It was a fitting ending to a phenomenal regular season for the Winnipeg Jets.
Mark Scheifele scored the winner in overtime to send the fans home happy in a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night as the Jets finished the season with a franchise-record 116 points.
Winnipeg dominated the opening period, peppering Ville Husso with 19 shots but couldn’t find the back of the net. Connor Hellebuyck also turned aside all nine shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes.
Both teams continued to pepper the goalies in the second until the Jets finally broke through on their 28th shot of the night.
Off a faceoff win in the offensive zone, Neal Pionk fired a shot from the point that beat a screened Husso at the 13:49 mark of the second for his 10th goal of the season, matching his career-high from two seasons ago.
Cole Perfetti also picked up an assist on the goal to give him 50 points for the first time in his NHL career.
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Winnipeg outshot Anaheim 15-13 in the second and had a 34-22 edge through 40 minutes.
The Ducks evened the scoring 5:45 into the third when Troy Terry banged home a rebound, beating Hellebuyck on their 24th shot of the night.
The Jets got a great chance to regain the lead with 5:29 to go in the third when the Ducks took their fourth minor penalty of the game but for the fourth time Anaheim killed it off, keeping the score tied 1-1.
Winnipeg had some good chances to score in the final moments of the third but Alex Iafallo missed the net on a partial break and Kyle Connor was robbed in tight by Husso, sending the game to overtime.
In OT, Josh Morrissey made a great sliding poke-check to break up an Anaheim odd-man rush, creating one for the Jets that Connor and Scheifele could not finish off but as the play continued, Connor got the puck behind the net and sent it to Morrissey before he slid it cross-ice to Scheifele who made no mistake for his 39th of the season. It was also his 11th game-winning goal of the season, setting a new franchise-best.
With an assist on the play, Connor finished the campaign with 97 points, building on his Jets 2.0 era record. Scheifele also finished the season with a career-high 87 points.
Hellebuyck turned aside 30 shots to secure his 47th win of the season, tied for third-most all-time for single-season wins by a goalie and just one shy of matching the record.
He also secured the William M. Jennings Trophy for the second straight season as the Jets allowed the fewest goals in the NHL. Eric Comrie does not get his name on the trophy as he suited up in 20 games, five shy of the threshold for recognition by the league.
The Jets will now move on to the postseason where they will host the St. Louis Blues for the second time in franchise history after losing to the Blues in six games in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The NHL will release the postseason schedule shortly.
