GAMEDAY: Jets at Oilers

If the Winnipeg Jets were into New Year's resolutions, they'd likely have one more thing to accomplish in 2022 before the clock hits midnight and the calendar flips to 2023.
"We've lost three in a row on the road. We want to get back on the winning track on the road," said head coach Rick Bowness. "We just stopped a slide at home against Vancouver, now we have to start winning on the road."
The Jets (22-13-1) had tied a franchise record for consecutive wins on the road earlier this season with five, but as Bowness mentioned, they've hit a bit of a bump in a road since.
All three of the road losses have come during a tough five-game stretch over seven days. It started on the back half of back-to-backs, less than 24 hours apart, in Seattle. That was followed by losses on the east coast in Boston and Washington.
So, there is no better stage than tonight to get that turned around.
"It's a special night for everyone," Bowness said. "It's Hockey Night in Canada, New Year's Eve, Saturday night, that's pretty good to start with all that."

Video: PREGAME | Sam Gagner\
A good start would be helpful for the Jets tonight against an Oilers team that played in Seattle on Friday. Connor McDavid had five points in a 7-2 Edmonton victory.
"We've had a couple sluggish starts in the past five or six games. The game might be won at the start tonight," said defenceman Neal Pionk. "We have to be ready to go."
Speaking of ready to go, it appears Josh Morrissey is ready for tonight after leaving the 4-2 win over Vancouver on Thursday in the third period with a lower-body injury.
He was in his regular pairing with Dylan DeMelo at this morning's skate at Rogers Place.
The full line rushes, with Connor Hellebuyck expected to start in goal, looked like this:
Connor-Dubois-Gagner
Lowry-Scheifele-Kuhlman
Barron-Stenlund-Jonsson-Fjallby
Harkins-Gustafsson-Reichel
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Heinola
Samberg-Pionk
Being in Edmonton just one game after playing in his 1,000th NHL game is special for Sam Gagner. The majority of those games (542 to be exact) came in an Oilers jersey.
"It's really cool the way it's worked out," said Gagner. "It's the funny thing about getting to that milestone is you play 1,001 two days later, so we have to get ready for tonight. It's an important game for us. Looking forward to it."
Video: PREGAME | Neal Pionk
The Oilers have lost their last two games at Rogers Place, so they'll be just as motivated to stop that skid as the Jets are to snap their recent troubles on the road.
McDavid's 37 points in 19 home games lead the NHL, as do his 19 goals on home ice.
"You have to be aware when he's on the ice and know where he's at all times," said Pionk. "We all know he can shoot the puck. He's scoring a lot of goals this year, but the scary part is he can score goals but he can also pass to the back side when he's wanting to shoot. It's something we have to be aware of."
Bowness saw all five of McDavid's points against the Kraken, as the Jets coach watched every second of the game from the hotel room last night. That was in addition to the regular video work he and his staff usually do.
"I always make mental notes that you want to check when you can rewind it and slow it down," Bowness said. "You don't get this opportunity very often when the home team is on the road. So I watched the game, you come in this morning and there were some mental notes. You check the video on it and go from there."
The other part of Edmonton's dynamic duo, Leon Draisaitl, didn't play against Seattle and it's unknown if the big German forward will play against the Jets.
He's listed as day-to-day, but the Jets also have their fair share of injuries. Winnipeg will play its final game of 2022 without Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers, Nate Schmidt, Cole Perfetti, Saku Maenalanen, Mason Appleton, or Logan Stanley.
All but the latter two of those have started skating, but it will be 2023 before any of them hop back into the line-up.
So the focus is on tonight, and closing out 2022 the right way.
"It's important for us to gather our energy and the way we have to play, it's with pace and speed," said Gagner. "Energy is important in doing that. We're gathering it now and we feel good. We have to use it to our advantage."
Puck drop is set for 9 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
Winnipeg ends a stretch of 16 games in 30 days from December 2-31 on Saturday in Edmonton. The stretch included three back-to-backs. The Jets only consecutive days off in December were from December 24-26 for the Christmas break.
Winnipeg is 6-4-1 against the Pacific Division this season. Winnipeg is in the midst of playing four of five games against Pacific Division squads.
The Jets are 9-7-1 on the road this season. Winnipeg has lost three consecutive road games for the first time this season after matching a franchise record five-game road winning streak.
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