NHL Game Recap: Ehlers Helps Jets Recover For OT Victory, Remain Undefeated

Winnipeg remains undefeated, keeping a seven-game win streak alive since the start of the season. They took on the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday, October 24th, and gave the Kraken their second straight loss when the Jets won it in overtime 4-3. Nikolaj Ehlers won it in overtime, helping Winnipeg recover for the victory. Nino Niederreiter scored two goals, and Gabriel Vilardi also scored a goal. Matty Beniers picked up three points (two goals, one assist), Jordan Eberle scored a goal, and Jared McCann recorded two assists for the Kraken. The Jets will be in Calgary on Saturday to hopefully keep their season-opening win streak going.

Winnipeg Jets Lineup:

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Perfetti – Namestnikov – Ehlers

Niederreiter – Lowry – Appleton

Barron – Kupari – Iafallo

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Pionk

Stanley – Miller

Hellebuyck

Comrie

Seattle Kraken Lineup:

McCann – Beniers – Eberle

Schwartz – Stephenson – Tanev

Tolvanen – Gourde – Bjorkstrand

Kartye – Wright – Burakovsky

Evans – Larsson

Oleksiak – Montour

Mahura – Borgen

Daccord

Grubauer

Matty Beniers opened the scoring at 8:33 of the first period, giving Seattle a 1-0 lead. At the top of the left circle, he received a pass from Jared McCann after Adam Larsson sent the puck to the center from behind Seattle’s net, and McCann knocked the puck at the line to then send it over to Beniers – scoring on a wrist shot blocker side.

Early into the second period, Nino Niederreiter tied it to 1-1 when Mason Appleton shot from the top of the right circle after a pass from Colin Miller at the line. Appleton’s shot hit Joey Daccord’s blocker, then bounced in off Niederreiter’s chest as he drove to the net. With 4:55 remaining on the clock, Gabriel Vilardi gave the Jets their first lead of the game for his first goal of the season. Kyle Connor had won a race for the puck at the blue line, lifting it to send it to Mark Scheifele, who passed the puck to Vilardi when he found him at the side of the net… Vilardi then drove across the crease, tucking it around Daccord’s outstretched left pad. It appeared that Oliver Bjorkstrand tied it 2-2, however, Winnipeg successfully challenged for goaltender interference.

Nino Niederreiter pushed it to 3-1 with his second of the night early in the third at 15:39 when Cole Perfetti received a pass from Neal Pionk in Winnipeg’s zone, Perfetti held the puck and skated up through Seattle’s zone, passing it to Niederreiter… Niederreiter faked a shot in the right circle, cut to the middle, and then lifted the puck into the open net with Joey Daccord out of position. The goal came just three seconds after the Jets’ only power play of the game had expired. At 8:59, Jordan Eberle cut it to 3-2 when Jared McCann received a pass, and almost lost it at the right wall, but Matty Beniers got to it and saved it for McCann, who sent it to Eberle at the top of the crease… Eberle then lifted a backhand in off Connor Hellebuyck’s blocker. Beniers grabbed his second goal of the night late in the third with 3:22 left in regulation when Brandon Montour passed the puck to McCann, who hammered it and it bounced back, Rasmus Kupari collected it… McCann got the puck back, passed it to Montour who hammered it towards Daccord and Beniers tipped in the slap shot past Hellebuyck.

Nikolaj Ehlers won it in overtime with 3:34 remaining on the clock when Kyle Connor received a pass from Mark Scheifele and waited for Ehlers to get on the ice during a delayed penalty. Ehlers got the puck from Connor in the high slot and fired a wrister that trickled under Joey Daccord’s arm for a 4-3 victory.

Nino Niederreiter on how the Jets got the game spun around in the second, and his goal/pass from Cole Perfetti: “We finally put the puck behind the RD and made them turn, and created some luck and got some good bounces. Overall, we found a way to win and that’s the most important thing, but it wasn’t our best,” – “It was a nice look. As soon as I saw him, he beat this guy up the wall there and I kind of find the open space… he found me and it luckily went in.”

Gabriel Vilardi on the overtime win and the Seattle Kraken: “It’s pretty cool. Won every game so far so, we got to just try to keep it going… That was a really tight game. I thought we battled back after that first period really well,” – “I think just the way they started in the first period kind of caught us off guard, honestly. Their style of play – they were really fast and pushing the puck up into the neutral zone and going from there… we weren’t really playing well against that. We made some adjustments in that first intermission. I thought we played much better against their style of play.”

Notes:

– The Jets have become the fifth team in the past 10 years to start a season off with a seven-game win streak… They also became the sixth Canadian team in League history to record a season-opening win streak of at least seven games. Winnipeg joins the Maple Leafs (1993-94: 10 games), Canadiens (2015-16: nine games), Maple Leafs (1934-35: eight games), Oilers (1983-84: seven games), and Nordiques (1985-86: seven games).

– Connor Hellebuyck made a total of 29 saves for Winnipeg… He’s become the sixth U.S.-born goaltender in NHL history to record a season-opening win streak of at least six games – the other goaltenders: Jack Campbell (11 games – 2020-21), Ryan Miller (eight games – 2006-07), Tim Thomas (seven games – 2010-11), Brent Johnson (seven games in 2000-01), and Jeremy Swayman (six games – 2023-24).

– Joey Daccord made a total of 32 saves for Seattle.