THREE THINGS: Jets come close, but fall in OT to Leafs

WINNIPEG – Max Domi scored at 3:08 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre. The Jets four game win streak comes to an end, but they now have points in five straight (4-0-1). Alex Iafallo, Kyle Connor and Nino Niederreiter scored for the Jets, Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves. Winnipeg will travel to Chicago to face the Blackhawks on Monday as Jonathan Toews makes his first visit to Chicago since his last game as a Hawk.

SCORING FIRST A TRADITION

One thing you can count on since the start of the new year is that the Jets will score the game’s first goal. They continued the trend on Saturday night in the second period just over two minutes in, Logan Stanley held the puck in at the blueline, fired a shot that was tipped by Alex Iafallo and past Dennis Hildeby for the 1-0 lead. Winnipeg has scored first in nine straight games which is a franchise record, and they have the second longest streak in the NHL this season (Minnesota 12 games).

JETS CAN'T HOLD ON TO TWO GOAL LEAD

The Jets went up 2-0 on a highlight reel effort from Kyle Connor as he walked out of the corner and sent a perfect shot under the crossbar for his 23^rd of the season.

23 seconds after that, Auston Matthews was left alone in the slot and he beat Connor Hellebuyck to cut in to the Jets lead at 9:22. The Jets carried a 2-1 lead into third period and early into the final frame, Nino Niederreiter scored his first goal since November 29 as he converted on a rebound in front of Hildeby to make it 3-1.

However, the Leafs tied the game in the third with goals from Oliver Ekman-Larsson (5:58) and Bobby McMann (15:27).

“We’ve just got to find a way to close those games (out). Obviously, we tried our best to block shots and make sure (Hellebuyck) sees most of the pucks. We’ve just got to continue playing more aggressive," said Niederreiter.

"Don’t be afraid of making mistakes and don’t try to defend something when we don’t have to – that’s something we have to learn.”

SO CLOSE

It looked like the Jets had the go-ahead goal late in the game when Jonathan Toews grabbed a Mark Scheifele rebound and his shot beat Hildeby but not the goal post. The game went to overtime and that’s where Domi converted on a 2-on-1 rush thanks to a nice pass from Matthews.

I mean, I don't think there's any time for frustration right now. Obviously, we're hunting and trying to climb back into things, and we need to get points every night, preferably two," said Josh Morrissey.

"But, with the schedule up until the Olympic break, it's just about trying to find ways to, obviously get wins, and find ways to get points and keep climbing. It's a tall task, but we believe in the way we've been playing, really since the break."