Connor, Jets recover for OT win against Golden Knights after 13-day break

LAS VEGAS -- Kyle Connor scored at 2:39 of overtime, and the Winnipeg Jets won their first game in 14 days, 5-4 against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Connor won it with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle after Mattias Janmark scored twice in the third period for Vegas, including the tying goal with nine seconds left.
Connor Hellebuyck made a season-high 42 saves, and Kristian Reichel scored his first NHL goal for the Jets (15-11-5), who last played Dec. 19, a 4-2 win against the St. Louis Blues, before having five games postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
"These past couple of weeks, they've been challenging," Connor said. "It's been tough to watch other teams play, and for us try to get as ready as you can."

Michael Amadio had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (22-12-1), and Laurent Brossoit made 32 saves in his first start against his former team. Brossoit signed a two-year, $4.65 million contract with Vegas on July 28 after playing the previous three seasons with Winnipeg.
"I think we did a lot of good things in the game," Amadio said. "Obviously it would've been nice to hold on and get the win, but it showed a lot of character just to come back. We'll take the point."
Janmark cut it to 4-3 at 13:37 after he stole the puck from Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo above the right circle. He tied it 4-4 at 19:51 when the puck went off his right skate after Nicolas Roy redirected Shea Theodore's shot from the point.
"I think we could've had a couple more [goals]," Janmark said. "I think maybe [Hellebuyck] had a little puck luck and obviously played a good game. We want to bear down and score a few more on the chances we have in the future."

Amadio gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 13:05 of the first period off a rebound.
Evgenii Dadonov made it 2-0 at 16:59 of the first when he received a 2-on-1 pass from Amadio and banked it off Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey's stick.
Vegas outshot Winnipeg 22-10 in the first period.
"You could see [rust] in our first period," Connor said. "We were lagging behind a little bit. I felt we did build throughout the game."
The Jets tied it with two goals in 20 seconds in the second. Jansen Harkins cut it to 2-1 at 2:19, and Reichel's first NHL goal made it 2-2 at 2:39 after the 23-year-old forward collected a loose puck in the right circle and scored short side.
"It was unreal," Reichel said. "I don't know what to say. I was taught to be a shooter, so I just put it on the net and picked a corner there."

Paul Stastny scored against his former team at 2:28 of the third period to give the Jets a 3-2 lead. Stastny was traded to Winnipeg on Oct. 9, 2020, after playing two seasons with Vegas, where he signed as a free agent July 1, 2018.
Andrew Copp extended the Jets lead to 4-2 at 4:16 of the third with a power-play goal.
"We knew that there was probably going to be some rust," Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. "We felt we did the drills right in practice to prepare us."
NOTES: It was Connor's 150th NHL goal. … Jets forward David Gustafsson left the game in the first period because of a lower-body injury. Lowry said Gustafsson will be reevaluated in the coming days. … Winnipeg defenseman Nate Schmidt had three shots on goal in his first game against Vegas since being traded to the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 12, 2020. Schmidt scored 97 points (21 goals, 76 assists) in 196 games with the Golden Knights. … Brossoit started his fourth straight game in place of Robin Lehner (lower body). He's allowed 13 goals and has an .868 save percentage in that span.