Pavelec, Jets get shootout win at Oilers

EDMONTON -- Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd scored in the shootout to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place on Saturday.
Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, playing in his first game since injuring his knee Nov. 21, made 21 saves through overtime and two more in the shootout.

"To win always feels good," said Pavelec, who missed 33 games because of the injury. "It was nice to be back after almost three months; I enjoyed it. The guys did a great job to keep them outside. [The Oilers] were patient, they were waiting for their opportunities in the first few minutes, and that helped me a lot. I was able to move a little bit around the net without a shot, and it was a good first period for the guys, and it was a good win."
Oilers goaltender Laurent Brossoit, in his first NHL start of the season after being recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, made 32 saves through overtime but allowed goals on each shootout attempt he faced.

Winnipeg (25-27-3), which is 2-2 in games decided in the shootout, has won three of its past four games.
Wheeler and Oilers center Matt Hendricks scored in regulation.
"We played a good game," Wheeler said. "If you give those guys opportunities, if you turn pucks over at the line, you try to do too much in the offensive zone, that's when they kill people. If they are going to out-battle us in their defensive zone, take the puck 200 feet down the ice and score a goal, then you have to tip your cap to them. But if we made them come 200 feet, we knew we would make it a long night for them."
Jordan Eberle scored in the shootout for the Oilers (22-29-6), but Pavelec denied Hendricks and Connor McDavid.

Wheeler lost control of the puck on his way in but was able to regain possession and beat Brossoit in the first round. Eberle scored for Edmonton on the next shot, but Ladd beat Brossoit on Winnipeg's second attempt, and it stood up as the winner after McDavid failed to extend the shootout.
"There was a lot of special teams on both sides tonight," Hendricks said. "They are a good team. I know their record doesn't show it, but they are a good team and have a lot of talent over there. They have a lot of big bodies that are tough to play against, and their goaltender came in and played well tonight. We didn't seem to execute in terms of our shots. We missed a lot of shots and a lot were blocked."
Winnipeg was 0-for-6 on the power play and allowed a shorthanded goal; Edmonton was 0-for-5.
Wheeler scored 7:15 into the second period, converting on a 2-on-1 rush, to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. He took a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers and snapped a shot over Brossoit, who started because No. 1 goalie Cam Talbot was ill.

"I felt pretty good for the most part," Brossoit said. "There are still some things I want to tidy up at this level, but for the most part, I felt good. It feels good to get a point, but shootouts are something I'm pretty confident in, so it's kind of frustrating losing a point that way."
Hendricks tied it 11:00 into the third period when he beat Pavelec on a shorthanded rush. Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba turned over the puck at the Oilers blue line, allowing Hendricks to break back the other way and pick the bottom corner of the net against Pavelec.
The Oilers went on the power play with 1:27 left in the third period when Mark Scheifele was assessed a cross-checking penalty on Zack Kassian, but the man-advantage was negated 16 seconds into overtime when Edmonton's Taylor Hall was assessed a slashing penalty for knocking Little's stick out of his hands.

Winnipeg went on the power play when Scheifele's penalty expired, but it was Edmonton defenseman Eric Gryba who had the best chance, stealing the puck at center and hitting the crossbar off the ensuing rush.
"I thought we were real good through 50 minutes of hockey or maybe a little longer than that," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "When we made some mistakes, our goaltender was the difference. We had some real good efforts by a number of defensemen tonight. I think the guys did a good job of letting our goaltender break in a little early and not see anything too dangerous, and then he settled in through the second."
The Oilers continue with the third game of a six-game homestand Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks. The Jets visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday in the second of a four-game road trip.