It’s tough to win in the NHL when you fall behind by two goals in the first period.
The Winnipeg Jets came close to digging out of an early hole, but were unable to complete the comeback in a 4-3 overtime loss in Chicago Thursday night.
The Jets went down by two goals early and battled back to tie the game at three in the third period. They had their chances to win it in the extra frame but had to settle for a single point in their second overtime defeat of the season.
“Overall, it was a good job for us to come back and get a point,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. “But there’s some things we’ll clean up in our game. And gotta find a way to get those overtime wins.
“Great learning lesson. We got into penalty trouble in the first period and not only were we shorthanded, it just ruins the flow of the game, ruins the flow of the forward lines, the D-pairs, so we got to overcome that come Saturday.”
Pionk had a goal and two assists in the loss, giving him five points in the last two games after the loss of Josh Morrissey to an injury.
Kyle Connor scored his eighth goal in the first seven games to tie him for the NHL lead in goals. Alex Iafallo had the other marker for Winnipeg.
The Jets were badly outshot in the first, giving up 14 shots. But they turned the tables in the final two periods, outshooting Chicago 25-12 over the final 40 minutes.
“There was a ton of chances,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “Whether that was 5-on-5 through the two periods, even right up to all the looks we had late, five minutes to go, our power play.
“There was lots of opportunity there and I think anything we did give up, it was kind of self-inflicted. That was the transition that we gave Chicago. It was a lot coming off of our puck management but liked the way we hung in there and battled our way back.”
Jets rookie forward Viggo Björck left the game briefly in the second period with what appeared to be a leg injury, but Arniel said he’s fine after having his skate stepped on.
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
“He actually got all his laces cut,” said Arniel. “He had to get his boot all re-done again.”
Vladislav Namestnikov was a late scratch after getting injured at the morning skate.
“That was this morning there where he crashed this morning into the boards,” said Arniel. “And kinda was hoping it would feel a little bit better later in the day, but it actually got worse, so we’ll just get him home and get it looked at.”
The Jets nearly got on the board in the first minute of the game when Cole Perfetti’s tip of a Dylan DeMelo point shot rang off the post.
Shortly after, the parade to the penalty box began. First, it was Adam Lowry called for roughing 1:16 into the game. 17 seconds later, Teuvo Teravainen hooked Morgan Barron. DeMelo and Sam Rinzel were given offsetting minors at 2:39.
But the most damaging calls went against Jack St. Ivany and Mario Ferraro 45 seconds apart, giving Chicago an extended 5-0n-3, and just two seconds before St. Ivany was to return to the ice, the Blackhawks made Winnipeg pay.
Playing in his second game of the season after returning from an offseason shoulder injury, captain Connor Bedard ripped a wrist shot from the slot past Stuart Skinner for his first of the season at the 8:11 mark.
Winnipeg was able to kill off the rest of the power play and the game stayed 1-0 until the 15:10 mark when another young Chicago star got on the board.
The play began in the Chicago end when St. Ivany sent a wrist shot on goal from the right point. Spencer Knight stopped the shot with his blocker and propelled it into the neutral zone where Frank Nazar was waiting for it. He sped past St. Ivany before beating Skinner on the rush.
Winnipeg cut into the Blackhawks lead at the 16:57 mark when a Pionk point shot redirected off the stick of Chicago’s Ethan Del Mastro and over the shoulder of Knight.
But just 14 seconds later, Chicago restored their two-goal cushion. Ryan Donato skated onto the puck just inside the Winnipeg blueline before cutting to the middle, outwaiting Pionk to create some space before sending a shot on goal that eluded Skinner before grazing off the post into the back of the net.
Chicago outshot the Jets 14-8 in the first, but Winnipeg flipped the script in the second, controlling play for the bulk of the 20 minutes and cutting into the Hawks’ lead.
With the Jets on the power play, Mark Scheifele got the puck down low and held it for a while, waiting for the perfect seam to open up before sending a pass through some bodies to Connor at the opposite faceoff dot. He danced with the puck for a moment or two before firing a shot five-hole on Knight for his eighth goal of the season.
Chicago had a glorious chance to make it 4-2 on a very strange play. A blocked shot in the Blackhawks’ end careened back down the ice with Bedard racing Skinner for the puck. Skinner got there first but inexplicably passed it behind him right to Bedard, who was caught off guard and fired a shot wide of the open net from a sharp angle.
The score remained 3-2 heading to the third after Winnipeg outshot Chicago 13-6 in the middle frame.
After a couple of close calls earlier in the third, the Jets tied the game at the 5:39 mark. It started with a point shot from Pionk that was heading wide, but Iafallo redirected the puck with his stick, then had it pinball off his foot and into the net for his second of the season.
A few minutes later, after an unsuccessful Jets power play, Connor rang a shot from the slot off the post, nearly giving Winnipeg their first lead of the night.
The rest of the third period was wide open with both teams going up and down the ice on each other, but the game needed overtime.
Pionk had a great chance to be the hero but was robbed in tight trying to finish off a pass from Scheifele.
A minute or so later, the Blackhawks ended it. Bedard skated the puck through the slot in the Winnipeg end, drawing defenders as he dropped the puck behind him to Artyom Levshunov. Levshunov had all kinds of time and space to load up and bury a wrister past Skinner for the winner 97 seconds into OT.
Winnipeg wound up outshooting Chicago 34-28 in the game with Skinner making 24 saves in defeat.
The Jets will now return home to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon with puck drop scheduled for just after 2:30 p.m.