Connor’s OT winner lifts Winnipeg Jets past shorthanded Oilers 4-3 – Winnipeg

In a game full of difference-makers named Connor, it was Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor that proved to be the hero.

The Jets’ leading scorer scored his second overtime winner of the season as Winnipeg picked up a 4-3 win Thursday night over an Edmonton squad that was missing Leon Draisaitl for the first time all season and also lost Connor McDavid to injury late in the second period.

Brandon Tanev’s first goal since the trade deadline deal gave the Jets a one-goal lead early in the final frame. The Oilers tied it in the final six minutes of regulation, but the Jets still picked up two points with the win in overtime to end the Oilers’ three-game win streak.

The Jets were outshot 24-20 and could only muster five shots on goal in a low-event first period.

“It was a little sloppy,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “I think both teams turned pucks over, but at the end of the day, last game of the road trip, we did what we had to do. We got the lead. Would have really liked to see us lock that down, but obviously a big goal in overtime.”

Cole Perfetti and Josh Morrissey also scored for Winnipeg in the win.

The Jets reached the 100 point mark for just the third time in franchise history with the victory. They did it in their 70th game, which is the fastest they’ve reached that mark after also doing it in 2017-2018 and 2023-2024.

The Jets were 0-for-4 on the power play and failed on a 5-on-3 opportunity. Winnipeg is now 0-for-9 over their last four games with the man advantage and it’s starting to be an area of concern.

“I thought we had a couple looks but overall, we were sloppy,” said Connor. “That’s something we take pride in to be able to close out a game. We got a 5-on-3 – don’t score on that. We got one real late – don’t score on that. Yeah, I know results aren’t everything, you want to get momentum, but at this certain time, it’s timely goals.

“Like our team game, we got to continue to be motivated and not be satisfied and look to improve.”

The win combined with a Dallas Stars’ shootout loss gives the Jets a 10 point lead for the division lead.

Just over five minutes into the opening period, the Oilers got on the board first. After a turnover in the neutral zone, Jeff Skinner collected the puck, skated into the Jets’ zone and beat Connor Hellebuyck high over his right shoulder with a hard wrister.

Winnipeg drew level at the 13:39 mark when Perfetti buried a juicy rebound off the pad of Stuart Skinner.

Neither team got much on net in the opening 20 minutes with Winnipeg outshooting the Oilers 5-4.

Edmonton regained the lead at the 5:30 mark of the second. McDavid zipped into the Winnipeg zone, taking the puck behind the net before sending a pass to the slot. He was aiming for Skinner but Nikolaj Ehlers got a stick on the puck, which then glided slowly to the crease and through the legs of Hellebuyck.

The Jets challenged the goal, believing Hellebuyck was interfered with on the play but the officials disagreed, upholding the call and assessing the Jets a minor penalty for getting the challenge wrong.

Winnipeg killed off the penalty and just 11 seconds after Nino Niederreiter stepped out of the box, he helped set up the tying goal.

Mason Appleton made a great play at the Jets’ blue line to turn the play up the ice, knocking Darnell Nurse off the puck and allowing Morgan Barron to send it across the neutral zone to Niederreiter. He skated it into Edmonton’s end before hitting a hard-charging Morrissey, who steered the puck past Skinner to draw level.

McDavid’s last shift came late in the second when he collided with Morrissey and looked to be favouring his groin. The Oilers held him out of the third period with what they called a lower-body injury.

Edmonton outshot Winnipeg 9-7 in the middle frame but late in the second, the Oilers took a penalty and early in the third they took another one, giving the Jets nearly a minute of 5-on-3 time, but Winnipeg didn’t do anything with it.

However, where the big guns failed on the power play, the fourth line picked up the slack, giving the Jets their first lead of the night not long after the Oilers got back to even strength.

After a flurry of activity around the Oilers’ net, a Haydn Fleury point shot was redirected on net, causing more chaos in front of Skinner. Tanev eventually found the loose puck and banged it off the post before putting his own miss into the net for his first goal since he was traded to Winnipeg at the deadline.

It was Tanev’s first goal as a Jet since scoring in Game 3 of their first round loss to St. Louis in 2019.

The game stayed 3-2 for a while before Edmonton, even without their two best players, managed to get things back on even terms with 5:34 to go.

The play began with a turnover in the Winnipeg end as Luke Schenn misfired on a pass to Dylan Samberg. The puck wound up on the stick of Nurse, whose point shot was tipped en route to Hellebuyck, leading to a rebound that Zach Hyman deposited into an open net to tie the game.

Not long after with 4:57 remaining, the Jets lost Vladislav Namestnikov to an injury. As he and Jeff Skinner accidentally skated into each other, Skinner’s arm inadvertently made contact with Namestnikov’s chin, knocking him to the ice where he stayed for a moment before heading to the locker room. He did return to the bench before the night was through but did not take another shift.

It was at that whistle that Edmonton had to make a goalie change as Stuart Skinner had been run into a few minutes prior and took a few moments to get to his feet, heading to the locker room in the first media timeout after the collision. Calvin Pickard entered the game in his place.

With 2:30 remaining in the third, Ehlers was hooked by Corey Perry, giving the Jets a golden opportunity to grab a hold of the game but the power play was unsuccessful, sending the game to overtime.

Just over a minute into the extra frame, after Edmonton gave the puck away in Winnipeg’s end, Morrissey made a nice spin move before heading up the ice. He entered the Edmonton zone and dropped the puck off to Mark Scheifele, who then left it for Connor before the sniper sniped one through Pickard to end the game.

The goal was Connor’s team-leading 37th of the season as well as his 12th career regular-season overtime goal.

Hellebuyck made 20 saves to earn the victory, while Pickard was saddled with the loss, making three saves in just over six minutes of action.

Winnipeg returns to action Sunday afternoon on home ice against Buffalo. The contest starts at 2 p.m. with coverage on 680 CJOB beginning at noon.