Ehlers scores OT winner as Winnipeg Jets top Kraken to improve to 7-0 – Winnipeg

The Winnipeg Jets continue to find ways to win.

After blowing a two-goal lead in the third period, Nikolaj Ehlers scored in overtime to lift the Jets to a 4-3 victory in Seattle on Thursday night, their seventh straight victory to start the season.

The Jets took a two-goal lead in the final frame, but the Kraken stormed back with a pair of markers in the final nine minutes to send the game to OT, where Ehlers scored the game winner for their third overtime victory of the season .

“We found a way to win and that’s the most important thing, but it wasn’t our best.” said Jets forward Nino Niederreiter. “We didn’t do a lot of great things tonight, but we still found a way and that makes it special.”

Niederreiter scored twice for Winnipeg, giving him a three-game goal streak. Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had two assists as Connor extended his point streak to seven games. The franchise record most points to start a season is Blake Wheeler’s eight games as of 2015.

The Jets were outplayed in the first period and outshot 12-7, but found another gear in the second period.

“I think the way they started in the first period, to be honest, disappointed us a little bit,” said Gabriel Vilardi, who scored his first goal of the season in the win. “They are very fast and just push the puck up in the neutral zone and go from there. And we didn’t really play well against that. And I made some adjustments during that first break. I thought we played much better against their style of play.”

The Jets have given up the first goal of the game in five of their last six games, but continue to find a way to come out on top.

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“I think both coaches might throw that one out,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said. “It was sloppy on both sides.

“We weren’t that good in the first phase. We were a lot better in the second. Third, we did everything we had to do, but then we made a few mistakes and they were in the back of our net. But at the end of the day, as I’ve said before, it’s two points, it’s on its way, move on, we’re going to the next one.

With the win, the Jets become the 17th team in NHL history to start a season with seven straight wins. It is also their 15th straight regular season win dating back to last season, two shy of the league record.

After almost six minutes without a whistle, Matty Beniers opened the scoring with his first of the season, firing a shot high past Connor Hellebuyck in transition at 11:27.

Seattle pushed to get another goal on the board, earning the first power play of the game, but the Jets ended it and kept it a one-goal game after 20 minutes.

Winnipeg didn’t get on the board until 3:56 into the second period when a Mason Appleton shot was stopped by Joey Daccord, but the rebound deflected off Niederreiter’s chest and trickled over the goal line.

Seattle thought they had regained the lead just over seven minutes into the period, but a Jets challenge nullified the goal due to goalkeeper interference.

With just under five minutes left in the second inning, the Jets took their first lead of the evening. Connor made a great play to keep the puck in at the Seattle blue line and Scheifele came to retrieve it before firing it low to Vilardi. He drove the puck in front of the net and tucked it past Daccord.

Winnipeg took that 2-1 lead in the third period and extended it to 3-1 at 4:21 when Niederreiter potted his second of the night moments after the Kraken killed a Winnipeg power play.

The Jets looked ready to cruise to victory, but the Kraken had other ideas. With just under nine minutes remaining, a broken play on the Winnipeg side allowed three Jets to flock to Jared McCann, but that left Jordan Eberle alone in front of the net. McCann fed the Kraken captain, who then buried it through Hellebuyck to make it 3-2.

Beniers tied the score with 3:22 remaining when he tipped a Brandon Montour point shot past Hellebuyck, sending the game to overtime.

With a delayed penalty pending in OT, Ehlers came off the bench, skated to Seattle’s end and took a pass from Scheifele and fired it on goal. Daccord got most of it, but the puck squeaked through his body and trickled just over the goal line to give the Jets the win.

The Jets will look to make it eight straight wins on Saturday night when they visit the Calgary Flames to close out the road trip.

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