The Winnipeg Jets are slumping.
After a stretch in which they won eight of ten games, they’ve now lost three in a row thanks to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers Thursday night.
The Oilers were the stronger team for much of the first, but Connor Hellebuyck turned aside flurries of chances to keep the slate clean.
Edmonton also failed on a power play chance before Winnipeg earned an opportunity with the man advantage and cashed in late in the period.
Cole Perfetti redirected a pass from Mark Scheifele past Stuart Skinner for his eighth of the season with 93 seconds to go in the first.
Edmonton outshot the Jets 12-8 in the opening 20 minutes but the Jets had the 1-0 lead. On the season, the Jets came in with a 5-0 record when leading after the first and a 9-1-1 mark when scoring first.
Both teams had a number of chances to score in the second period but neither could break through as it remained 1-0 after 40 minutes. Winnipeg had two power plays in the middle frame but the Oilers killed them both as each team managed to get ten shots on goal in the period.
The tight checking continued into the third as the Jets nursed their one-goal lead in front of 13,611 fans, the largest crowd at Canada Life Centre this season.
Hellebuyck had been perfect as the clock wound down, stopping the first 31 shots he faced but with just under seven minutes left, a seemingly innocuous wrister from Darnell Nurse from just inside the blue line squeezed through the Jets’ goalie to tie the game.
Edmonton got a great chance to take the lead with 3:24 to go when Gabriel Vilardi, playing in his first game in over six weeks, was called for holding-the-stick, and the Oilers took full advantage.
Connor McDavid found Leon Draisaitl for a one-timer below the faceoff dot and he blasted it home to put the Oilers in front for the first time all night with only 2:14 remaining.
The Jets pulled the goalie but couldn’t get anything going before Ryan McLeod iced it with 20 seconds left.
Edmonton outshot the Jets 39-26 to extend their win streak to four games and hand Winnipeg a third straight defeat.
The Jets will look to turn things around Saturday afternoon when they host Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.