In Winnipeg, the Jets handed the visiting Arizona Coyotes 4-3 loss in extra time, on Sunday night. It was Arizona’s 12th straight loss.
Kyle Connor scored 32 seconds into the extra session for the game winner. It was his second goal of the game.
“We’re trying to work our way out of this and it [stinks],” Arizona’s Nick Schmaltz said. “We get a grade A look in overtime there. [Durzi] makes a heck of a move, and (we) just collide. It’s tough, 3-on-1. So, it’s frustrating for sure.”
“When we’re handling the puck and they’re getting those chances, you’ve got to let it go,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said of the power play. “Two big goals tonight, but as we said all year, get those three guys together and give them a chance to get some chemistry on the power play, and it should turn around. It has so far.”
Schmaltz hit for a double for the Coyotes.
Mark Scheifele staked the Jets to a 1-0 lead at 2:06 of the opening stanza.
“We kind of made eye contact a little bit, so I think [Morrissey] kind of knew,” Scheifele said. “I don’t know if he knew that it was going to work out that well, but obviously a very, very cagey play by him.”
Schmaltz picked up his first of the game off the power at 13:45, for a 1-1 tie.
“Just a good play by (Jason) Zucker and Guenther,” Schmaltz said. “We were in some penalty trouble early and they capitalized, but after that I thought we played really hard. … Obviously, we’re frustrated though, right? We thought we deserved the result. We played super hard, and it’s crushing when you fall in overtime. But (it’s a) new day tomorrow, turn the page and we’ll get out of this thing quick.”
The Coyotes dropped to 23-29-5, extending their skid to 0-10-2,
“In the situation we are in, it’s a process, and I’m really proud of the way we battled with our young group,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “Tonight we generated a lot of offense. We generated good offense, grade A chances. Not just on our special teams, but 5-on-5. There’s a lot of positive. Unfortunately, we don’t get the two points.”
In the middle frame, Connor collected his first of the double, off a power play, at 14:45 for a 2-1 lead to the Jets.
Gabriel Vilardi added another power play marker for Winnipeg at 16:34 for a 3-1 lead to Winnipeg.
“The first one, I was able to make the seam (pass) to Kyle and he scores,” Vilardi said. “I think they then gave me a little more space, maybe trying to cover him. That’s what’s good about having a bunch of different options. It keeps the PK guessing. But if I have time, I have made that move before, and I was able to score.”
To their credit, Arizona rallied back with a pair of goals to force the extra session, however brief it might have been.
Matias Maccelli trimmed the deficit to 3-2 when potted a marker 2 at 6:11 of the middle frame. ards.
“I think we lost the special teams battle but we won the 5-on-5 battle,” Tourigny said. “I think we did a lot of good things. We battled back. They showed a lot of character. I’m really proud of the guys.”
Schmaltz collected his double with 64 seconds gone in the third period to knot it at 3-3.
“I’m just trying to stay in front of the net and Kerfoot makes a heck of a play. I just try to get it off quick,” Schmaltz said. “We knew they were super tight on their gaps, they take away a lot of time and space in the neutral zone, and they struggle a little bit breaking the puck out. They try to stand up so much that if you get it behind them you can go to work on them, and I thought we did a better job on that. We had some good chances and got it to overtime.”
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