Game Recap: Jets 4, Wild 3 (OT)

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Kyle Connor scored 46 seconds into overtime to give the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino Arena on Tuesday.

Connor took a pass from Mark Scheifele and scored with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle to the far side.

“We kind of pressured when it was a loose puck in the neutral zone,” Connor said. “Got it turned around, got some speed and great entry by [Josh Morrissey] and ‘Scheif,’ and I just found some quiet ice. And, you know, I was trying to get through a screen. Saw a little hole in the far side.”

Logan Stanley and Neal Pionk each had two assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for the Jets (7-3-0).

“Again, we will talk about the second period,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “I loved the way we came out in the first, the second we got loose again. They do a really good job of getting bodies to the net front and they throw a lot of pucks there. We saw that in the first and they capitalized on a few of our mistakes in the second. Again, it was numbers at the net front by them. I thought we cleaned it up in the third.”

Brock Faber had a goal and an assist, and Marco Rossi had two assists for the Wild (3-5-3), who have lost four straight (0-2-2) and seven of their past eight (1-4-3). Filip Gustavsson made 18 saves.

“I thought the process of the game was a lot better, more indicative of how we can play in the type of game we need to be able to play to win,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “And so, I think when you get in a situation where you’re trying to find a way to win games, I think that that process is important. And I thought we got more of that tonight.”

Gabriel Vilardi put Winnipeg on top 1-0 at 12:16 of the first period, batting the puck in at the left post after Stanley threw it on net.

Vladislav Namestnikov scored 22 seconds later to make it 2-0. He deflected a point shot by Pionk at 12:38.

Kirill Kaprizov cut it to 2-1 at 6:03 of the second period, jamming in a loose puck in the crease.

Faber then tied it 2-2 at 13:12. Following a turnover by Pionk in his own zone, Faber’s slap shot from between the circles deflected off a stick and banked off the glass behind the net. The puck then caromed back over the crossbar, kicked off Hellebuyck’s skate at the top of the crease and went into the net.

“I don’t think I’ll ever see one like that again,” Faber said. “But it feels good to get a bounce and [I] wish we would have come out on top. I thought we played the game to do so.”

Marcus Johansson gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 3:48 of the third period when he poked in the rebound of Faber’s point shot with traffic in front.

Nino Niederreiter tied it 3-3 at 11:35, swatting in a loose puck from the edge of the crease.

“Good start, but we’ve got to find a way to play 60 minutes of hockey,” Niederreiter said. “There’s times we showed what we’re capable of doing and then there’s times where we’re trying to be too cute, have too many turnovers and let teams get back in it.”

NOTES: Connor tied Scheifele for the most game-winning goals in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history (61). … Winnipeg is 4-0-0 on the road for the second time in Jets/Thrashers history. The other was last season (7-0-0). … Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon got his 300th career assist, all with Minnesota, on Kaprizov’s goal. He is one of three players to reach the mark for the Wild, joining Mikko Koivu (504) and Ryan Suter (314). … Johansson has four goals in his past three games.