GAME RECAP: Oilers 2, Jets 1 (OT - Preseason)

EDMONTON, AB – Forward Viljami Marjala ended the contest 1:26 into overtime as the Edmonton Oilers picked up their second pre-season win this exhibition campaign on Tuesday night with a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.

"It was a battle-type game," Head Coach Mike Babcock said. "It's exhibition, so teams have partial lineups, but I thought our guys played hard. I didn't think we gave up much through two, and I thought we played really well in the third."

Marjala came off the bench in overtime and took a pass from Zach Hyman that the Finnish forward sniped top shelf over the left shoulder of Jets' netminder Domenic DiVincentiis for the game-winner.

Just like on Saturday, the Jets scored first through forward Alex Iafallo, but defenceman Atro Leppanen pulled the Oilers level with 4:10 left in the first period before the Oilers saw the better chunk of the possession over the final 40 minutes plus overtime.

Goalie Devon Levi looked sharp in his Oilers' pre-season debut by making 16 saves on 17 shots before Connor Ungar took over the crease in the third period and finished the night by saving all five shots he faced.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also had an assist in the victory.

"It was a gritty game," forward Isaac Howard said. "We stuck with it. It was a game where there wasn't a ton of chances either way. I think we just stuck with it, and it's good to get the win."

The Oilers improved to 2-0-0 this preseason and will continue their exhibition schedule on Thursday on the road against the Vancouver Canucks, with the game being streamed on Sportsnet beginning at 7:00 PM MT.

HOW IT HAPPENED

An early stop on the penalty kill for the Oilers set the stage for a handful of players making their pre-season debuts in Blue & Orange, or trialling new roles, to gain early traction in their auditions to earn extra responsibility under Head Coach Mike Babcock.

Winnipeg earned the game's first power play with forward Viljami Marjala in the box for high-sticking just 1:32 into the opening frame, but the Oilers' first-unit penalty kill on Tuesday that consisted of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Murphy and Jake Walman was fast to push high to the blueline and quickly clear the danger.

"The pressure on the puck," Babcock said of what he liked from the penalty kill. "We're going to pressure like crazy. That's what we want to do. I think with all our structure, we kind of know it, but we don't really know it yet... I think we're going in the right direction that way, so it was a positive outing."

Zach Hyman, who killed penalties under Babcock with the Toronto Maple Leafs, was next to jump over the boards among the forwards and help complete Edmonton's early stop on the penalty kill. 

Edmonton's first chance with the man advantage past the five-minute mark saw an opportunity for Isaac Howard to get reps on the top power-play unit, to which the young forward made a number of good decisions to generate scoring chances.

Howard was on the top line at even strength with Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins and felt better about his performance than on Saturday, looking to build on Tuesday's effort in hopes of locking down his place on the opening night roster one week from tonight.

"It's great to get those reps in, and it's just fun to be out there," he said. "It's an opportunity to go help the team and try to score goals, so it's good to get those reps."

"I think when we're just using our legs, that's where we're going to be most successful.  Just push the pace and create opportunities off that. Those guys are just both so skilled and also hard on pucks and can win pucks and make it easy out there."

Goaltender Devon Levi was making his Oilers' pre-season debut and came up with a confident early save on a wrap-around for Alex Iafallo that came off Winnipeg's best zone entry of the power play.

The 24-year-old shot stopper was locked in to make a handful of smart saves in a duel against Jets netminder Domenic DiVincentiis in the first period, who matched Levi's six saves through 20 minutes. 

Iafallo would be the first to beat Levi by opening the scoring at 6:56 of the period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead, capitalizing on a giveaway from Shakir Mukhamadullin and a broken stick for Josh Brown to convert a rebound that came off the backboards from a shot delivered on goal by Nino Niederreiter.

The Oilers tied things up with 4:10 left in the opening frame on defenceman Atro Leppanen's low effort that found its way through the five-hole of DiVincentiis, with Hyman parked in his office outside the crease to provide the screen in front.

The Jets debated challenging the equalizer for goaltender interference, but despite any potential contact from Hyman, the puck appeared to have already gone through the legs of DiVincentiis, discouraging the Winnipeg bench from taking a closer look.

The D pairing of Atro Leppanen and Damien Carfagna was especially effective for the Oilers on Tuesday despite some reduced ice time behind the likes of Connor Murphy, Jake Walman and Shakir Mukhamadullin, who were all making their pre-season debuts.

Babcock picked out Walman post-game as another blueliner that had a strong showing on Tuesday, with the 30-year-old looking like he's poised for a fast start to the regular season with his intensity and speed way up at Training Camp.

"I thought Walman had a heck of a game," Babcock said. "I've been hearing all this stuff about Wally, and I was impressed by him."

Edmonton killed off another early penalty thanks to Levi, who'd finish his Oilers' pre-season debut with a handful of high-quality saves and one goal allowed on 18 shots.

Overall, the Oilers' penalty kill was effective in stopping the Jets short on all three of their power plays, stopping the Jets again to begin the third period with 48 seconds of carryover from Josh Brown's cross-checking penalty late in the middle frame.

Edmonton's own man advantage went 0-for-3.

The Oilers continued to see most of the puck over the final 40 minutes on Tuesday, but Connor Ungar wasn't without his own big moments in the third period, highlighted by the young netminder's intervention on an odd-man rush for the Jets near the nine-minute mark of the final frame that helped get the contest to overtime.

In the extra stanza, Hyman carried the puck himself over the line when a hard dump-in from Dylan Samberg came all the way out into the neutral zone, leading to Marjala coming on the ice from a change quickly and burying Hyman's feed for the winner.

UP NEXT

The Oilers will be back on the road Thursday when they travel to Vancouver to face the Canucks in their third of four pre-season contests.