GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Jets 1

WINNIPEG, MB – Goaltender Calvin Pickard was terrific by making a season-high 41 saves, while forwards Max Jones and Jack Roslovic each provided crucial depth goals for the Edmonton Oilers, who came away with a 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Monday night.

"Obviously, there's some time between starts here, and you want to get into it, but I felt good," Pickard said. "I felt good in practice, and I'm confident. This is my third year here. I'm confident behind the group and just trying to do my job."

Pickard put in an exceptional performance in his hometown, allowing only a third-period goal to Jets captain Adam Lowry to lock down his first victory since Dec. 3 against Seattle by making 41 saves on 42 shots, including nine he made while shorthanded as part of an Oilers penalty kill that finished 3-for-3.

"Honestly, I felt pretty good the last month or so," Pickard said. "It's hard to get traction. I thought I played pretty decent in Montreal, pretty decent in Minnesota, but I just didn't get rewarded for it. I got some bounces tonight, and I got rewarded, so I like where my game's at. I want to keep that going."

Jones opened the scoring with his first goal of the season off some hard work on the forecheck with Curtis Lazar before Jack Roslovic added a power-play goal before the end of the second period, extending Edmonton's streak of scoring with the man advantage to eight (10-for-29) and making it 2-0.

After Lowry cut the deficit in half 5:46 into the final frame, Connor McDavid was able to extend his point streak to 13 games, totalling 33 points (13G, 20A), with the helper on Zach Hyman's empty-netter with 1:26 left in regulation that secured the Oilers the 3-1 victory to close out their two-game road trip.

"We've been winning so many games on the sticks of Connor and Leon, and tonight Winnipeg did a pretty job keeping those guys in check," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "It's nice to see the other guys contribute. We should be able to win once in a while without them having to be a plus, and it was nice to see Max get his first goal."

The Oilers will now host the Boston Bruins at Rogers Place on New Year's Eve before the calendar turns over to 2026.

FIRST PERIOD

Despite there being no goals in the opening frame, there was still plenty of action involved for Calvin Pickard to make some important stops for the Oilers at both even strength and shorthanded, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins wasn't afraid to show again that he's not afraid to drop the gloves when he needs to.

Making the start in his hometown on Monday, Pickard came up with the huge early save on fellow Winnipeg native Jonathan Toews, getting his left toe to the veteran's open chance in the slot just before the 14-minute mark of the first period after the Jets came out with the best start of the two Canadian sides.

"I had a couple early ones, got into it, and it was consistent," Pickard said. "There were no lulls in the game. They kept shooting, they kept coming, and we did a pretty good job of keeping them to the outside."

With 8:42 left in the frame, Nugent-Hopkins took exception to having his head driven into the boards by Neal Pionk, throwing a jab at the defenceman's face in retaliation for a roughing call before squaring up for his first fight since Mar. 1, 2023, when he dropped the gloves with Justin Holl of the Maple Leafs.

Nugent-Hopkins and Pionk traded blows in a solid tilt, but the Oilers would be on the penalty kill because of the extra minor for roughing.

A few extra saves from Pickard at five-on-four would help them kill off Winnipeg's first man advantage, before another late stop on a slashing penalty to Leon Draisaitl would keep the game scoreless, thanks to their 2-for-2 penalty kill through 20 minutes.

"Their power play got some looks, I had to make some saves there, but it was just one of those games," Pickard said. "They were great, and you have to give them credit. They played well, and I needed to be good, and we defended well."

SECOND PERIOD

With Pickard continuing to lock it down between the pipes through 40 minutes, the depth of the Oilers took advantage of their netminder's stellar play – including his nine more saves over two penalty kills – to give them a 2-0 advantage in the middle frame off tallies from Max Jones and Jack Roslovic.

Jones opened the scoring for the Oilers at the eight-minute mark off some good work with Curtis Lazar on the forecheck, forcing the turnover from Logan Stanley behind the Jets' net before it was pushed out front for Jones to flick it up the stick of Mark Scheifele and past Connor Hellebuyck at the near post.

"I'm just trying to play hard and simple," Jones said. "My game is physical and fast, and obviously with low minutes, you've got to play a certain way, and I think I can do a pretty good job at it and help the team in that way. So, I'm just finding my game piece by piece."

Jones' goal was his first of the season, and he now has three points (2G, 1A) over his last seven games played (dating back to last season).

"Seeing him get that was great," Pickard said. "He's an awesome guy. Makes me laugh, great to have around, and he's been playing well, giving us good energy, hitting, and playing hard. It was good to see him get rewarded."

The Oilers were shorthanded only 35 seconds later when Evan Bouchard was called for tripping Mark Scheifele, but after Pickard robbed Gabe Vilardi to keep their penalty kill a perfect 3-for-3, Bouchard came out of the box to beat Josh Morrissey for a partial breakaway before Hellebuyck stopped him in tight.

Roslovic was moved to third-line centre on Monday to add some scoring depth to Edmonton's bottom-six forwards, and the former 2015 first-round pick of the Jets was able to make it 2-0 as part of Edmonton's second-unit power play that extended the team's streak with a PPG to eight games.

With less than 30 seconds left on a tripping penalty to Dylan Samberg, Roslovic was in the right spot to accept the rebound from Matt Savoie's centring pass that was intended for Adam Henrique, who got a piece of it before Hellebuyck kicked the rebound into the right circle for Roslovic to fire it far side for his 11th goal of the season.

Roslovic now has four goals over his last six games and 18 points (11G, 7A) over his last 20 games, scoring his third power-play goal of the season and the 20th of his career for an Oilers' man advantage that improved to 13-for-29 (44.8 percent) over their eight-game scoring streak.

THIRD PERIOD

Jets captain Adam Lowry shovelled home a backhand on the rebound at 14:14 of the third period off a mistake from Jones, but Pickard was phenomenal the rest of the frame, stopping 15 shots before Zach Hyman added an empty-netter to seal the netminder's hometown victory with a big performance.

"First, Pickard – he played a heck of a game," Jones said. "Obviously, it hurts when I make a tough play in the D zone there and try to make something happen. But he's been good all night, and he was a big part of that."

The Oilers also helped out their goaltender by showing what it takes to win – coming up with some big blocks and takeaways while pushing the Jets to the outside throughout the final period – to which Pickard said they were just as instrumental to victory on Monday as each one of his 41 saves.

"This team's been through a lot," Pickard said. "A lot of playoff games and sacrifice. It's a tough building to play in. You see Leon make a big block. You see all these guys make big plays. Hyman had a great stick lift right before we iced the game there, so a lot of good plays all around; a lot of good, experienced players that make big plays at the right time."

When the Jets pulled Hellebuyck for the extra attacker, the Oilers were able to quickly escape their own zone with the help of that Hyman stick lift, as McDavid managed to keep his point streak alive at 13 games by carrying it over the blueline and dishing it to Hyman for an assist on the empty-netter.

McDavid's point streak now stands at 13 games with 13 goals and 20 assists, while an ENG for Hyman extended his point streak to five (3G, 5A).