Connor strikes lightning fast in overtime, delivering a thrilling 4-3 victory for the Jets against the rival Wild.
The Winnipeg Jets came out on top in a back-and-forth Central Division battle Tuesday night, defeating the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime thanks to Kyle Connor’s heroics just 46 seconds into the extra frame.
Connor took a crisp feed from Mark Scheifele and snapped a low wrist shot from the right face-off circle that beat Filip Gustavsson far side, securing Winnipeg’s seventh win of the season (7-3-0). Despite allowing three goals, netminder Connor Hellebuyck kept Winnipeg in the game with 33 saves on 36 shots.
The Jets opened the scoring at 12:16 when Gabriel Vilardi capitalized on a bouncing puck in front. After Logan Stanley threw the puck toward the crease, Vilardi managed to get a piece of it and lifted it past Gustavsson for his second of the season. Just 22 seconds later, the Jets doubled their lead. With traffic piled up in front of the net, Vladislav Namestnikov managed to get his stick on a point shot from Neal Pionk, redirecting it into the open cage. The quick strike put Winnipeg up 2-0 and quieted the Minnesota crowd early.
Minnesota found life six minutes into the second period when Kirill Kaprizov jammed in a loose puck during a scramble at the top of the crease, cutting the Jets’ lead to 2-1. The Wild tied it at 13:12, as Brock Faber’s point shot took an odd bounce off the end boards, caroming back toward the net and glancing off Connor Hellebuyck’s skate and in. The tally gave Faber his first goal of the season and swung momentum in Minnesota’s favor heading into the third.
Minnesota grabbed their first lead at 3:48 of the third on the power play. With heavy traffic in front, Marcus Johansson poked home the rebound of Faber’s shot from the blue line, giving the Wild a 3-2 edge. Winnipeg answered back at 11:35, as Nino Niederreiter, fittingly against his former team, jumped on a loose puck after Gustav Nyquist’s blocked pass rolled into the slot. Niederreiter quickly fired it past Gustavsson to tie the game 3-3 and send it to overtime.
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The extra frame didn’t last long. After Scheifele drew both defenders high, he slid the puck to Kyle Connor, who found space in the right circle and fired home his fifth of the season to give Winnipeg the 4-3 win.
With the win, the Jets improved to 7-3-0, while the Wild slipped to 3-5-3, extending their losing streak to four games. Winnipeg will look to continue their winning ways when returning home Thursday to take on Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.
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