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Lowly Jets blow another lead as Oilers roar back in 4-3 win: Recap, Reaction and Highlights
Edmonton Oilers Winnipeg Jets Connor McDavid
Photo credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jan 8, 2026, 22:45 ESTUpdated: Jan 9, 2026, 14:01 EST
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For only the fourth time this season, the Edmonton Oilers have won a game after allowing the first goal.
On Thursday evening, the Oilers made a long bus trip to Winnipeg to face the Jets for the third and final time this season, defeating the last-placed team 4-3. With the win, they have a 22-16-6 record and could finish the night first in the Pacific Division. Let’s take a look at what went on in this one!
With about nine minutes left in the first period, the Jets got on the board first. Mark Scheifele received a pass behind the net, and found Kyle Connor in the slot. Connor, one of the best snipers in the league, released the puck quickly, fooling Calvin Pickard for the goal.
The Oilers finally got on the board with about three minutes left in the first period. Kasperi Kapanen burst into the zone with speed, feigned like he was going to wrap it around, but he made a quick pass behind the net to a streaking Vasily Podkolzin in the slot for the tap in.
Unfortunately, the tie game lasted for just over a minute. From behind the net, Tanner Pearson caught Pickard sleeping, making a quick move to the side of the net and ripping it past the Oilers’ netminder.
It took 40 seconds later for the Jets to extend their lead to 3-1. Jets’ defenceman Josh Morrissey attempted to pass the puck to the slot, but a mad scramble, an unfortunate bounce, and a sliding Pickard led to the puck trickling in. Both these goals should’ve been saved.
Thankfully, the Oilers and Pickard settled down for the second period. After dominating the majority of the period, Connor McDavid got on the board doing McDavid things on a breakaway. He makes the game look so easy.
The Oilers domination continued into the third period, and they were finally rewarded with the game-tying goal midway through the period. Their initial two-on-one was stuffed, but the Jets couldn’t get the puck out of their zone, and Zach Hyman received a pass from Darnell Nurse, ripping it above Connor Hellebuyck’s shoulder.
They received a power play shortly after. McDavid got a zone entry and all four Jets committed down low, giving Bouchard a whole bunch of time once he received the puck. The right-shot defenceman buried it for his ninth of the season, giving the Oilers a 4-3 lead.

Takeaways…

Coming into this game, the first team that scored in the last 20 Oilers games went on to win. Finally, that streak was snapped as the Oilers overcame a 1-0 and 3-1 deficit in the victory. Unfortunately for the Jets, their losing streak has now extended to 11 games. Sad to see.
Calvin Pickard had a pretty rough first, he made one big save, but should’ve stopped the three goals on the 11 shots he faced in the period. He settled down in the second, but a large part of that was due to the Jets having just four shots from the start of the second period until they pulled their netminder with about two minutes left in the game. There was a stretch of 20 minutes where they didn’t have a shot on net, while the Oilers had 18 shots.
A big reason I was personally excited for this game was because of the makeshift third line that Kris Knoblauch discovered in Tuesday’s game. Together, Isaac Howard, Jack Roslovic, and Matt Savoie played about nine minutes together on the ice, with the Jets scoring two goals (the second and third goals). That said, it was a good game for them, as they outshot and out-chanced the Jets, finishing the game with 65.69 percent of the expected goal share during five-on-five action.
Connor McDavid matched his career-high point streak of 17 games with another highlight reel goal. He finished with a goal and an assist in this game, giving him 18 goals and 23 assists in his last 17 games. Unreal.
Props to Trent Frederic for sticking up for McDavid. The Oilers’ captain was hit hard by Logan Stanley late in the second period, and on Frederic’s next shift, he dropped the mitts with the 6’7″ defenceman. Frederic landed some good punches, but Stanley probably got the better of the Oilers’ forward.
Say what you want about Darnell Nurse, but he’s one tough dude. Late in the second, he took a slapshot off the knee, looked hobbled, got off the ice under his own power, and didn’t miss a shift. He also picked up an assist in this one.
Evan Bouchard had another good game, to the surprise of absolutely no one. In 26 minutes of ice time, he scored a goal and had an assist. One thing I’ve actually been surprised about in recent times is his defence on rushes, he’s gotten better at it.
The Oilers will get another chance to win their third consecutive game for the first time this season on Saturday. They welcome their sons, the Los Angeles Kings, on the night cap (8:00 PM MT) of Hockey Night in Canada. It’s the first time the two teams have met since the first round last year.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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