Jets patience pays off in overtime victory over Predators

WINNIPEG - Patience paid off for the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.
Through 60 minutes they fired 39 shots at the Nashville Predators net, controlling play for the majority of the contest but 2022 Vezina Trophy finalist Juuse Saros went toe-to-toe with the 2020 recipient, Connor Hellebuyck, all night.
Instead of getting frustrated - even with hitting four posts along the way, including a crossbar in overtime - the Jets stayed with it.
It paid off with a 2-1 overtime win, on Kyle Connor's career-high 11th shot of the game.
"Even last game, he had a lot of great looks," said Adam Lowry, who assisted on the game-winner. "Those goal scorers, they do so much to generate those chances, they're bound to go in. It's nice to see him get rewarded. He's been playing fantastic for us and generating a lot of chances."

That shot from Connor, which came 3:31 into the three-on-three, squeaked through Saros and trickled over the line to snap a two-game losing streak.
It was only the second time this season the Jets had lost twice in a row, but they didn't want it to go any further.
"I think this is one that for the most part we can be proud of," Lowry said. "To end that skid, it seems like all the teams in our division are finding ways to get points, right? Accumulating points and keep pushing is certainly important."
Dylan DeMelo had the Jets goal in regulation, as the Jets improved to 19-9-1 and 11-2-0 against the Central Division.
"I think we did a really a good job of establishing our forecheck and did a good job recovering pucks. And holding on to them," DeMelo said. "We didn't have to go searching for it, we were playing great hockey. Just great for our group to stay with it and win a close game like that."
Nashville's first shot didn't come until 9:04 into the game, but they made the most off it, as Filip Forsberg's wrister from the left face-off dot beat the left pad of Hellebuyck. Forsberg's ninth of the campaign was his first goal in five games, and made it 1-0.
The Jets tied it up at four-on-four, with DeMelo poking home his first of the season from just outside the crease. It capped off a magnificent shift from Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Josh Morrissey, who were on the ice as well. The four players worked possession in the Nashville zone, Connor hit a post, and then shortly after, drove around Predators defenceman Jordan Gross, and laid a backhand pass in front of Saros. DeMelo was right there, and dove at the loose puck to tie the game 1-1.
It was a long wait for DeMelo to hear his goal song, This is How We Do It by Montell Jordan, but it was worth every second of the wait.
"Obviously happy to contribute where I can," he said. "Happy to get that opportunity four-on-four. Gotta get to that net-front, I guess. That's where all the goals are scored. Happy to get one for us."

The first period came to a scary end as Nate Schmidt was on the receiving end of a hit from Tanner Jeannot that forced him to leave the game. The hit occurred as Schmidt was turning the corner from behind the Jets net, and Jeannot was on the forecheck.
There was no call on the play, and Schmidt left the game with an upper-body injury and didn't return. Jets head coach Rick Bowness didn't have an update on the defenceman after the game.
On the ensuing face-off, Lowry dropped the gloves with Jeannot.
"Anytime you see a teammate go down on a hard check, I'll be honest I'm probably trying to make that same check if roles are reversed," said Lowry. "You want to defend your teammate, you want to settle things down and get the focus back on playing. A lot of respect for Jeannot for answering the bell, he certainly doesn't have to."
Winnipeg peppered the Nashville net with 19 shots in the second period, but perhaps the biggest storyline was the penalty kill. Just 1:11 after the Jets' second power play chance of the period, Jansen Harkins was called for high-sticking, receiving a double minor.
The Jets killed that off and were a perfect 3-for-3 on the PK, just two nights after giving up two power play goals against Vegas. The third of those penalty kills came 7:47 into the third to keep the game at 1-1.
"The PK was great tonight," said Bowness. "Adam (Lowry) was outstanding tonight, with and without the puck. The penalty kill, he did a great job with the power play on that unit when he got out there, and clearly he helped on the overtime goal, which he deserved an assist on that."

Perhaps what makes it even more impressive is the fact that the Jets schedule doesn't allow for practice at the moment, especially with games every other day.
All the improvements were through video.
"You have to credit the coaching staff there. Sometimes it's tough to break some habits when you're only watching a little bit of video," said Lowry.
"They've done a really good job of helping us reset, showing us the areas we need to improve upon but also showing us the areas of this is how we look when we are doing the things they're asking."
The overtime winner came off a drop pass from Lowry, and Connor cut to the middle and fired a wrist shot that trickled its way to the back of the net, sending the fans at Canada Life Centre home happy.
The reward for all their patience - a crucial second point in the standings - was well earned.
"We easily could have gotten into a trap where we tried to do too much, but we didn't do that at all," said DeMelo. "That's our biggest thing, there's going to be ebbs and flows with the game within a season. Just staying true to our principles and our style of play, and we did a great job of that."