Edmonton Oilers forward Tyler Ennis (63) and Winnipeg Jets defensemen Josh Morrissey (44) battle for a loose puck during the third period at Rogers Place, March 20, 2021.Perry Nelson/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Connor McDavid and Darnell Nurse each had a goal and an assist, and Leon Draisaitl scored what proved to be the winning goal midway through the third period as the Edmonton Oilers rallied from an early two-goal deficit to defeat the visiting Winnipeg Jets 4-2 on Saturday night.
The Oilers won their third straight game and moved back into a first-place tie with Toronto in the North Division.
McDavid extended his point streak to nine games, scoring his 21st goal of the season to move into a tie for the league lead with Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs. McDavid also assisted on Draisaitl’s game-winner.
Devin Shore scored the final goal for the Oilers, and Mike Smith finished with 29 saves.
Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and an assist and Andrew Copp also scored for Winnipeg, which has lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time this season. Nikolaj Ehlers had two assists for the Jets, and Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves.
Winnipeg took a 1-0 lead at the 10:36 mark of the first period on a power-play goal by Copp. The score came when a point shot by Ehlers ricocheted off the skate of defenceman Adam Larsson and into the shin pad of Copp, then past a screened Smith.
Dubois made it 2-0 with a double-tip of a Josh Morrissey shot that was first redirected in the slot by Ehlers into the crease. Then Dubois knocked it through Smith’s pads for his sixth goal of the season.
McDavid cut it to 2-1 near the end of the first period with his fourth goal in three games, circling around behind the net and then pouncing on a loose puck in the slot, where he snapped a wrist shot past Hellebuyck’s blocker side.
Smith kept it a one-goal came in the second period with a pair of highlight-reel saves, first diving across the crease to glove a Kyle Connor shot, and then making a spread-eagle pad save on a Dylan DeMelo backhanded rebound try after Blake Wheeler rang a shot off the post.
Nurse tied it early in the third when he walked in and fired a slap shot from the high slot over Hellebuyck’s glove for his 10th goal of the season, tying his career high.
Draisaitl gave the Oilers their first lead midway through the period when he one-timed McDavid’s crossing pass from the slot past Hellebuyck’s glove side for his 18th goal of the season.
Winnipeg pulled Hellebuyck for an extra attacker with 1:40 remaining, and Shore sealed it with an empty-netter 20 seconds later.