PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Jets

The Edmonton Oilers wrap up 2022 with a New Year's Eve contest at Rogers Place against the Winnipeg Jets.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin at 7:30 p.m. MT, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Post-Game at SEA 12.31.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
COMING SOON: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. WPG
COMING SOON: PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft (6:30 p.m. MT)
RECENT VIDEOS
OILERS TODAY: Post-Game at SEA
POST-GAME: Coach Jay Woodcroft
POST-GAME: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
HIGHLIGHTS: Oilers 7, Kraken 2
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Jets Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
RECAP: Oilers 7, Kraken 2
BLOG: McDavid pushing to new heights
RECAP: Oilers 2022-23 Skills Competition
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Saturday's game on Sportsnet at 8:00 p.m. MT.
EDMONTON, AB - The Edmonton Oilers close out the 2022 calendar year with the second game of a back-to-back against the Winnipeg Jets on New Year's Eve at Rogers Place.
Without Leon Draisaitl in the lineup in the first of back-to-back games on Friday night, the Oilers collectively picked up the slack and put up seven against the Seattle Kraken in a 7-2 rout of their Pacific Division opponent at Climate Pledge Arena, including three goals in the first 3:54 of the hockey game that marked the third-fastest three-goal start to a road game in franchise history.
"I mean, it's huge," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Way easier than playing from behind. It's something that we've talked about all year and we're starting to get better and better and learn from our mistakes. You can't let off the gas, too. I thought we did a pretty good job of that."
Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists in only a season-low ice time of 16:02 for the captain, pushing his point streak to a career-tying 17 games of 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points.
Nugent-Hopkins led the Oilers forwards with 19:07 and contributed four assists to crack the NHL's top-10 in scoring with 45 points, matching the likes of Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov and Colorado's Mikko Rantanen while pulling within five points of his 2021-22 season total of 50.
Klim Kostin and Zach Hyman each had a pair of goals alongside singles from Jesse Puljujarvi and Darnell Nurse, while Stuart Skinner was still called upon to make 36 saves in the high-scoring victory.
Video: POST-RAW | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 12.30.22
"I just thought it was a complete team effort," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I thought we had 20 players pulling on the same rope tonight. We were able to assert the game. We wanted to play right off the bat, put the other team on the back foot and we took the game to them and that allowed us to settle into the game and play the way we wanted."
When Seattle started getting physical down four goals midway through the first period, the Oilers answered the bell, including Dylan Holloway scrapping Vince Dunn for his first NHL fight in the second period and Kostin coming to the defence of a teammate in the final frame to let Chris Tanev know it wouldn't be tolerated.
"I think especially when you get up a couple of goals, you know that they're going to respond physically," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I thought we did a good job of staying out of the crap, but also not backing down at all and just kept kind of going."
"You saw Dylan Holloway step up physically," Woodcroft added. "He didn't like getting cross-checked in the ribs. He thought it was a dirty play and he stood up for himself. I was proud of that. And then, Klim Kostin stuck up for a teammate."
The Oilers power play went a perfect 2-for-2 on the evening to reach 33.3 percent on the season -- a number that seems almost too crazy to believe and one that would stand as a League record if it holds until the end of the season.
"I thought the power play executed," Woodcroft said. "When they wanted to run around, we passed the puck past them and the result was that we got two points.
"Now we're going to get ready for a really good, really structured Winnipeg Jets team."
The legend of Leon Draisaitl and his impact on the ice for the Oilers speaks for itself.
Since the start of the 2016-17 NHL season, as pointed out on Twitter by 630 CHED's Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer, the German ranks second in the NHL for points (613), third in goals (254), third in assists (359), first in power-play goals (100) and second in power-play points (211).
Draisaitl had managed to miss only seven games over the last seven seasons prior to Friday, and we all know what he went through to play through an ankle injury in last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"To me, I think we have a lot of really good hockey players," Woodcroft said. "Obviously Leon, you know where he's at in the point race and in the league. He's a Hart Trophy winner. He's a blood-and-guts warrior. What he did in the playoffs last year, the level of pain that he's willing to play with, I don't think you're ever going to replace someone like that."
