Connor, Pionk help Jets edge Oilers

EDMONTON --The Winnipeg Jets slowed down Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers for a 2-1 win at Rogers Place on Saturday.

Neal Pionk and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (23-13-1), who have won two straight following a three-game losing streak.
"It was a good win. Any way we can get them, good teams find a way to win, that's the bottom line," Connor said. "It may not have been our A game tonight, but the penalty kill was huge (5-for-5) going up against the best power play in the league. Just a lot of unselfish guys back there getting in front of lanes and blocking a lot of shots (20)."
Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves.
"He gives you a chance to win the game at the end, like we did here," Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. "When you're clearly half a step behind a lot of the night, your goalie gives you that confidence that we'll get going eventually. We started to skate better at times, and then when there was a breakdown, he was there for us. The guys have a tremendous amount of confidence in him, and he allows us to just stay in the fight."
McDavid had his point streak end at 17 games, and Jack Campbell made 15 saves for the Oilers (20-16-2), who were coming off a 7-2 win at the Seattle Kraken on Friday.
Leon Draisaitl missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury.
"I thought our team played a heck of a hockey game tonight. Nobody used any excuse about the time we arrived last night, nobody talked about back-to-back or anything like that," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I thought we asserted our game right off the bat, I think the shots were 9-1 early. We didn't give up much, I thought we spent most of the game in their end, and in the end, we were unable to solve their penalty kill and their goaltender."

Pionk gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 15:44 of the first period when he one-timed a cross-ice, backhand pass from Connor on a power play.
Klim Kostin tied it 1-1 at 4:29 of the third period, scoring from the low slot after Mattias Janmark poked him the loose puck off a face-off. Kostin has three goals in his past two games.
"We played the style of game we wanted to, we carried the play most of the game," Oilers defenseman Tyson Barrie said. "Give them credit, their goalie made some big stops. We had four chances on the power play and don't get one. That has been a strength of ours all year, and it needed to step up tonight, but we just couldn't get it done."
Connor responded at 6:55 of the third to put Winnipeg back in front 2-1, redirecting in Pionk's shot from the right point.
"That's what we talk about, the shift after goals," Connor said. "If we give up one, or even if we score one, we want to go back and not be too pretty going through the neutral zone and just try to get it in and get the momentum back on our side. I thought we did a good job there."

The Oilers had a power play for the final 2:24 after Brenden Dillon received a double-minor for high-sticking. Their best chance on it came with less than 10 seconds remaining, when Kailer Yamamoto hit the crossbar from in tight.
"It showed itself there at the end, with the penalty killers blocking shots," Bowness said. "Sometimes you just have to take that attitude, that whatever happens out there, we'll give it our best shot. It was clearly a night we didn't have our A game, but good teams find a way to win, and tonight, we found a way to win. But that's two games in a row now where our special teams have won the game for us."
After the game, Kostin had to be helped off the ice with an apparent lower-body injury after going awkwardly into the boards as time expired.
"I haven't gone back and seen the doctors just yet, so he's still being evaluated," Woodcroft said. "He'll be sore after going into the boards there, but there is no further update. In the morning we should know more."

NOTES:McDavid had 37 points (16 goals, 21 assists) during his 17-game point streak. … Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey played 21:10 after leaving in the third period of a 4-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Bowness said Morrissey was dealing with a lower-body injury.