Jets' win costly over Oilers with Scheifele's injury
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Winnipeg Jets may have picked up a valuable two points with a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night, but they lost offensive leader Mark Scheifele with a serious arm or shoulder injury in the second period.
After assisting on the goal to put the Jets (21-11-6) ahead 3-2, Scheifele was taken hard into the end boards by Oilers (17-18-2) defenseman Brandon Davidson. The Jets' second-leading scorer fell awkwardly, immediately grabbed his right shoulder and writhed on the ice for about 30 seconds. He finally got up under his own power and went straight to the dressing room. He did not return.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 21 shots in picking up his 13th win of the season. Cam Talbot got in front of 35 shots directed his way at the other end of the ice.
Much has been made about the Jets' power play and it wasted no time getting on the scoresheet when Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse was sent off for tripping at 6:07 of the first period. Right off the faceoff, an Oilers clearing attempt bounced a couple of times along the boards. but defenseman Jacob Trouba was unable to knock the puck down.
Unfortunately for the him, Connor McDavid -- the fastest player in the NHL -- was off to the races. Last year's scoring leader was joined by Leon Draisaitl on a two-man break and drew Hellebuyck out of position before leaving the puck at the top of the crease for his wingman, who calmly deposited his ninth of the season into the empty cage at 6:17.
Undeterred, the Jets calmly set up their power play again and worked the puck around for the remainder of the two minutes. As Nurse was stepping back on to the ice, left winger Nikolaj Ehlers cruised into the slot and ripped a wrist shot that went wide to Talbot's right but landed on the stick of center Bryan Little, who was sitting to his left at the edge of the crease. He netted his sixth at 8:12.
Like it has done all season long, the Jets' fourth line then went to work. Center Matt Hendricks dug the puck out of the corner and fed right winger Joel Armia at the top of the right circle. Armia snapped a wrist shot high over Talbot's glove at 14:44 for this fifth of the year.
Then it was the Oilers' turn to respond. After hemming the Jets in their zone, Hellebucyk was unable to hold on to a shot from defenseman Kris Russell and right winger Jesse Puljujarvi, picked up the rebound and roofed his seventh of the season at 16:07 to tie things up at 2-2.
But in a game where momentum was as elusive as a defensive scheme, the Jets regained the upper hand on the first shift of the second period thanks to their top line. Scheifele took a hit as he entered the Oilers zone, creating an odd man situation for his linemates, right winger Blake Wheeler and left winger Kyle Connor. They played give-and-go a couple of times before Connor wristed home his 11th of the season at the 54-second mark.
A hush fell over the crowd a few minutes later, though, when Oilers defenseman Brandon Davidson took Scheifele into the end boards. The Jets' second-leading scorer fell awkwardly, grabbed his right shoulder and writhed on the ice for about 30 seconds. He finally got up under his own power and went straight to the dressing room. He did not return.
The Jets took their first two-goal lead of the game when Armia, who took over the center duties on the top line, picked off a pass in the Jets zone and went in on a breakaway from his own blue line. His wrist shot beat Talbot low to the glove side for his sixth of the season and second of the game at 9:48.
The see-saw battle continued just a few minutes later as the Oilers broke out on an innocent looking play that turned Jets defenseman Tyler Myers around. Center Ryan Strome then fed left winger Jujhar Khaira, who snapped a shot over Hellebuyck's blocker at 10:35 for his seventh goal of the season.
NOTES: Jets RW Patrik Laine and Oilers RW Jesse Puljujarvi were linemates at the World Juniors two years ago when Team Finland won the gold medal on home ice. ... The Oilers lead the NHL with 980 hits. ... G Cam Talbot set a new personal winning streak with his sixth straight victory last week over Montreal, giving him 77 wins as an Oiler and moving him past Curtis Joseph. ... The Oilers rank fourth overall with 34.6 shots on goal per game and they're fifth in the NHL with 30.2 shots allowed per game. ... Jets C Bryan Little played his 710th game for the Jets' franchise, passing RW Chris Thorburn, who moved to St. Louis after last season. ... The Jets have played just 17 games at home this season, tied for second fewest in the league.