Jets earn a point, but fall to Dallas in overtime

DALLAS - Jansen Harkins called it frustrating. Mark Scheifele said it a "stinger."
No matter how it's described, Friday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars leaves a bittersweet taste in the mouths of the Winnipeg Jets.
The Jets (19-17-8) played well, tying the game in regulation with a Scheifele one-timer blast with 31.9 seconds left in regulation to get a point out of a game that was physical and fast from the drop of the first puck.
The bitter part of the night, well it came 3:10 into overtime when Jason Robertson tucked home his 20th of the season to give the Stars their seventh win in their last nine games.
It left the Jets with a single point, while the team their chasing picked up the extra one.
"I think we were pretty resilient all night, just sticking with it," said Harkins. "It's just disappointing."

Scheifele finished the night with two points. The rest of the Jets offence came off the stick of Pierre-Luc Dubois, who made his return to the line-up after coming out of COVID-19 protocol. Harkins also scored for Winnipeg and continues to set a new career high every time he bulges the twine.
"I thought we did a really good job of defending, of managing the game," said interim head coach Dave Lowry. "I think we got ourselves in a little bit of trouble just by not getting pucks in deep. And we fuelled their transition game, allowed them to get some momentum."

After a scoreless first, the Jets broke the goose egg 50 seconds into the second. Brenden Dillon wired a shot from the right point that Dubois was able to deflect past Jake Oettinger on the glove side. It was his 19th of the season and it gave the Jets a 1-0 lead.
Dubois started the night on the wing with Adam Lowry and Kristian Reichel as a way to ease him back into the line-up after not skating for five days. By the second period, he was back in his usual centre spot.
"I wanted him to play a little wing, so you don't have that demand to try to be the low guy," Lowry said of Dubois, who played 17:05 with six shots on goal and five hits. "It's a lot of work some nights. I expected that there would be some extended zone time and I wanted him on the wing."
Dallas tied the game just past the midway mark of the middle frame, as Jacob Peterson redirected a cross-ice pass from Alexander Radulov past Connor Hellebuyck for his ninth goal of his rookie campaign. It was the first goal Hellebuyck had given up since the third period in Philadelphia, a span of 94:55.
Tyler Seguin put the Stars ahead 2-1 just 56 seconds later as he finished off an odd-man rush with his 15th of the campaign.
"No need to freak out, no need to do anything that drastic," Scheifele said of the mood on the bench at the time. "We kept battling and kept battling and got one late in the second. It was a hard fought battle."

A big penalty kill by the Jets gave them a chance to turn the tide, and that's exactly what they did. On a rush up ice, Mark Scheifele found Cole Perfetti, who left a perfect drop pass for Jansen Harkins in the high slot. The switch opened up the Stars rush defence, and Harkins was left with a clear look. He snapped a laser of a wrister right by Oettinger to even things up at two. The whole rush started with Neal Pionk moving the puck up ice before finding Scheifele on the left wing.
"We've been preaching all year: we've got great skating d-men back there so when they get their feet moving and can break us out like that, plays just happen," said Harkins. "I saw (Neal Pionk) moving up and (I was) just kind of following it behind."
It was the fifth of the season for Harkins, who got bumped up the line-up shortly after to play on the wing with Dubois and Kyle Connor.
"I thought Harks deserved it. I thought he was skating, he was doing things right," said Lowry. "He was doing everything that we asked him. Like I've told these guys, this is where you start, but there is opportunity, take advantage of it."
Dallas took their second lead with 7:13 to go, as Jamie Benn's tip of a Denis Gurianov play from the right wing boards squeaked through Hellebuyck's legs to make it 3-2.

The Jets wouldn't be denied though, as Scheifele wired a one-timer from the point with 31.9 seconds left to tie the game. It came with an extra attacker on the ice, and guaranteed at least one huge point for the Jets.
"I don't know the last time we worked on six-on-five, but we've got a lot of guys who are (familiar) with each other," said Scheifele. "Obviously, they're going to pressure hard and they're going to make it hard to get to the inside ice. We had a few good looks."
Scheifele nearly ended the game in the opening seconds of overtime, but his breakaway move to his backhand just clipped the shoulder of Oettinger and stayed out. Dubois also had a chance in tight, but couldn't beat the Stars goaltender.
At the other end of the ice, Hellebuyck made a big stop on Miro Heiskanen's drive to the net but wasn't able to stop Robertson's backhand later on in the period.
The Jets now head to Nashville to take on the Predators on Saturday night.