GAMEDAY: Jets at Oilers

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets (35-24-2) are aware of the tall task in front of them this weekend, as they take on the Edmonton Oilers (33-21-8) in a back-to-back set on Friday and Saturday.
No team in the National Hockey League scores more goals than the Oilers, and no player has scored as much this season as Oilers captain Connor McDavid's 52.
In fact, he's scored twice in five straight.
In 62 games this season, McDavid has been held off the scoresheet just six times - and the Jets are one of those.
That game was on New Year's Eve, a 2-1 Jets victory that saw them keep Edmonton's top-ranked power play off the board on five occasions.
"We'll try not to give them as many opportunities as possible, obviously that goes without saying," said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo. "I think you look at who they have and what they do, it's a great challenge. I'm excited for it. It's always fun to see how you stack up against a group like that."

Of course, things have changed since then. The Jets added Nino Niederreiter up front, while the Oilers have acquired defenceman Mattias Ekholm and forward Nick Bjugstad. Ekholm made his debut against Toronto on Wednesday night, while the Bjugstad deal occurred on Thursday afternoon.
Winnipeg is also looking at these two games against Edmonton as an opportunity to play a tough opponent, and manage to pull out of their winless skid.
They earned a point against Los Angeles on Tuesday in a 6-5 shootout loss, which extended the Jets' winless skid to four (0-3-1), but there were a number of aspects of that game they liked.
"Our intensity was there, our emotion was there, we finally scored some goals and we got contributions from a lot of guys, which was great to see," said DeMelo. "We're going to need a 60-minute effort; a lot of what we did last game and some things we need to clean up. It was a step in the right direction."
The last two days of practice have focused on maintaining that intensity and driving home two simple messages - shoot the puck, and drive the net.
Up until Tuesday's game against Los Angeles, the Jets had gone five games without registering 30 shots on goal. They had 31 against the Kings and had players like Morgan Barron, Adam Lowry, and others getting to the "dirty areas" - as Mark Scheifele often says - in front of the net.
The other step is playing connected.
"When you're connected, then guys are able to move," said Scheifele. "When guys are unsure or in between things, then you sit on your heels and you get waiting for things to happen. When everyone is connected you know where you need to go, you know your read, you know a certain guy's tendencies, and you're able to play fast."
When the Jets are playing that way, that's when Connor Hellebuyck feels they're at their best.
"We're playing free. We're playing loose. We're not worried about making too many mistakes, we're just playing the game with the systems we have in place," he said. "When you're playing free and working hard, those little bounces start going your way and you make the right reads all of the time and you get in a good rhythm of things. That's overlooked, sometimes, in this league."
Rarely, if ever, is Hellebuyck overlooked. The same can be said for McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who hold down the top two spots in the league scoring race at 118 and 90 points respectively.
That would be why head coach Rick Bowness is preaching puck management to his club ahead of Friday's tilt.
"Don't give it to them. Make them earn it," Bowness said. "Don't be making poor percentage plays, or going in the offensive zone and throwing hopers to the slot. You'll be chasing them all night. It's a five-man unit, it's somebody getting above them as much as we can and slowing them up."
Mason Appleton won't play in either game against Edmonton as he's out with an upper-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve, and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby was recalled on an emergency basis from the Manitoba Moose.
Another skater who missed Tuesday's game against Los Angeles, Pierre-Luc Dubois, skated on his own ahead of Jets practice on Thursday as he deals with a lower-body injury. He was in a non-contact jersey during the optional morning skate in Edmonton, but Bowness said that Dubois is "very doubtful" to play Friday.
Heading into action on Friday, the Jets hold down the final wildcard spot in the West by a five-point margin over Calgary, who dropped a 2-1 decision to Toronto on Thursday.
The Jets are hoping their play over the next 21 games increases that gap and pushes them further up the Central Division standings.
It all starts on Friday night.
"Last game was really good intensity from a lot of guys; crowd got into it. It was a playoff-like atmosphere, for sure," DeMelo said. "As long as we can play together, play with that intensity and that emotion we have a good chance every night."