GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Jets 2 (SO)

WINNIPEG, MB -It took 65 minutes and a shootout, but a young Oilers squad managed to knock off the Jets 3-2 on Saturday night.
The shootout saw only a single goal scored by Devin Shore, while Stuart Skinner stopped all three shots he faced to pick up the win.
The Oilers battled back after a slow start and carried play for much of the last two periods, and improved their preseason record to 3-2 in the process.

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BENSON BREAKS THE ICE

Despite the Jets jumping out to an early 10-2 shot advantage, it was the Oilers who managed to tickle the twine first in the contest.
Following a good play with the stick by Jake Virtanen, Tyler Benson picked up the loose puck near the left circle and fired a shot high over Connor Hellebuyck for the game's first goal.
The tally was Benson's first of the preseason as the AHL ace looks to carve out a bigger role for himself on the Oilers big club this season. The 24-year-old played 29 games with in the NHL last year, recording a goal and an assist.

RAPID RESPONSE

The Oilers lead would not last for long. With the Jets on a two-man advantage due to a Jason Demers interference call and a Markus Niemelainen high sticking call, Jets top prospect Cole Perfetti would find an open third chance opportunity at the side of the net, jamming the puck past Stuart Skinner to tie the game.
Perfetti was originally selected in the first round of the 2020 NHL Fraft (10th overall) by the Jets, selected just four picks ahead of the Oilers Dylan Holloway. The 20-year-old made his way into 18 games with Winnipeg last season, picking up a pair of goals alongside five assists.

PENALTY BOX PARADE

The Oilers were able to net their first power-play goal of the preseason and it came off the stick of of the veteran PTO Jason Demers. After the Jets took a pair of penalties by Dylan Samberg and Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Oilers capitalized on the two man advantage courtesy of a beautiful cross-ice feed by Dylan Holloway, setting up the Demers slap-shot goal.
The goal was one of a trio of power-play goals scored in the game, with the Jets burying two of their six opportunities while up a man.

With the game knotted at one in the third period and Winnipeg on the powerplay, the Jets looked to have taken the lead when Dubois capped off a quick feed from Cole Perfetti. Head Coach Jay Woodcroft challenged and the play was deemed to have entered the zone offside. Despite the goal being waved away, the Jets powerplay would not be denied. Just 34 seconds after the disallowed tally, Perfetti found some space to the side of Stuart Skinner and fired a puck past the Oilers starter to gove the Jets the lead and their second powerplay goal on the night.

STEADY STU

Tonight's starter against the Jets, Stuart Skinner looks ready for regular season action after another strong preseason performance in Winnipeg. The Oilers netminder was tracking pucks well all evening and looked calm and collected during the moments where preseason hockey can get a little frentic in front of him.
The 23-year-old turned aside 33 of 35 shots he faced in regulation, with the only goals being Perfetti's two wide open looks on the powerplay. Skinner is currently sporting a .942 save percentage through parts of three games during the Oilers preseason, turning aside 33 of 35 shots.
The Oilers presumptive backup goalie behind Jack Campbell is looking to build off last season's solid performance where he sported a .913 save percentage through 13 games, including his first career shutout.

PARTING WORDS

Devin Shore on his shootout winner:
"I think for any of us you have a couple of tendancies and goes to you have in practice. When the ice gets bad you don't want to do to much with it and I saw low blocker."
Stuart Skinner provides his thoughts on the game:
"I thought I played well. I thought the whole team played well. I thought we got on the penalty kill a couple of times tonight and we did a really great job blocking shots and getting the puck out of our end. All the guys just played really hard tonight and I'm really proud of the group."
Stuart Skinner on his ability to handle the puck:
"We're always trying to find the puck here and there. As a goalie, it's one of the more important things you do. Winnipeg, they're a big team that had a lot of big guys in front me and they made it hard on all of us. I'm really happy we found a way to get the win tonight."
Coach Woodcroft comments after the game:
"I thought we hung in there the first period. They had the bulk of the play in that period, but we hung in and found a way to score the first goal of the game. As the game wore on, we got more and more competitive and foudn a way to win a road game in a tough building versus a tough lineup tonight. It's a credit to everybody who was dressed. It took a lot of hard work and obviously all 65 minutes and then some."