Pickard makes 41 saves, Oilers hand Jets 6th straight loss

WINNIPEG -- Calvin Pickard made 41 saves for the Edmonton Oilers, who held on for a 3-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Monday.

“Calvin was outstanding, obviously the first star tonight,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “The amount of saves he made, especially early in the game on the penalty kill, and then throughout the game. ... Later in the game the team did a pretty good job of blocking some shots for him, but absolutely, Calvin was our best player.”

Max Jones, Jack Roslovic, and Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers (20-14-6), who have won three of their past four games. Connor McDavid had an assist to extend his point streak to 13 games (13 goals, 20 assists).

“[Winnipeg] played well,” Pickard said. “They threw a lot of pucks at the net, they had some good tips. Their 'D' threw a lot of pucks there, but we did a pretty good job. ... If we're giving up shots from the outside that's fine, and take the sticks away. So, it was good.”

Adam Lowry scored for the Jets (15-18-4), who have lost six straight (0-3-3) and nine of their past 10 (1-6-3). Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves.

“I can’t criticize the effort, I can’t criticize the battle,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “The opportunities, the game plan that we threw at them against their elite players, all of those things I asked them to do, they did it. At the end of the day, we’re not getting points and that’s the most important thing.”

Jones gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 8:00 of the second period, jamming in a loose puck at the right post after Curtis Lazar created a turnover by Jets defenseman Logan Stanley behind the net.

“I'm just trying to play hard and simple,” said Jones, whose goal was his first of the season. “My game is physical, fast, and obviously, with low minutes you got to play a certain way, and I think I can do a pretty good job at it and help the team in that way. So, just finding my game piece by piece.”

Roslovic made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 12:49. Adam Henrique’s initial shot was kicked out to Roslovic, who scored under Hellebuyck's glove with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Lowry cut it to 2-1 at 5:46 of the third period, collecting the rebound of Morgan Barron's shot and scoring with a backhand in front.

“I thought we played really well,” Lowry said. “Obviously, there are no moral victories, but I think if we play that style of hockey, if we play that consistent effort for 60 minutes we are going to get more positive results than we got here tonight. That’s what you can take from this game. ... Our two games coming out of Christmas, obviously we didn’t get the result (also a 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday), but I think as a whole the process and the way it looks is a lot closer to what we envisioned our team to look like."

Hyman scored into an empty net at 18:37 for the 3-1 final.

“[Pickard], he played a heck of a game,” Jones said. “Guys laying their body on the line there, strong plays, Hyman at the end there, [checking Kyle] Connor from behind there. It was just a group effort. It was fun to watch down the stretch.”

NOTES: McDavid’s 13-game point streak is the longest in the NHL this season. ... Lowry played in his 800th NHL game. He is fourth player in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history to reach the mark, joining Mark Scheifele (916), Blake Wheeler (897) and Bryan Little (843).