Holding a lead in the NHL must be the holy grail of the league. There have been more blown leads this campaign than one can recall.
Suck was the case in the Winnipeg where the Jets fell behind Sunday night to the Chicago Blackhawks, who posted two first period goals.
Kyle Connor started and finished a five-goal rally by the Jets to lead them to a 5-2 win.
Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves to get the win.
Andrew Copp struck for the game-winner late i the third period.
“Great, great pass by Jack [Roslovic],” Copp said. “I just saw some space behind (Blackhawks defenseman Erik Gustafsson). I mean, that pass is fantastic; just to be on the same page with that. Great, great play by [Roslovic].”
Dominik Kubalik scored 15 seconds into the game and Brandon Saad added a goal in the opening frame.
“Just because we started off well, we obviously took our foot off the gas,” Saad said. “They scored a nice shorthanded goal and kind of took it to us the rest of the game.”
Jonathan Toews picked up an assist for his 800th NHL point.
“That’s a nice steppingstone, nice to get a big number like that here in my hometown of Winnipeg,” Toews said. “But unfortunately, we couldn’t get the two points. We were looking good the first shift of the game. I thought it was going to be one of those nights, but I think they bounced back and obviously played their best late in the game.”
Blake Wheeler tied the game with his goal in the third period.
“They got off to a good start,” Wheeler said. “We tried to play their game for a period and then we got back to ours for the last 40 [minutes]. Gave us a chance.”
Patrik Laine added an empty goal as the sealer.
“You just try to get it the next shift, just try to fight through some adversity, which I feel like we’ve done both as a team and as a line,” Copp said. “There was a lot of game left after that. I don’t know if that was the best game I’ve ever played, but I like the direction we’re headed in.”
[WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Jets highlights]
Corey Crawford made 31 saves in the loss.
“I thought we had an excellent first [period],” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said. “I really liked how we played. Obviously, the scoreboard reflected that. Obviously, the power plays was a huge momentum killer for us. Not only did they score, but we didn’t react well to that adversity and it seemed to affect the rest of the game.”
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