GAME STORY: Jets 4, Oilers 1 – Game 1

EDMONTON, AB – On the day Connor McDavid officially claimed his third scoring title in five years, it was another Connor who stole the spotlight in Game 1 of the North Division semifinal.

Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped 32 of 33 shots to back-stop the Jets to a 4-1 victory on Wednesday at Rogers Place as they took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series.

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FIRST BLOOD

Jesse Puljujarvi scored his first playoff goal in his first playoff game at 8:24 of the middle frame, converting on the rebound from a point shot by Tyson Barrie. The Oilers defenceman fired a shot toward the Winnipeg net and it struck Jets blueliner Dylan DeMelo on its way before Puljujarvi pounced on the loose puck and beat Hellebuyck to make it 1-0 for the home side. The Finnish winger finished the regular season with 15 goals in 55 games.

PLAY OF THE GAME

It wasn’t so much the quality of Tucker Poolman’s equalizing goal in the second period that earned him this distinction, but rather the timeliness as the tally came less than three minutes after Puljujarvi’s opening goal. The Jets forward beat the Oilers defenders to a rebound on a shot from the high slot by Blake Wheeler and tucked home the equalizer for his first career playoff goal as well.

SAVE OF THE GAME

We’ll rewind all the way back to Edmonton’s first shot of the game as Barrie sent a blistering one-timer toward Hellebuyck, but the Jets netminder managed to get the knob of his stick on the shot destined for the top corner to keep the game scoreless at the time. He’d make 31 more stops on the night for the victory.

TURNING POINT

The Jets scored the go-ahead goal at 9:16 of the third period when Dominic Toninato deflected a point-shot blast by Logan Stanley that went off the blocker of Mike Smith, off the post and off the camera inside the net. The puck left the net so quickly that play continued until the off-ice officials rang the horn, called the referees over and prompted a quick review that confirmed the 2-1 marker. Toninato only played two games for Winnipeg during the regular season but scored a massive goal in Game 1.

TOP PERFORMER

The Oilers had Hellebuyck’s number during the regular season as last year’s Vezina Trophy winner lost five of the seven games he played against Edmonton during the season series. He returned to form in Game 1, though, easily the most valuable player on the ice for either side. Hellebuyck boosted his save percentage to .919 in 28 career playoff games.

FACT CHECK

Puljujarvi is the 13th player in Oilers franchise history to score in his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut and the first since Brad Winchester in Game 2 of 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinal against Detroit.

Heading into Wednesday’s series opener, Leon Draisaitl’s 1.29 points per game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs was the second highest among active players and fourth highest in franchise history.

NEXT UP

Game 2 of the North Division semifinal series between the Oilers and Jets will be contested Friday at Rogers Place before the first-round showdown shifts to Winnipeg for Game 3 on Sunday and Game 4 on Monday. Game 5 (if necessary) will be back in Edmonton next Wednesday.

PARTING WORDS

Check back later tonight for post-game comments from Oilers players and Head Coach Dave Tippett.