GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Jets 2 (Preseason - OT)

EDMONTON, AB – Defenceman Cam Dineen secured the Oilers the overtime victory on Sunday night in their 2024 pre-season debut, scoring the game-winning goal 1:17 into sudden death at Rogers Place in a 3-2 win over the Jets.

"There were a lot of guys that played really well," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "As a defense corps, all six of them played really well. But I thought [Dineen] made some nice plays in the first period and on the overtime goal, but I thought all of them were moving the puck really well."

Forwards Vasily Podkolzin and Matt Savoie provided the assists on Dineen's deciding tally in overtime after 2024 first-round pick Sam O'Reilly erased an early lead for the Jets in the first period before winger Raphael Lavoie scored on the power play in the middle frame to temporarily give the Blue & Orange the 2-1 advantage.

Goaltenders Olivier Rodrigue and Collin Delia split the victory, making seven and 11 saves respectively to help backstop the Blue & Orange to a victory in their first of eight matches this preseason. The Oilers went 1-for-2 on the power play thanks to Lavoie's second-period marker, while their penalty kill turned aside the one infraction they faced.

After only 20 of their 57 players attending Training Camp were called into action on Sunday, the Oilers will need contributions from everybody on Monday when they split up the squad for matches against their provincial rivals the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place and Scotiabank Saddledome.

FIRST PERIOD

Despite conceding the first goal in the opening seconds to the Jets, the Oilers responded quickly through O'Reilly, who immediately made himself known to those in attendance at Rogers Place for Sunday's pre-season opener.

David Gustafsson put Winnipeg on the board only 17 seconds into the contest with a deflection off defenceman Logan Stanley's shot from the top of the left circle that the centre redirected past goaltender Oliver Rodrigue and inside the right post for the early lead.

From that point onwards, the Oilers were firmly in command for the remaining 19:43 of the first period, ultimately tying the score almost three minutes later on a terrific turn in the neutral zone from O'Reilly to open up space for himself to accept a stretch pass through the middle from Dineen.

The Oilers regrouped out of their own zone through blueliner Connor Carrick, who dished a lateral pass at the blueline to Dineen before the defenceman's stretch pass found O'Reilly near the Jets blueline. Turning with the puck, O'Reilly split the Winnipeg defence and quickly moved the puck to his backhand despite the oncoming pressure before firing a low effort under the left pad of goaltender Eric Comrie to tie the game at 1-1.

"A little confidence," O'Reilly said. "Obviously, getting that first one pretty early in the game feels good and I just kind of tried to keep building off that."

O'Reilly was Edmonton's first-round pick at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas this past July after the club traded their 2025 first-rounder to Philadelphia to select him with the last pick of the opening round (32nd overall). Early this preseason, the 18-year-old is giving fans, coaches and teammates a glimpse at what his future might hold in an Oilers sweater in coming seasons.

"He was great," Lavoie said of his linemate. "Just the way he scored that first goal. He's really gifted offensively. For a young player, he really looked like he belonged out there. He didn't feel like he wasn't getting bullied out of the box."

Not long after, defenceman Ty Emberson had a wide-open chance from the left circle foiled by a sprawling save from Comrie after a scraped shot from the bleuline fell right onto the waiting stick of the blueliner, who was a part of the Cody Ceci trade to San Jose this offseason.

Forward Drake Caggiula had two great scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes, first off a quick regroup in the neutral zone that caught the Jets on a bad change before he showed great speed and control on a rush over the Winnipeg blueline near the end of the period that called Comrie into action with a good stop that kept it 1-1 after the opening period.

SECOND PERIOD

The Oilers outshot the Jets 13-5 over a scoreless frame where they had their best opportunity to take the lead on the game's first power play assessed to defenceman Dylan Anhorn just under four minutes into the stanza.

Without Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard in the lineup, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch deployed a first-unit power play of Raphael Lavoie, Drake Caggiula, Matt Savoie, Vasily Podkolzin and Cam Dineen and almost immediately found the right combination.

The Blue & Orange man advantage worked a chance open for summer trade acquisition and St. Albert product Matt Savoie, who leaned into a one-timer at the left face-off dot that required Comrie to come up with a crucial save on Edmonton's best chance of the second period.

