NHL Game Recap: Connor Scores 51 Seconds Into OT, Jets Win 2-1

The Winnipeg Jets added another victory to their streak, securing three wins straight after defeating the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, October 13th at Canada Life Centre. It was a 1-1 game in all three periods, heading into overtime and wrapping it up quickly when Kyle Connor scored the game-winner just 51 seconds into overtime. Mark Scheifele scored the first goal for Winnipeg, and Jake Middleton scored the only goal for the Wild. The Jets are back at it on Friday, hosting the San Jose Sharks, and will hopefully continue their win streak.

Winnipeg Jets Lineup:

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Perfetti – Namestnikov – Ehlers

Niederreiter – Lowry – Appleton

Barron – Kupari – Iafallo

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Pionk

Fleury – Miller

Hellebuyck

Comrie

Minnesota Wild Lineup:

Kaprizov – Rossi – Zuccarello

Johansson – Hartman – Boldy

Foligno – Gaudreau – Trenin

Lauko – Khusnutdinov – Ohgren

Brodin – Faber

Middleton – Chisholm

Merrill – Bogosian

Gustavsson

Fleury

   Early into the opening 20, Jake Middleton struck the first goal of the game to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 15:54. He shot from the right point with a wrister that beat a screened Connor Hellebuyck stick side. Mark Scheifele tied it 1-1 with only two seconds on the clock of the first frame while the Jets had an empty net. Straight off a face-off win by Adam Lowry, Scheifele sent a one-timer past Filip Gustavsson from the right circle.

   After two more periods still stuck in a 1-1 tie, the Jets and Wild went into overtime to finish it up. Only 51 seconds into overtime, Kyle Connor sent the puck home for a 2-1 win to give Winnipeg their third straight victory. On the power play, after defenseman Zach Bogosian was assessed a holding stick penalty when six seconds were remaining in the third frame, Connor won it on a snapshot from the right circle.

Kyle Connor after the second straight overtime win and on the OT win on Friday against Chicago: “There’s no give up, no quit in this group. No matter what it is, we’re sticking to the same game plan… We were down 1-0 last game to Chicago. We knew it was coming and some nights it goes our way. We’re able to find one with one minute to go and we’re able to get one there at the end and catch teams not being ready, too.”

Mark Scheifele on skating in his 800th NHL career game: “It’s obviously special. I’m very honored and blessed to play in this league for this long. It’s a tremendous honor… I’m very thankful to Winnipeg for having me for this long. It’s very humbling and I’m very honored to play 800 games in the NHL.”

Adam Lowry on the team and their 2-1 victory: “We trust the structure, and we’re pretty lucky to have a world-class goalie back there. He made a couple of big saves late in the third. These tight ones keep us in it… I think we trust that we can kind of keep their top players to the outside, and I think we were able to take advantage of them on a quick turnaround.”

Notes:

– Mark Scheifele skated in his 800th NHL career game, and he also had a two-point night with a goal and an assist. With the goal he scored, he extended his goal streak to three games… four goals and two assists.

– Connor Hellebuyck made a total of 26 saves for Winnipeg, and Filip Gustavsson made 33 saves for Minnesota.

– Hellebuyck has allowed only two goals in 180:54 through three starts this season.

– The Jets are 3-0-0 to start a season for the first time in franchise history.

– Minnesota’s forward Joel Eriksson Ek, who has a broken nose, and defenseman Jared Spurgeon, who sustained a lower-body injury, did not travel to Winnipeg with the Wild. Both of them are listed as day-to-day, however, John Hynes said Eriksson Ek is expected to be available against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.