Jets return from layoff, defeat Vegas 5-4 in overtime
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Kyle Connor scored in overtime and the Winnipeg Jets held off the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 Sunday in their return from a two-week hiatus.
Mattias Janmark scored twice for Vegas in the third period, including a tying goal with 8.1 seconds left, but Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck improved to 4-1-1 career against the Golden Knights by stopping 42 shots.
The Jets hadn't played since beating St. Louis 4-2 at home Dec. 19 due to COVID-19 outbreaks. They hadn't been on the road since Dec. 10, when they lost 4-3 in a shootout at Vancouver.
Jansen Harkins, Kristian Reichel, Andrew Copp and Paul Stastny also scored for the Jets.
Michael Amadio and Evgenii Dadonov also had goals for Vegas, and Laurent Brossoit made 32 saves.
Connor raced into Vegas’ zone and past all three Golden Knights before firing a wrist shot past Brossoit for the winner.
Amadio notched his seventh multi-point game, and second of this season, in the first period with a goal and an assist.
Vegas opened the scoring when Zach Whitecloud’s shot from the high slot was blocked toward the near side, where Amadio was in perfect position to jump on the puck and fire it into an open net.
Shortly afterward, Amadio led a 2-on-1 rush into Winnipeg’s zone and held the puck long enough before sending it across to Dadonov, who then sent a shot off a defender and past Hellebuyck to give Vegas a 2-0 lead.
The Jets needed only 20 seconds to tie it early in the second period, as Harkins and Reichel took advantage of Vegas’ lackluster effort after the first intermission.
First, Harkins gathered a pass at the blue line, danced around Vegas’ Chandler Stephenson and into the slot, and wripped a wrist shot under Brossoit’s glove. Then Reichel silenced the announced gathering of 17,888 with his first career goal after intercepting a pass near the bottom of the right circle.
Stastny, who played 121 games with Vegas from 2018-2020, tipped Josh Morrissey’s slap shot past Brossoit to break a 2-2 tie early in the third period, and Copp followed less than two minutes later.
Janmark rallied the Golden Knights with his fifth and sixth goals of the season, the last a deflection of Shea Theodore's shot with his skate.
UP NEXT
Winnipeg: Visits Arizona on Tuesday.
Vegas: Hosts the Predators on Tuesday.
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