The Winnipeg Jets’ losing streak has hit 10 games.
On Tuesday, in front of home fans for the first time in four games, the Jets gave up 2-0 and 3-2 leads, ultimately falling 4-3 in overtime to the visiting Vegas Golden Knights for their tenth-straight loss.
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Luke Schenn scored his first goal as a Jet, Cole Perfetti got his first goal in 16 games, while Kyle Connor found his 20th goal of the season, but it wasn’t enough to beat the visitors on Tuesday.
“I’ve gone through stretches like this in my career, just not with a group that’s this talented,” the veteran blueliner said following the game.
“With a world-class MVP goalie, top-line talent and great defencemen, veterans and guys who have been around for a long time and have won. It’s not bringing in a bunch of young guys and seeing what sticks. It’s a great group of guys, we’re just not getting across the finish line at the end of the day. That’s what it is,” Schenn added.
The Jets got on the board just 5:16 into the game, with Perfetti snapping an ugly goal scoring streak with his third of the season and just first goal in 16 games. He had just only points in the month and change since scoring his second of the year back on November 29.
Photo by James Carey Lauder
The youngest player on the Jets’ roster was the beneficiary of a nice spinning pass from veteran Jonathan Toews. He got Perfetti the puck on the doorstep, who only needs to tap it past Carter Hart in goal off his backhand for the 1-0 marker.
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Things took a scary turn as local product Keegan Kolesar sent Haydn Fleury hard into the end boards, which required a lengthy delay, EMS and a stretcher to get the defenceman off the ice.
The Jets later reported that Fluery was transported to hospital via ambulance but had movement in all extremities before leaving the downtown venue.
Winnipeg led narrowly on the scoreboard and shot chart (5-4) through 20 minutes of play.
The middle stanza belonged to Luke Schenn.
He finally scored his first goal as a member of the Jets (42 total games played over the past two seasons) on a sneaky wrist shot from the point. His long-range floater beat Hart cleanly and bounced directly down off the crossbar and into the net, giving Winnipeg a 2-0 lead 12:04 into the frame.
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“Usually when they go in from the blueline I think that they’re probably not going straight in,” Schenn laughed. “And it usually hits something, a skate or shin pad or something like that. Nice to see it go in, obviously, they don’t happen too often. I was pretty pumped at the time. The last one I got was last year right around the 1,000th game mark. It doesn’t come too often. It would have been a lot sweeter to get it in the win.”
Skating in career game No. 1,100, Schenn later flattened Kolesar at centre ice, drawing quite a rouse form fans at Canada Life Centre.
But then, following the script, the Golden Knights’ lone goal of the stanza was a pass that deflected off Schenn before landing on the stick of Winnipeg’s own Mark Stone, who batted it into the net past Connor Hellebuyck on a late period Vegas power play.
The Golden Knights took over the shot lead in the second, pulling ahead 14-9 after 40 minutes of play.
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Eventually the dam broke, as another Manitoban, Brett Howden, tied things up for the visitors, pounding home his eighth of the season from the high slot midway through the third period.
But not to be outdone, Connor pounded home the go-ahead marker with 5:04 to play in the frame.
Moments after being denied on the doorstep from point-blank range, Connor got a second chance at it and beat Hart five-hole for his 20th of the year.
However, Reilly Smith had other plans, needing just 59 seconds to tie the game once again, sending it to overtime with the visitors outshooting Winnipeg 27-15.
An eventful extra frame saw both teams trade chances on the fly, as well as a penalty to Dylan Samberg leading to a Vegas power play with 50 seconds to play. Tomas Hertl deflected a Mitch Marner point shot past Hellebuyck with just 13 seconds remaining, sealing the deal on the Jets’ 10th-straight loss.
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Hellebuyck made 27 stops on the 31 pucks sent his way, while Hart turned aside 17 of the 20 shots he faced on the night.
Next up for Winnipeg is the continuation of the five-game homestand, as the Edmonton Oilers roll into Manitoba for a Thursday night, all-Canadian matchup. That game can be viewed live on TSN at 7:00 PM central.
