet."

Who's hot: Kane has three goals and two assists in the past four games for Winnipeg. Mark Scheifele has a six-game point streak. He has three goals and five assists over that span.

Injury report: The Jets are expected to be without defenseman Paul Postma (blood clot) and forwards Matt Halischuk (forearm) and Jim Slater (sports hernia) are out. … Oilers forward Ryan Jones did not practice Sunday after colliding with Andrew Ference during the morning skate Saturday. Defenseman Philip Larsen (illness) and forward Mark Arcobello (rib) did not practice Sunday.

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