Blackhawks Fight Back Against Jets For A Point, But Fall 3-2 In OT On Lousy Bounce

After falling behind early, the Chicago Blackhawks kept grinding and pressuring the Winnipeg Jets.

And Chicago finally came back to tie it with 43 seconds left in regulation when Tyler Johnson connected. Then an lousy bounce in overtime sank the Blackhawks in a 3-2 loss.

Winnipeg's Kyle Connor scored 25 seconds into OT when what looked like a shot from the right circle deflected off Nick Foligno's skate and past Petr Mrazek.

Actually Connor scored his 21st goal when he tried to pass to defenseman Josh Morrissey and the puck caromed off Foligno, Chicago's de facto captain.

"I was tying to hit him backdoor there it in just kind of went off a skate," Connor said. "Sometimes you just gotta' be lucky to get a couple (points) there."

Johnson sent it to overtime with his 12th goal, fired past Connor Hellebuyck from the edge of a scrum with Mrazek on the bench for an extra attacker. It was set up by Jason Dickinson's nifty no-look pass.

One point wasn't what the Blackhawks had in mind.

"Especially when you tie it up late and obviously on the first overtime shift you get scored on," Johnson said. "That's hard, but that's hockey." See video.

Colin Blackwell scored in the second straight game for Chicago, which has lost 11 of 12 (1-9-2) and is last in the NHL with 34 points.  Seth Jones had two assists.

Mrazek finished with 28 saves.

The Blackhawks have totaled just 26 goals in their last 18 games. They could have had more than two in this one.

“I thought we played well in the third period,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. "It was a great effort, most of the game.

“But I thought in the third period we really spent a lot of time in the O-zone carrying most of the play.”

The Blackhawks pressured in the third, outshooting the Jets 13-7 in the period. Dickinson missed an empty net with Hellebuyck down on a flurry about 5 minutes in.

Connor Bedard, who entered as the NHL’s leading rookie scorer, was held off the scoresheet for the second straight game. Bedard had two goals and six points in his first three games after returning from a broken jaw last week.

Bedard had one shot on goal, had one blocked and missed the net on another in 18:06 of ice time.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Bedard was checked hard by 6-foot-4, 225-pound Winnipeg defenseman Brenden Dillon in the third. Anthony Beauvillier intervened immediately, then Foligno made it a point to hit Dillon later. 

USA Today Network, Kamil Krzaczynski

Winnipeg's speedy Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice in regulation, ending a 10-game goal-scoring drought with his 17th and 18th goals, as Winnipeg won for the fifth time in six games to tighten the standings atop the Central Division.

Ehlers, from Denmark, has 10 goals and 14 assists in 30 career games versus Chicago. He was flying on Friday, despite missing practice on Thursday with an undisclosed injury,

The Jets improved to 35-15-5 to move into a tie with second-place Colorado and one point behind first-place Dallas. 

 Hellebuyck made 33 saves.