Jets hand Coyotes 12th straight loss with OT win

WINNIPEG -- Kyle Connor scored his his second goal of the game 33 seconds into overtime, and the Winnipeg Jets handed the Arizona Coyotes their 12th straight loss with a 4-3 win at Canada Life Centre on Sunday.

Connor, who also scored the overtime goal in a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, won it with a one-timer from the right circle on a 3-on-1, which was created after Coyotes forward Nick Schmaltz collided with defenseman Sean Durzi.

“We’re trying to work our way out of this and it [stinks]," 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.”

Mark Scheifele had a goal and three assists, Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist, and Josh Morrissey had three assists for the Jets (36-15-5), who have won three in a row and six of seven. Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves.

Winnipeg was 2-for-3 on the power play. It is 8-for-16 with the man-advantage in its past five games after going 0-for-21 in its previous eight games.

“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 scored twice for the Coyotes (23-29-5), who are 0-10-2 during their losing streak. Connor Ingram made 28 saves.

“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.”

Scheifele gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 2:06 of the first period. He skated into Morrissey’s intentional dump-in off the end boards, cut back across the crease and scored with a backhand.

“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 tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 13:45, chipping in the rebound of Dylan Guenther's shot in the low slot.

“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.”

Connor responded for the Jets to make it 2-1 at 14:45 of the first. He scored a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass by Vilardi from the left post.

Vilardi then scored his own power-play goal to extend the lead to 3-1 at 16:34. He took another pass at the left post, faked a move to his forehand, and scored with his backhand after getting Ingram to go the other way.

“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.”

Scheifele agreed.

“He just has a lot of options. He can go so many ways with it," he said. "It just makes it tough to read as a goalie or a defender. When you have options, and previously he just hit a guy backdoor, it makes it a tough read for the goalie and a lot of guys. So, obviously, a very, very smart play there.”

Matias Maccelli cut it to 3-2 at 6:11 of the second period, tapping in a backdoor pass from Juuso Valimaki from along the right boards.

“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 tied it 3-3 with his second of the game at 1:04 of the third period. He scored from in front after Alex Kerfoot stole the puck from Nino Niederreiter behind the net.

“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.”

Arizona forward Clayton Keller left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury. Tourigny had no update after the game.

“Obviously, [Keller] is an important player, but the way the guys reacted, they didn’t lose a beat,” Tourigny said.” When he went down, we had the momentum and we kept the momentum. The guys kept pushing and worked hard and made plays.”

Winnipeg forward Sean Monahan did not play because of an illness.

“It just showed up today,” Bowness said. "I guess he started to feel bad last night, and yeah, it caught up to him today. He came in, he was half dressed, and then it hit him again, so he had to go home. We sent him home.”

NOTES: Morrissey has nine assists on a four-game point streak. ... Connor has 10 points (four goals, six assists) on a five-game point streak.