Sam Gagner broke a deadlock late in the third period to give the host Winnipeg Jets a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames in a hard-battled game Tuesday night.
Josh Morrissey and Brenden Dillon also scored for the Jets, who boast a three-game winning streak despite having a plethora of players out due to injury. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves in an excellent goaltending duel.
Nikita Zadorov and Mikael Backlund replied for the Flames, who twice erased a deficit but couldn’t do it a third time, while goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 22 shots.
With overtime looming, Gagner gave the Jets their third lead of the night with 5:40 left on the clock. Gagner set up shop for a deflection and perfectly tipped Ville Heinola’s point shot for his seventh goal of the season.
Calgary pressed in the final minute, but couldn’t solve Hellebuyck in a frantic push in a close affair. His biggest stop was on a point-blank chance by Jonathan Huberdeau.
After a scoreless, tight-checking opening period, Dillon finally opened the scoring with 5:10 remaining in the second, which snapped a 38-game goal drought that dated back to late last season. Dillon, despite being a defenseman, went to the front of the net as Dylan DeMelo fired a point shot that ricocheted off his knee and into the net.
Zadorov evened the count with 59.5 seconds remaining in the period. The defenseman joined an odd-man rush, took a feed from Tyler Toffoli and sniped a five-hole shot for his fifth goal of the campaign.
Morrissey put the Jets ahead a second time with 9:38 remaining in the third period. After his shot was blocked, the defenseman tracked the puck in the slot and ripped a top-shelf tally for his seventh goal of the season.
But Backlund drew the game even again 96 seconds later. Taking advantage of a broken play, he completed a backhand deke for his eighth marker of the season.
Earlier in the day, the Flames announced that forward Brett Ritchie was to visit a specialist for an injury suffered on New Year’s Eve.
–Field Level Media