Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/jets-snap-oilers-streak-in-old-school- battle-of-the-offensive-lines-466897883.html Jets triumph, but at what cost? Scheifele leaves game in second period after crashing into boards By: Mike McIntyre There was no Gretzky or Hawerchuk. No Kurri or Selanne. No Coffey or Housley. None of that mattered Wednesday as the modern-day stars of the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers traded chances for much of the night in a wide-open game that resembled some of their classic Smythe Division battles of old — where defence and goaltending often took a backseat to high-octane offence. When the final buzzer went at Bell MTS Place, it was the Jets who outlasted the Oilers by a 4-3 score that certainly could have been much higher on both ends if not for some bad puck luck. Winnipeg improves to 21-11-6 on the year, while Edmonton has their four-game win streak snapped and fall to 17-18-2. "That’s why I love the game. It’s exciting," goalie Connor Hellebuyck said of the victory, which included surviving a frantic last-minute barrage by the Oilers in which they did everything but tie the game. However, the thrill of victory was certainly muted by what appears to be a serious shoulder injury suffered by Jets centre Mark Scheifele. He crashed hard into the boards early in the second period and was in obvious pain, heading straight to the dressing room. He did not return and more will be known about his status today. Scheifele is the Jets second-leading scorer with 38 points in 38 games, and an extended absence would certainly be a big blow to the team. It was the first game back for both teams after a three-day Christmas break, and the first six minutes gave no indication of the excitement to come. Winnipeg and Edmonton managed just one harmless shot each in what was a sloppy start. Then a switch seemingly got flipped. Edmonton kicked things off with a highlight-reel shorthanded goal. Jacob Trouba was unable to corral a bouncing puck, and Connor McDavid raced by him for the clear-cut breakaway. He deked Hellebuyck out, then made an incredible drop pass to teammate Leon Draisaitl who put the puck into an empty net. "I don’t know what you think when you’re dropping the puck on the PK. Is it luck or is it skill? You’d have to ask (McDavid). I’m sure he’d say it’s skill but I hope I don’t see it again," Hellebuyck said following the game. Winnipeg responded just seconds after its power play expired. Bryan Little got a fortuitous bounce off the back boards and buried the rebound. Little was playing in his 710th career game with the franchise, which puts him past Chris Thorburn into the all-time lead. "It’s definitely an accomplishment, but I’m excited about the future. There’s been a lot of ups and downs in my career with this franchise and I think everyone’s pretty excited about the next few years here," said Little. Joel Armia gave the Jets a lead when he converted on a nice Matt Hendricks pass with just over five minutes left in the opening frame. But then came some more McDavid magic, this time on an offensive zone cycle which ended with Jesse Puljujarvi scoring on a rebound. "We’re both coming off a break, so I expected it to be kind of like that at the start of the game. But then I think the game settled down a bit and got a bit more defensive and the game got faster as the periods went on. But yeah, there was quite a few mistakes in the first period, that’s for sure," said Little. Winnipeg’s top line came out flying to start the second, and rookie Kyle Connor scored off a Blake Wheeler pass to make it 3-2 in the opening minute. It was a milestone assist for Wheeler, who passed Ilya Kovalchuk for most all-time in franchise history. Armia put the Jets up 4-2 when he picked off a pass attempt in his own zone and scored on a breakaway. "I kind of knew they had a one-timer on top there. Perreault told me to cheat for that so I guess they could give him an apple on that one," Armia joked about what turned out to be the game- winner. The two-goal lead was short-lived as Jujhar Khaira ripped a wrist shot past Hellebuyck a few minutes later. Winnipeg kept the foot on the gas in the third and had numerous chances to extend its lead — with the best coming from Armia, who may have played his finest game in a Jets sweater. He was robbed by Cam Talbot of what looked like a sure hat trick goal midway through the period. "My feet were moving the whole game. That’s what got me the chances to score goals," said Armia, who moved up to play on the top line with Wheeler and Connor following Scheifele’s injury. Edmonton had a few glorious looks in the final minute but couldn’t beat Hellebuyck. "I think the whole battle was good tonight. The last minute really showed what our team is made of," said Armia. The Jets outshot the Oilers 39-25 on the night, including 29-15 following the first period. Winnipeg improves to 13-3-1 on home ice. Coach Paul Maurice said he liked how his team responded following a bumpy start after the break. "I thought both teams had the same first. We missed three seam passes in the neutral zone to start and the faceoffs are in our end, plays that aren’t completed. But then I thought it got right back to an NHL game. I liked the way we played after the first, we were pretty darn good," he said. "We were where we needed to be for the most part. We got into the shot lanes up top, it was mostly bouncing pucks in that slot area that neither team could really get a good handle on them." Edmonton has been surging of late after a tough start to their season, working their way back into the playoff picture. They’ll get their chance for payback when they host the Jets on New Year’s Eve. Prior to that, Winnipeg welcomes the New York Islanders on Friday night. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/jets-ready-to-juggle-lines-if-mark- scheifeles-injury-is-serious-466912063.html Jets ready to juggle lines if Mark Scheifele's injury is serious By: Mike McIntyre Paul Maurice knew it was bad. He’s seen Mark Scheifele get knocked down plenty of times. But not like this. "You’re hoping they pop back up. You’re just hoping it’s the wind knocked out of them. He doesn’t go down easily and he certainly doesn’t lay on the ice ever. So you know if he’s down it’s significant," Maurice said following Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers that may prove to be extremely costly. Scheifele got tangled with Edmonton defencemen Brandon Davidson and crashed hard into the boards, writhing around in obvious pain on the ice while a hush came over an otherwise raucous Bell MTS Place early in the second period. He eventually got up, clutching at his shoulder, and went straight to the dressing room. "We’ll get a real good look at it for (Thursday). Initially I would say it doesn’t look very good," said Maurice. Captain Blake Wheeler moved from his usual spot on Scheifele’s wing to centre the top line as Joel Armia moved up to play with him and Kyle Connor. Wheeler and his teammates were sombre after the game despite the victory. "That’s my running mate, man. That’s part of my livelihood, a big part of what do as a team. Irreplaceable. Just fingers crossed," said Wheeler. Veteran centre Bryan Little said it was difficult to lose Scheifele, the team’s second-leading scorer with 15 goals and 23 assists in 38 games. "It sucks. To see him on the ice, with how quiet the building was, it was tough to watch. He’s been a huge part of our team. He’s one of those guys that you can’t replace in the lineup. It’s a huge loss and I hope he recovers fast," he said. Maurice said there will be a number of factors to consider if Scheifele is out long-term, including whether to keep Wheeler at centre. "We’ll consider it. We don’t need to make a long-term decision until we know it is. Once we do, he’s done it before," said Maurice. "He was four-and-two (wins and losses) on his draws. He can make adjustments to his game. A big part of the equation is what the wings look like. We don’t have a lot guys that actually play the right side. We’ve got more guys that actually play the left. So if he comes from the right wing into the middle we’ll have to make a decision on that as well." Maurice said players such as Joel Armia and Mathieu Perreault are likely to see increased playing time. He raved about Armia’s game Wednesday, which included two goals and plenty of other chances.