Video: POST-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 12.30.22
Instead of Draisaitl's absence being viewed as an omission, however, Woodcroft and the Oilers players saw it as an opportunity for some other names to take the spotlight.
"But when you take his 20-to-21 minutes out of the lineup, it's an opportunity for others and we believe we have a good team here," he added. "We believe we have a lot of really good hockey players, and when you're missing someone like Leon, it's not that you're replacing them, it's just other people are able to step up to the forefront and pick up the slack."
It was an assignment that Nugent-Hopkins and the Oilers accepted and made the most of in a team-focused approach of doing the little things right early and frequently. Before the Kraken knew what had happened, the Oilers were well in a groove early playing a direct game.
"Obviously when you lose a guy like that and such a big part of the team, guys have to step up and pick up the pieces a little bit," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I thought we all did a good job of that, and right from the get-go, we had a simple mentality of just putting pucks on net and going to get them and moving pucks quick. I thought we just kind of carried that too through the whole game."
Let's put some of these McDavid numbers in perspective.
A five-point night on Friday pushed the captain's calendar-year total to 143 points that are 22 higher than the next closest player in Florida's Matthew Tkachuk. He's the first player with 140-plus points in back-to-back calendar years since Wayne Gretzky & Mario Lemieux in 1988 & 1989, and with a goal tonight, he'd beat out Boston's David Pastrnak and Toronto's Auston Matthews for the most goals in 2022.
McDavid is the first player to record point streaks of 16-plus games in consecutive seasons since Dany Heatley in 2005-06 and 2006-07, and a three-point first period against the Kraken was the 18th of his career. Only he and Patrick Kane have had three separate point streaks of 15-plus games since McDavid entered NHL in 2015-16, so there's a lot of greatness to process there.
But it's all just numbers in the mind of McDavid in pursuit of his ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup.
"I can tell you that's not exactly what drives him personally. He's driven by team success," Woodcroft said. "He wants the team playing the right way, and he leads the way."
"But most importantly, his teammates and coaches are privy to the work that gets put in. You guys in the media and the fans get to see the end result, which is the product on the ice during games and the special things that he does. But what impresses me is how the best player in the world goes to work. He's committed to doing little things to help the team win. And as I said, it's special.
Video: POST-RAW | Connor McDavid 12.30.22
It's hard to believe, but there's still aspects of his game that the greatest player in the world wants to improve on. Being better at knowing when it's time to shoot instead of pass is one of the bigger pursuits in his career, and this season, it's led to the captain leading the league in goalscoring by a wide margin with 32 -- five higher than Tage Thompson in Buffalo.
"Yeah, I'm always working on my game, always trying to get better, and some nights it goes well, some nights it doesn't," McDavid said. "That's the nature of this league and just trying to help the team win. That's what I'm paid to do."
With four assists on Friday night, McDavid's ability to find his teammates is still at the top of his skill set and something that will never leave his athletic acumen.
"I certainly like making plays and setting guys up, but I think it's something I've learned kind of throughout my career is you got to be a little bit selfish. The (second Hyman goal) there I probably could have still over to Hyms, but I take the shot myself. So there are times to set your guys up and there are times that you need to call your own number, and I'm definitely learning that."
"He's really good. He's so skilled, so talented, and he's big and mean," McDavid said of Kostin. "It's a heck of a combination."
That's proper praise for the Russian from his captain after having arguably his best game in an Oilers sweater since being acquired from the St. Louis Blues in October.
Kostin scored twice, recorded a fight and earned the Oilers Player of the Game vest from his teammates post-game in Seattle for his effort against the Kraken. "We got a lead of like four or five goals, so they started playing a little dirty, but yeah, we're not letting them to play that way. If (I need to), I will fight for everybody on the team."
But he's not about to rest on Friday's performance.
Video: POST-RAW | Klim Kostin 12.30.22
"Yeah, hopefully my best game is in the future," Kostin said. "Somewhere in the playoffs."
In 21 games in Blue & Orange, the Pensa, RUS product has four goals and four assists for an eight-point total that's only now one point off his best season as a member of the Blues in 2021-22 when he posted nine points in 40 games.
