The Winnipeg Jets earned a much-needed victory on Saturday night.
On Saturday night, the Winnipeg Jets put together a full, three-period effort, resulting in a win for the first time in three showings.
After back-to-back home losses to the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights, the Jets hit the road for a late-night test with Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
Winnipeg actually started the game rather poorly, giving up two goals in the opening six minutes.
But rather than feeling sorry for themselves, the Jets' best players opted to rally for a comeback victory at Rogers Place.
“Yeah, well, that first 10 minutes was a little ugly," said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. "But what I liked about it, we lost that first 10 minutes badly, but we recovered and we started to skate, We were way too much on our heels, giving them way too much respect early."
“I thought when we started to skate, we started to turn things around a little bit.”
Josh Morrissey hammered home a power play slap shot midway through the first period, before Vlad Namestnikov scored the equalizer while on a Stuart Skinner misplay on the penalty kill late in the second period.
"Special teams are huge, and with the power play they have over there, you don't want to give them too many opportunities,” Morrissey said. “For him and Vladdy to make that play, they're such smart, crafty players. They compete hard.
The third period solved nothing and overtime was needed.
It was Morrissey who helped finish things off for Winnipeg on a give-and-go, cycle play in the offensive zone with fellow alternate Mark Scheifele.
The Jets' leading goal scorer sealed the deal on Winnipeg's 3-2 comeback with just over one minute of overtime left to play, as he redirected Morrissey's shot past Skinner for the winner and his fourth goal of the season.
The shot chart was all over the place, as Edmonton ended the first period up 19-6, before Winnipeg flipped the script in the second period, putting up 13 shots to Edmonton's five. The third saw the Oilers regain the edge with a 13-4 20-minute output.
After the opening two goals, Connor Hellebuyck stood on his head, turning aside everything that the home team threw on net. He finished the night with 38 stops on 40 shots. Winnipeg scored three goals on its 27 shots.
Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard got the goals for Edmonton, which dropped its fourth of five games and is now 1-3-1 to start the season.
More importantly, McDavid was forced to finish the game as a spectator, as he needed attention on the sidelines as the third period came to a close.
“It appeared to be muscular more than anything as I watched the play. We’ll have more information Sunday,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said. “When he wasn’t available down the stretch and in overtime, it was an opportunity for others to step up."
“I thought it was more him coming up the ice and just something felt off for him. That’s what it looked like from the bench, but I haven’t even rewatched it yet.”
With the win, Winnipeg moved to 2-3-0 on the year, much better than the 1-4-0 it would have been should the team not have put together the come-from-behind win in Edmonton.
Next up is a home test against the Central Division's St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, before Winnipeg hits the road for Detroit on Thursday. Both games can be viewed live on TSN.
