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WINNIPEG John Tavares Jersey , Manitoba — A day after the Winnipeg Jets blew a three-goal lead in the third period and lost in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers, Jets coach Paul Maurice could easily have pulled the bag skate out of his hat.After all, those games are a guaranteed two points 99 percent of the time.Make that 97 percent, to match Oilers superstar Connor McDavid’s number. The two-time defending scoring champion was part of four goals and a threat every time he hopped over the boards at Bell MTS Place.Article continues below ...The Jets were practically automatic last year in shutting down games once they got the lead in the third period, but an inability to stymie the player Sidney Crosby calls the best player in the world did them in.Instead of Maurice punishing his players, he held a spirited but light-hearted practice on Wednesday.But that didn’t mean the players forgot about their missed opportunities. Jets captain Blake Wheeler didn’t shirk his line’s responsibility in giving up the goal that started the Oilers’ comeback, 18 seconds into the third period by winger Ty Rattie. It was assisted by McDavid, who finished with two goals and assists.“(At) 4-1 should be game over. Our line went out, gave up one early on and (that) gave them momentum Authentic Jordan Eberle Jersey ,” Wheeler told the Winnipeg Sun. “You’re fighting an uphill battle from there. You don’t feel like (McDavid) is having much impact on the game and he already has a goal. And then like that, there’s a four-point night. It just shows you how special he is.“You can’t take your eye off him for a second. The speed, obviously, is incredible. He just makes so many little plays happen. Trying to keep him off the board is a tough challenge. You try to do the best you can. Four (points) is obviously not a good number for our group.”The Jets are 1-0-1 thus far during a six-game homestand and 3-2-1 overall.The Canucks come to town on the heels of an impressive 3-2 road victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, improving to 4-2-0 to begin the season, not exactly the start many observers were predicting for the first season in forever without Henrik and Daniel Sedin leading the way.While the Oilers were able to lean heavily on their scoring leader against the Jets, the Canucks won’t be able to do as forward Elias Pettersson is recovering from a head injury after being body-slammed into the ice by Mike Matheson of the Florida Panthers last week.They will, however, depend on last year’s leading scorer Josh Bailey Jersey , right winger Brock Boeser, doing more of what he did Tuesday, when he ended the game 34 seconds into overtime with a seeing-eye wrist shot.Canucks coach Travis Green praised a solid team effort against a perennial Stanley Cup favorite.“What a road game that was against a hockey team that’s obviously pretty deep,” he said in a postgame scrum. “I think we’re starting to figure out how we need to play as a group. I remember, about two weeks ago, talking about identity. We’re learning how to win some hockey games.” WASHINGTON — The Columbus Blue Jackets will visit the Capitals Friday for the teams’ first meeting since their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series last Spring.The Capitals dropped the first two games at home before winning four straight. Games 3, 4 and 6 were played in Columbus and Washington closed out the series with a 6-3 win at Columbus.Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella hasn’t gotten over his team’s failures on their own ice.Article continues below ...“I’m (ticked) off for our fans,” he said told the team’s website. “We had a few opportunities to win a home game in the playoffs and I’m (ticked) off they can’t enjoy that, even later in the series.“We go up 2-0 Brady Skjei Jersey , Game 3 we played really well, we couldn’t find a way to win it. Game 4 (a 4-1 loss) is the one that disturbs me. … To not to win a home game, that bugs me, because I want our players to feel that.”Washington (7-4-3) went on to win the Stanley Cup and has won two straight games for the first time this season while Columbus (8-6-1) is 4-2-1 on the road.The Capitals are coming off a stirring 2-1 win over the rival Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday night. T.J. Oshie, who twice left the game due to injury, returned to score the game winner with 1:14 remaining in the third period.Oshie’s eighth goal of the season came after an accidental high stick in the first period left him with two stitches and an illegal hit by Evgeni Malkin in the third period almost put him out for good.“He came back right on time,” Nicklas Backstrom said. “That’s what elite players do; they come back. They score the game-winner.”Alex Ovechkin scored his 12th goal of the season and goaltender Braden Holtby made 41 saves to end a personal three-game losing streak (0-2-1).Thanks to Holtby, the Capitals won on a night they were outplayed by the Penguins and outshot 42-22.“That’s one thing that we’ve been battling this year and we kind of knew it was one of the things that was going to be a challenge for us, making sure that drive and motivation is up in the start of the season when the playoffs are so far away because these points mean a ton right now http://www.officialb...anisimov-jersey ,” Holtby said. “We’re getting closer. We’re recognizing it more and more.”The Blue Jackets are coming off a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. Anthony Duclair, Markus Nutivaara, Nick Foligno and Ryan Murray scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves.Artemi Panarin leads the Blue Jackets in assists (11) and points (16) while Josh Anderson leads the way with seven goals.“(Anderson) could be a very important part of this team if he just keeps on concentrating each and every game,” Tortorella told the Columbus Dispatch. “It’s something we look for. He sometimes forgets and gets a little inconsistent. We’re going to keep on reminding him, because he’s playing on the power play now, he’s killing penalties and it’s rightfully deserved.”Bobrovsky is 7-10-4 with a 3.02 goals-against average and .900 save percentage against the Capitals. Holtby is 14-4-2 with a 2.62 GAA and .914 save percentage versus the Blue Jackets.Ovechkin has 16 goals and six assists in 30 games against the Blue Jackets while Backstrom has 24 points in 29 games.