Oilers score 4 1st-period goals in 6-2 victory over slumping Jets

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard each had a goal and an assist and the Edmonton Oilers raced past the slumping Winnipeg Jets, 6-2 on Saturday night.

The Oilers scored four times in the first period to chase goalie Eric Comrie.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matthew Savoie, Curtis Lazar and David Tomasek also scored for the Oilers. Connor McDavid had two assists, and Stuart Skinner made 19 saves. Edmonton has won three of four to improve to 13-11-5.

Gabriel Vilardi and Cole Koepke scored the Winnpeg. They have lost seven of nine to fall to 14-13-1.

Comrie allowed four goals on 16 shots in the first period. Thomas Milic came in to start the second and made 10 saves.

Jets: Host Dallas on Tuesday night to open a four-game homestand.

Oilers: Host Buffalo on Tuesday night.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Edmonton Oilers' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) celebrates after a goal against the Winnipeg Jets during first-period NHL hockey game action in Edmonton, Alberta, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers' Matt Savoie, left, and Leon Draisaitl (29) celebrate after a goal against the Winnipeg Jets during first-period NHL hockey game action in Edmonton, Alberta, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' Morgan Barron (36) and Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard (2) battle in front as goalie Stuart Skinner (74) makes the save during third period NHL action, in Edmonton on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' Gabriel Vilardi (13) and Edmonton Oilers' Darnell Nurse (25) rough it up during third period NHL action, in Edmonton on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers celebrate a goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period of an NHL game in Edmonton, Alberta, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Alabama is forcing the committee that will set the College Football Playoff bracket to revisit an old question: Should a 12-team tournament to determine the national champion include a program with three losses?

And Duke is bringing up a new head-scratcher that nobody really thought of before: Could a team possibly make the playoff with five?

Those two mysteries were the main ones left after a day of shuffling in the conference title games set the stakes for Sunday’s big reveal.

Alabama’s 28-7 loss to CFP No. 3 Georgia and unranked Duke’s 27-20 win in overtime over CFP No. 16 Virginia were the key results Saturday — leaving the selection committee to sleep on which three teams out of five contenders vying for the final spots in the bracket are worthy, and which two stay home.

No. 9 Alabama (10-3), No. 10 Notre Dame (10-2) and No. 12 Miami (10-2) are in the hunt for two of those spots.

No. 25 James Madison (12-1) and Duke (8-5) — unranked but the newly crowned champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference — are the candidates for the other.

Normally, the sports world doesn’t start paying attention to Duke until hoops season reaches full swing. Maybe someone among the ever-present throng of Duke haters on social media would title this one: “Blue Devils ruin football, too!”

Duke’s win gives the ACC a champion with five losses, which places the conference on the cusp of not placing a single team into the tournament.

Blue Devils coach Manny Diaz is more than fine with comparing his team to James Madison.

“They don’t have a win like this. They don’t have a win against a team like that. That’s a big-time team right there in Virginia,” he said. “Seven wins in this conference? Seven Power Four wins compared to zero? No, that’s a playoff team. These guys deserve to be in.”

It is true that Duke’s strength of schedule is about 50 spots higher than James Madison’s. But in most of the rest of the metrics — including that all-important loss column — the Dukes of James Madison look much stronger than Duke.

This is how the ACC got into this pickle:

— No. 20 Tulane won the American Conference.

— The No. 25 Dukes won the Sun Belt.

— The unranked Blue Devils beat Virginia.

CFP rules call for the five best-ranked conference titlists to earn automatic spots in the 12-team bracket. Four of those spots, or so the thinking went, were supposed to go to the Power Four conferences. But that’s not what the rules say, and so, it comes down to whether the committee ranks Duke ahead of James Madison to keep the unthinkable from happening.

Because two teams from outside the top 25 won their conferences and will receive automatic bids, it means the top 10 teams — not 12 — from Sunday's rankings will make the playoffs.

Heading into Saturday, one thought was that the committee placed Alabama at No. 9 last week, flip-flopping it with Notre Dame, so that if the Crimson Tide lost, there would still be room to slip them into the playoff, even with that 10-3 record.

The ugliness of Saturday's loss — a 21-point beatdown that looked worse at times — might change that calculus.

Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer is leaning on the idea that a team shouldn’t be penalized for playing in its conference title game.

“How that can can hurt you and keep you out of the playoff?” he said.

Last year, Alabama was the odd man out after being idle on championship Saturday, but watching SMU slide in ahead of it after — what else? — a loss in its conference title game. But that loss was close. Alabama's wasn't.

Notre Dame and Miami, which were idle Saturday, are looking at other things.

Irish coach Marcus Freeman is leaning on the argument that the real comparison should be between his team and Alabama — not between Notre Dame and BYU or Notre Dame and Miami. He wants nothing to do with that Miami comparison, because the Irish lost to the Hurricanes in Week 1.

Committee chair Hunter Yurachek has been opaque, at best, about how the committee judges that result.

One possibility Sunday is that, thanks to No. 11 BYU's lopsided loss to Texas Tech, Notre Dame and Miami could be scrunched right next to each other in the rankings. That, some believe, would make it almost impossible to ignore the head-to-head matchup.

That’s what Miami coach Mario Cristobal is banking on.

“Same record. Identical metrics and then, again, Miami beats Notre Dame,” he said.

The game pitting the two best teams in the country didn't have much impact on anything regarding playoff seeding.

No. 2 Indiana beat No. 1 Ohio State 13-10 in a thrilling, defensive slugfest that will make the Hoosiers — yes, the Indiana Hoosiers — the top team in the country heading into the playoff.

All the discourse about Alabama and the meaning of title games aside, it would be hard to see Ohio State dropping below the No. 4 spot and forfeiting the first-round bye that goes to the top four.

Maybe the committee places the Buckeyes at 2 or 3 to at least keep alive the tantalizing prospect of a rematch in the national final on Jan. 19.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Alabama head coach Kalen Deboer speaks to an official during the first half of a Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game between Georgia and Alabama, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Georgia defensive back Daylen Everette (6) runs an intercepted ball against Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard (5) during the first half of a Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)