His on-ice play, along with his lovable persona off the ice, are making him a valuable member in the Oilers locker room.
"I think since he's come in, he's been great. Obviously a big body, but makes plays smart with the pluck, protects the puck well and obviously stands up for his teammates. So great addition to our team and I think he's having some fun playing out there too."
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS vs. JETS
STREAM: 8:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet West
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers are set for a quick turnaround when they head home to Rogers Place after defeating the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena the night prior.
Edmonton stormed over the Emerald City team, picking up a 7-2 victory on Friday night. Connor McDavid recorded a goal and four assists to extend his point streak to a career-high tying 17 games, while Zach Hyman and Klim Kostin each scored a pair of goals.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins helped facilitate a large chunk of the Oilers offence as well, recording four assists of his own to push his season-point total to 45 -- good enough for a tie for eighth in league scoring.
"I don't think or look at that too much," Nugent-Hopkins said after the win. "I mean, obviously I'm just trying to play and contribute where I can, but tonight is just a big team win."
The Oilers completed the romp without the services of Leon Draisaitl, who missed the contest with an undisclosed injury. The Oilers star left the bench for a bit against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 27, but returned to play the rest of the game. It's unclear whether Draisaitl will be available for Saturday's contest against the Jets or not, but the team did not skip a beat in his absence.
"I just thought it was a complete team effort. I thought we had 20 players pulling on the same rope tonight," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said about the team's performance. "We were able to assert the game. We wanted to play right off the bat and put the other team on the back foot. We took the game to them and that allowed us to settle into the game and play the game we wanted."
Jets Team Scope
Winnipeg comes to Edmonton fresh off a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Mark Scheifele recorded a hat trick to bring his team-leading goal total on the season to 23. His first two goals came on the power play, while the third came with the Canucks net empty.
Pierre-Luc Dubois would net the only other goal on the night for the Jets, scoring the game-winner with less than five minutes remaining in the contest.
The game also happened to be the 1000th of former Oilers sixth-overall pick from all the way back in 2007 in Sam Gagner, with more than half of them coming in the Blue & Orange (or copper). Gagner suited up for 542 games in two separate stints with the Oilers, recording 111 goals, 206 assists, for 317 points.
"The fan reaction was great to see," Dubois said about the Jets pre-game ceremony for Gagner. "Seeing his kids, his wife, the speeches on the (scoreboard), I'm sure it was a special moment for him because it felt special for us."
Connor Hellebuyck had a fairly quiet night, turning aside 20-of-22 shots on the evening with his only blemishes being the opening goal by Andrei Kuzmenko and a third-period tally by Conor Garland.
By The Numbers
The Oilers have won eight of their last nine contests against the Jets dating back to Feb. 17, 2021... Edmonton has averaged 3.11 goals for over that time while only allowing 1.67 goals against per game... Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 17 games on Friday with a five-point effort against Seattle... The Richmond Hill, ON native has tied a career high withe the 17-game streak, while recording an impressive 37 points (16G, 21A) in the run...
McDavid also has a 14-game point streak against Saturday's opponent with 31 points over that stretch... The Captain's 47 all-time points against the Jets is his third best total against any NHL club... Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 31 points against the Jets in his career, his second-best total versus any team...
Connor Hellebuyck leads the NHL in shots faced with 869 and shots stopped with 805 this season... The Jets goaltender also ranks fourth in the National Hockey League with a .926 save percentage this year... Mark Scheifele enters the contest with 23 goals through 36 games and is on pace to tie Ilya Kovalchuk's franchise record of 52 set while with the team was the Atlanta Thrashers...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR; Evander Kane (wrist) is on IR; Ryan Murray (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Leon Draisaitl (undiscolosed) is day-to-day.
JETS - Logan Stanley (lower-body) is on IR; Nikolaj Ehlers (abdomen) is on IR; Nate Schmidt (upper-body) is on IR; Cole Perfetti (upper-body) is day-to-day; Saku Maenalanen (upper-body) is on IR; Josh Morrissey (lower-body) is day-to-day; Blake Wheeler (groin) is on IR
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com