The Winnipeg Jets were back in action tonight following their 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. Sitting at the top of the NHL standings prior to this game at 6-0-0 with a +17 goal differential, the Jets have been an early positive story in the league.

The Jets entered tonight’s game 7-2-0 all time against the Kraken. Sticking with the familiar line combinations was an easy decision for head coach Scott Arniel to make for this game. There weren’t many questions or concerns with the Jets before this game, it was just a matter of if this surprisingly perfect start to the season could be continued.

A slower pace to this game played out in favour of the Jets at first, but the Kraken settled in and started gaining momentum in front of their home fans. Shots on goal were only 6-4 in favour of the Kraken halfway through the 1st period, with not many high danger chances on both sides.

The Kraken opened the scoring in this one, 8 1/2 minutes into the game. Adam Larsson made a nice feed out of his defensive zone up to Jared McCann. Dylan Samberg was battling for possession of the puck, but McCann won it just past the blue line. The puck then found its way over to Matty Beniers, who sniped the puck top corner past Connor Hellebuyck.

Less than a minute after the Kraken opened the scoring, Dylan DeMelo took an interference penalty on Jared McCann. The Kraken went on the powerplay, but despite a few decent scoring chances, were not able to double their lead. The penalty kill didn’t seem to energize the Jets too much, and the shots sat at 11-5 for the Kraken with 4 minutes left in the opening period. Nothing exciting happened for the rest of the 1st, and the Jets trailed 1-0 after 1, with the shots 12-7 for the Kraken.

The Jets were in this situation last game against the Penguins, so you knew that they would be pushing for the equalizer right off the 2nd period puck drop. Sure enough, the Jets would lead in 2nd period shots 10-2 just 8 minutes into the 2nd.

One of those shots would find the back of the net in a somewhat unconventional way. Adam Lowry brought the puck in past the blue line, dropped it back for Mason Appleton, and he fired one towards the goal. In front was Nino Niederreiter, who was in the right place at the right time, and it deflected off his body and past Joey Daccord to tie this game at 1.

Make that 3 straight games with a goal for Niederreiter now, as the 3rd line of Lowry-Appleton and Niederreiter continues to pick up the chemistry they built last season. Minutes after this goal, the Kraken found the back of the net courtesy of a shot by Oliver Bjorkstrand. Kraken forward Yanni Gourde appeared to be in Hellebuyck’s crease area as Bjorkstrand took the shot, and Arniel challenged the goal for goalie interference. The challenge was successful, and the game stayed at 1-1.

Hellebuyck continued to make some important saves following the disallowed go ahead goal. Despite the great start to the 2nd period for the Jets, the Kraken were showing some fight and the game was quite evenly matched as the 2nd period went on.

With 5 minutes to go in the 2nd, the Jets took the lead. Kyle Connor held the puck in the zone and passed it to Mark Scheifele. The puck was sent down low to Gabe Vilardi, who dragged the puck around Daccord and slid it in the net to give the Jets a 2-1 lead. That goal was the 1st of the season for Vilardi, which will hopefully give him a spark to score more goals in the upcoming games.

Just 14 seconds after the Jets go ahead goal, Adam Lowry took a slashing penalty against Eeli Tolvanen. The penalty kill stood tall throughout the 2 minutes down 5 on 4, and the penalty killers, without one of their best in Lowry, did not allow the Kraken to get any scoring chances at all.

The broadcasters on TSN best described the play in the 2nd period as “both teams having active sticks”, meaning that there was not a lot of room available for teams to move the puck around freely. The Jets kept the 2-1 lead as the 2nd period expired, and the shots on goal were even at 22.

As the 3rd period began, the Jets knew it wouldn’t be easy for them to hold on for their 7th straight win to open the season. Tye Kartye took a high sticking minor against Colin Miller 2 minutes into the 3rd, and the Jets powerplay went to work. Although the Jets didn’t quite score on the powerplay, 3 seconds after the penalty ended Niederreiter scored his 2nd of the game to give the Jets a 3-1 lead.

Cole Perfetti started this play by bringing the puck into the zone, before firing a pass across the ice to an open Niederreiter. After a quick head fake, Niederreiter slid to his left and shot the puck past Daccord as 3 Kraken defenders approached Niederreiter. Neal Pionk picked up the 2nd assist, and suddenly the Jets found themselves up 2.

The Kraken didn’t go quietly in this game though, as they would make it a 3-2 game with 9 minutes to play. An un-accurate breakout pass by Neal Pionk was collected by Adam Larsson, who sent it to Jared McCann. A few Jets players came to get McCann which left Jordan Eberle all alone in front. Eberle slid the puck past Hellebuyck to cut the Jets lead to 3-2.

The Jets were trying to get some momentum going after this goal, but it was all Kraken for the next portion of the 3rd period. With 3 and a half minutes left in the game, McCann got the puck back to the point. Brandon Montour fired the puck on net and Matty Beniers deflected it past Hellebuyck to tie the game at 3. That goal gave Beniers his 3rd point of the night, and the Kraken were rewarded for their strong play in the 3rd period. The Jets showed some fight after the tying goal, and the shots finished 35-30 in favour of the Jets (13-9 Jets in the 3rd). Overtime was needed on this late Thursday night game.

The Kraken started overtime with possession, but the Jets would get the puck soon after. After a few fast paced chances, the Jets slowed it down a little in the Kraken zone as there was a delayed penalty on the Kraken. Scheifele sent it out wide for Connor, who found Ehlers, the extra attacker on the delayed penalty. Ehlers fired a wrist shot on goal, and Joey Daccord got a big piece of it, but the puck trinkled in across the goal line. The Jets win in overtime 4-3, and remain perfect on the season at 7-0-0.

Final shots on goal were 36-32 for the Jets, and both teams stay disciplined as there were only 3 total penalties in this game. Ehlers extended his point streak to 4 games on the game winning goal, but it was Niederreiter who led the Jets this game with his 2 goal performance. Scheifele and Connor each picked up 2 assists, and the Jets found a way to win another close game on the road.

The 3 game road trip concludes for the Jets on Saturday afternoon against the Calgary Flames. The Flames are off to a better than expected start to the season, so the Jets will have to stay aware of this team who has played quality hockey so far this season.

Puck drop is at 6:00 pm CT on Saturday, and as always stay tuned here on Jets Nation for a pre and post game article for that game, As well, there will be an Instagram live pre-game show from Angus to get you set for the Jets 8th game of the season, where they will now be going for their *checks notes* 8th straight win to start the 2024-25 season.