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Oilers coach convinced grand setting, attention on Winnipeg made for less pressure on away team

Oilers coach convinced grand setting, attention on Winnipeg made for less pressure on away team

There was an unusual, two-hour delay before the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets hit the ice for Sunday's annual NHL Heritage Classic.

Unlike the day before, when both alumni teams took to the ice as scheduled, the regular season match up was delayed due to sunny weather — that has to be a first for Winnipeg.

The sun was causing too much glare on the ice, so in light of player safety, the NHL pushed the start time to 4 p.m. CDT.

The game started off well for the Jets, who were playing in front of 33,240 fans.

They peppered Oilers goalie Cam Talbot with 10 shots but Talbot, who's had a big week with some strong wins — and his wife delivering twin babies — was solid in net.

Oilers struck first

In the second period, it took a shorthanded breakaway goal by penalty killer Mark Letestu to put the Oilers on the scoreboard first.

"The puck was bouncing a little bit, I was just fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a good bounce, " said Letestu, who has two shorthanded goals so far this season.

Defenceman Darnell Nurse and right winger Zack Kassian added two more quick tallies, making it 3-0 for the Oilers (5-1-0) within a span of 7:52.

"Once that puck dropped we knew we had to be ready, we talked about it in the room they came out flying like we knew they would, " said Talbot who is only the third goalie to backstop his team to a shutout in 19 regular-season outdoor games.

"We weathered the storm a bit got out of that first period and came out pretty hard in the second there and [Letestu] got a big shorthanded goal and got us started."

Jets didn't take off

For the Jets, not being able to give their loyal fans a reason to stand up and cheer was disappointing, especially coming off the coattails of an alumni game where the legendary Teemu Selanne stole the show, lifting the Jets to a 6-5 win.

"Certainly would have liked to give the fans at least one reason to get out of the seats today. We couldn't do that for them unfortunately," said coach Paul Maurice

"But it was such a spectacular week here, especially for the city of Winnipeg, right from the gala, straight through, lots of enthusiasm, enjoyment, and overall it was a spectacular week and the event of our team, but the game was a tough one."

Oilers captain Connor McDavid who was held to one assist on the night, said he was happy to experience the spectacle of playing in an outdoor game.

"We rose to the challenge," said McDavid. "It was a big win for us."

Win moves Oilers into first place

The win was the third-in-a-row for the Oilers, moving them into top spot in the NHL with 10 points.

Now it's back to Edmonton and another test to see if the they can keep it going.

"I thought we started the season sloppily and won games," said Oilers coach Todd McLellan who challenged his team a week ago after dropping a 6-2 decision to the Buffalo Sabres in Edmonton.

"We gave up a lot of opportunities and chances. We were very sleepy and casual against Buffalo," he said.

"We went after the group pretty hard, but after that, we responded well. and we played two pretty good teams here, three pretty good teams over the last little bit and played the game a lot better."

The Oilers host the Washington Capitals next on Wednesday night.