WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets fell short last night in their attempt to exact revenge on the Washington Capitals with a 4-3 overtime loss at Capital One Arena.
Back on December 17th when Dave Lowry made his debut as interim head coach, the Capitals roared out of Winnipeg soundly defeating the Jets 5-2. Lowry has seemed to put his touch on the team since then with the Jets playing a much more free-flowing offensive style, last night jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead with goals from Kyle Connor (his 21st) and Cole Perfetti (the first NHL goal of his career). But before the Jets could escape the first period with that lead, Alex Ovechkin beat Connor Hellebuyck for his 27th goal of the season.
Early in the second period, Dmitry Orlov tied things up for the Capitals. Then early in the third, Washington took the lead with a goal from Aliaksei Protas. After the early lead, the Jets were outplayed by Washington until they pulled Hellebuyck late in the third for the extra attacker which resulted in Pierre-Luc Dubois scoring his 16th of the year to send the game into overtime. It only took Washington 26 seconds to put the Jets away when Tom Wilson scored after Hellebuyck badly played a rebound. Hellebuyck looked nothing like the goalie that earned a shutout last week in Detroit; stopping 27 of the 31 shots he faced. Washington netminder Vitek Vanecek was excellent after allowing those two early goals, stopping 30 shots on the night.
The Jets next see action Thursday night in Nashville. Puck drop is at 7pm (TSN3, 680 CJOB/Power 97). The Jets will most likely be without Nikolaj Ehlers who took a vicious knee on knee hit late in the game from Dmitry Orlov which the referees ignored.
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