Rodrigue was only tested with seven shots before he was taken out midway through the frame for Collin Delia, who was making his unofficial debut in Blue & Orange after being a part of the Jets organization last season with the AHL's Manitoba Moose.

THIRD PERIOD

Another opportunity for the Oilers with the man advantage in the final frame wouldn't go unanswered, but just like the Blue & Orange managed in the first period, the Jets quickly responded to make up for forward Daniel Torgersson's hooking infraction that led to Edmonton's brief look with the lead on Sunday night.

After defenceman Ben Gleason set him up in the right circle, Raphael Lavoie ripped a one-timer beyond Comrie with 10:53 remaining in Edmonton's 2024-25 pre-season debut to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead that unfortunately wouldn't last long.

"It feels great," Lavoie said. "I've been playing there for a little bit in Bako, so it's a natural spot for me."

The winger is coming off a year in Bakersfield where he led Edmonton's AHL affiliate in '23-24 with 29 goals, and the Chambly, QC product is looking to further his cause this preseason as he battles for a spot on the Oilers roster by showcasing more of a two-way game that could help him lock down a regular role in the NHL.

"I feel like I'm more of a complete player," Lavoie said. "When I got drafted, I was pretty offensive. You learn in the AHL to round out your game, play without the puck and be reliable out there, and that's been a point of emphasis since I got there."

The Jets levelled the score just 10 seconds later, sending a quick dump-in below the goal line that forward Kevin He chased and redirected into the slot for Dominic Toninato to wrist under the blocker of Delia and tie it up at two.

Condors winger Cam Wright struck the post after getting past Winnipeg's line of defence in the last few minutes before Comrie made a massive double save against James Stefan and Noah Philp with 4:20 left in regulation. "He surprised me," Philp said of the chance post-game. "It looked pretty open and he whipped the pad out."

Philp is making his return to hockey this season after taking a hiatus from the sport in '22-23 and is an important two-way, right-shot centre on Edmonton's depth chart that could make an impact on the NHL roster at some point this year if he's able to re-adjust to the pace of pro hockey.

"I thought as it went on, I got more comfortable and I'm just definitely working some kinks out after not playing for so long," he said. "But I thought it progressed positively as it went on."

"Just getting some touches in and sometimes you almost need to slow your game down a little bit. You don't need to hurry to make a play. You need to take the time and make the right play and I thought that was a big learning curve for me in Bakersfield. I thought tonight that was the same sort of pattern."

The 26-year-old right-shot centre was an impressive 75 percent (9-for-12) at the face-off dot in Sunday's victory and contributed on Edmonton's only penalty kill of the night during the second period.

"They work on them here all the time," Philp said. "They have you taking them after practice every day and that's something I definitely pride myself in. And it went pretty well tonight."The score remained tied at two after the final buzzer, and the first pre-season contest of '24-25 would need to be solved in overtime.

OVERTIME

After trading goals in regulation, it was only fitting Sunday's tilt would be decided on a pair of odd-man rushes where the Oilers ultimately found the upper hand on the Jets in their first pre-season tune-up.

Delia delivered the first stop in sudden death by eating up Axel Jonsson-Fjallby's low shot on a two-on-one in the first 45 seconds of overtime, leading to a defensive-zone faceoff and the Oilers getting the chance to go up the ice after off-season trade acquisition Vasily Podkolzin flattened Parker Ford in the left corner to get the puck to Matt Savoie and start the rush up ice

To Coach Knoblauch, the winning goal wouldn't have been possible without the physicality of Podkolzin starting the play taking the puck off the opponent.

"I thought he had a good game," Knoblauch said. "It starts with that overtime goal. He makes a defensive play, then he drives the net. I thought he got a stick on a lot of pucks breaking up plays and wasn't shy of using his body. That's something I think is going to be really important for us."

Dineen took a pass to the middle from Savoie and skated up ice on the two-on-one with Podkolzin, and when he didn't have a look from the right side, the blueliner cut into the middle against Toninato and fired the game-winning goal off the inside of Comrie's near post to complete the 3-2 victory for the Oilers.