What’s the difference between the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets? Both teams were solid playoff teams in 2025, but the Oilers are fighting for first in the Pacific, whereas the Jets are last in the Central.

Winnipeg started out good enough. Kyle Connor recorded the first goal of the night with a snap shot from the slot off a centering pass from Mark Scheifele. Edmonton quickly tied up the score – Kapanen created a beautiful opportunity with a centering backwards pass on his bad side to Vasily Podkolzin for a tap-in goal that left Hellebuyck flabbergasted. Not to mention, Leon Draisaitl wasn’t involved in the play at all – a rare sight.

The Jets fired back and recorded a goal a minute later, and an insurance goal 40 seconds after that. Tanner Pearson beat Calvin Pickard with a wraparound, and Josh Morrissey trickled the third goal past Pickard in a net-front scramble.

Slowly, Edmonton began to fight back. It didn’t come in goals at first, it came in longer offensive zone possessions, it came in making Hellebuyck work for his paycheque a little more, and the Oilers got a huge break late after Logan Stanley rung the puck off the post and Riley Stillman cleared the empty net milliseconds before the Jets could seal the deal off the rebound.

Trent Frederic made an impact by tilting the ice in a fight with Logan Stanley. Frederic landed a couple of jabs before losing his balance and forfeiting the scrap; it wasn’t pretty, but it fired up the Oilers when the goals weren’t coming.

But with 21 seconds left in the second period, Connor McDavid finally broke through. Draisaitl found McDavid with a backhand saucer pass; McDavid caught the puck with his skate, juked out Hellebuyck and potted a goal over the pad to cut the lead to one. Edmonton had all the momentum heading into the third, and Zach Hyman beat the reigning Vezina winner with a wrist shot over the left shoulder to tie the game.

Adam Lowry came close to extending their lead shorthanded, but Bouchard made a clean stick play to stop the shot attempt. The Oilers powerplay immediately commit to the rush and drew the Jets defense deep into their zone, but in doing so they left the high slot wide open for Evan Bouchard; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found the pass to Bouchard and he fired off a bomb past the Jets netminder for the game winning goal. Final score 4-3 Edmonton.

What’s the difference between the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets? Resilience. After playing a relatively solid 15 minutes, a couple bad plays meant the Oilers had to find a way to win down 2 goals on the road against a goalie that historically has had their number. Undeterred, Edmonton chiseled away at the opponents – going over 20 minutes between their first and second goal, and 30 minutes before the game was tied.

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets lost their 11th game in a row in heartbreaking fashion – setting a franchise record in the process. Winnipeg had every opportunity to snap their streak against Edmonton. They got Pickard on one of his weaker nights, they got a quick couple free goals in the first period, and there were opportunities to pile it on. But Edmonton eventually found their footing and fired back, and when they did, the Jets crumbled.

And that was the difference.

The Oilers head back to Edmonton to host their divisional rival and long time playoff partner, the LA Kings, on Saturday night.