Oilers will play Jets in first round of Stanley Cup Playoffs
First series between teams since Winnipeg relocation
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Edmonton (35-18-2) will finish second in the Scotia North Division and will have home-ice advantage against third-place Winnipeg (29-23-3) in the best-of-7 series.
Game 1 has not been scheduled. The playoffs start Saturday.
The Oilers have won six straight games against the Jets and were 7-2-0 against them in the regular season, winning in regulation each time. They outscored them 34-22 in the nine games.
Connor McDavid led the Oilers with 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in the nine games. The center scored each of his seven of his goals at even strength, including a hat trick in a 6-1 win on April 26. McDavid scored at least two points in each of the nine games with two three-point games and one four-point game.
Edmonton was also led by forwards Leon Draisaitl (12 points; seven goals, five assists) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (10 points; five goals, five assists), and defensemen Darnell Nurse (10 points; two goals, eight assists) and Tyson Barrie (nine points; two goals, seven assists).
Mike Smith was 4-0-0 with a 2.06 goals-against average, a .936 save percentage and one shutout in five starts against the Jets. Mikko Koskinen was 3-2-0 with a 2.62 GAA and .913 save percentage in five games (four starts).
"I think it's finding ways to try to minimize their chances off the rush," Winnipeg forward Paul Stastny said. "They're going to make plays, they're going to score goals, they're going to score points, but for us it's how do we adjust our game to make us successful. We don't want to change our game to stop them only -- I think, yeah, that's a priority -- but we also gotta find a way to score goals against these guys and find their weaknesses and I think that our coaches will do a good job of coming up with a game plan."
Nikolaj Ehlers led the Jets with eight points (three goals, five assists) against the Oilers. Ehlers hasn't played since April 26 because of an upper-body injury, which kept him out for the last two games, but he could return for the playoffs.
Forwards Andrew Copp and Mark Scheifele each scored seven points (three goals, four assists) against Edmonton. Scheifele was minus-12 in the nine games. Forward Blake Wheeler (three goals, two assists) was minus-14 in eight games.
Connor Hellebuyck started seven games against the Oilers and was 2-5-0 with a 3.96 GAA and an .877 save percentage. Laurent Brossoit was 0-2-0 with a 2.60 GAA and .909 save percentage in three games (two starts).
McDavid leads the NHL with 104 points (33 goals, 71 assists), and Draisaitl is second with 83 (31 goals, 52 assists). Barrie leads NHL defensemen with 48 points (eight goals, 40 assists). Nurse has scored 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists), and Nugent-Hopkins has scored 35 (16 goals, 19 assists).
"I'm going to answer how do you stop Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl 412 times," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. "And if I'm any good, I'm going to give you 412 answers. I'm just hoping one of those is right."
Smith is 21-6-2 with a 2.31 GAA, a .923 save percentage and three shutouts in 32 games (30 starts). Koskinen is 13-12-0 with a 3.14 GAA and .899 save percentage in 25 games (24 starts).
Scheifele leads the Jets with 61 points (21 goals, 40 assists). Forward Kyle Connor has scored 48 points (24 goals, 24 assists), Ehlers scored 46 (21 goals, 25 assists), Wheeler has scored 44 (15 goals, 29 assists), and Copp has scored 39 (15 goals, 24 assists).
Hellebuyck is 23-17-3 with a 2.60 GAA, a .915 save percentage and four shutouts in 44 games. Brossoit is 6-6-0 with a 2.42 GAA, a .918 save percentage and one shutout in 14 games (11 starts).
Edmonton and Winnipeg have not played each other in the playoffs since Winnipeg relocated from the Atlanta Thrashers for the 2011-12 NHL season. The Oilers played the original Jets six times in the playoffs from 1983-90, winning each series. Winnipeg relocated as the Phoenix Coyotes for the 1996-97 season.
"They're a different franchise (from the past) but you're watching it as it comes along just to see who it's going to be, so now you know your opponent," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. "We've got two more games here to kind of prepare and keep good habits in place and then we'll dig into Winnipeg starting next week. But it's not as if we don't know them. We played them nine times this year. You know them well. They know us well, so it'll be a good series."
The Oilers, who are in the postseason for a second straight season, lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in four games in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers last season.
Winnipeg, which has qualified for four straight seasons, lost to the Calgary Flames in four games in the Qualifiers last season.
The series winner will play the winner of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs (No. 1) and Montreal Canadiens (No. 4) in the second round.
NHL.com staff writer Tim Campbell contributed to this report
