Connor McDavid, Stuart Skinner hurt in Oilers' OT loss to Jets

EDMONTON — Kyle Connor scored the overtime winner as the Winnipeg Jets came away with a narrow 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Cole Perfetti, Josh Morrissey and Brandon Tanev also scored for the Jets (48-18-4), who have won four of their last five.

Jeff Skinner had a pair of goals and Zach Hyman also replied for the Oilers (40-24-5), who saw their three-game winning streak halted. 

The Oilers were without the NHL’s leading goal-scorer Leon Draisaitl, who is out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Connor McDavid was also absent for the third period, leaving the game with an upper-body injury after being slashed by Morrissey. The team had no update on McDavid after the game, though he was seen smiling and chatting with teammates afterward.

Connor Hellebuyck made 20 stops to collect the win in net for the Jets, while Stuart Skinner recorded 13 saves for the Oilers before being involved in a late-game net front collision and removed due to concussion protocols.

Coach Kris Knoblauch said the concussion spotter made the call on Skinner.

“It wouldn't have been me. And Skinner obviously didn't want to come out,” he said. “It was the spotter."

Calvin Pickard entered in relief to make three saves.

Takeaways

Jets: Hellebuyck seems like a lock to win a second straight Vezina Trophy and the third of his career. The Michigan native came into the contest with a league-leading .924 save percentage and 2.05 goals-against average. The win gave him a 40-10-3 record on the season, five wins shy of setting a new career high.

Oilers: Skinner was elevated up to the top line with McDavid for the second game in a row and made the most of it with his two goals, his first points since Feb. 23.

Key moment

After Hyman tied the game 3-3 with 5:34 to play in the third, Winnipeg was able to get the extra point in overtime following a big save by Hellebuyck on Hyman. The Jets did a solid job cycling in the Edmonton zone before dropping it back to Connor who wired home his 37th goal of the season on Pickard.

Key stat

Winnipeg’s numbers this season have been very impressive. The Jets are third in goals scored and hold the league’s top power play. They came entered Thursday having allowed a league-low 162 goals in 69 games this season (2.34 per game) and possessed a stellar plus-77 goal differential — 26 goals better than the next Western Conference team, the Dallas Stars, at plus-51.

PM in the AM

New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney participated in the morning skate with the Oilers. An Edmonton native and self-avowed Oilers fan, who went on to play as a goalie for Harvard in college, Carney returned to take in the game at night.

Up next

Jets: Return home to face the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Oilers: Play host to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.