The last time the Winnipeg Jets played a game in Dallas, Thomas Harley scored the overtime winner to end their season.
Perhaps fittingly, on Groundhog Day, it was Harley who again played OT hero as the Jets fell to the Stars 4-3 Monday night in Texas.
Neither team found the back of the net during a fairly entertaining first period in which both teams got eight shots on goal. Winnipeg had two power play chances that didn’t bear fruit while Dallas’ first look with a man advantage came with 21 seconds to go in the period.
That power play carried over into the second period and Dallas took advantage as Jason Robertson redirected a hard pass from Mikko Rantanen over the blocker of Connor Hellebuyck to open the scoring 48 seconds into the period.
The Jets responded less than two minutes later. Cole Perfetti collected the puck in the neutral zone to jumpstart an odd-man rush. He carried the puck before firing a low shot that caught a piece of the stick of Miro Heiskanen before bouncing off the pad of Jake Oettinger right into the slot. Trailing the play, Gabriel Vilardi fired the rebound home to tie the game with his 21st of the season.
Winnipeg got a power play just over a minute later and made good on it. Off a faceoff win, Perfetti got the puck back to Josh Morrissey at the point. He passed it to Mark Scheifele on the wall, who dropped it low to Vilardi before the Jets first goal scorer found Perfetti in the slot for a quick release goal, his sixth of the season, making it 2-1 at the 3:58 mark.
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The Jets held the lead for a while, even surviving a Justin Hryckowian breakaway and a lengthy 5-on-3 but they couldn’t hold the Stars down forever as Dallas tied the game with 4:47 to go in the period.
Sam Steel crossed the blue line with the puck before sending it across to Jamie Benn on the right wing. The Stars’ captain dropped it over to Matt Duchene, whose shot was stopped by Hellebuyck but Nils Lundkvist got inside Dylan DeMelo in front of the net to knock home the rebound.
Both teams got nine shots on goal in the second period.
It stayed tied past the midway point of the third before Mikko Rantanen scored a doozy of a goal to give Dallas the lead.
Hryckowian corralled a puck in the neutral zone and left it for Rantanen to take into the Winnipeg end. He put a slick move on Luke Schenn, undressing the Jets blueliner before freezing Hellebuyck and tucking the puck around the goalie’s outstretched pad at the 12:17 mark of the third.
Winnipeg pulled Hellebuyck for an extra attacker with just under 2:30 left in the third. Kyle Connor nearly tied it when he hit the crossbar, but seconds later the Jets would find the equalizer.
Connor passed the puck behind the net to Scheifele in the opposite corner. He then fed Logan Stanley for a one-timer that deflected off the stick of Rantanen and fluttered past a fooled Oettinger with 1:43 to go.
Dallas had control of the puck for much of the overtime session before Scheifele got sprung on a breakaway. He tried to beat Oettinger low on the blocker side but was denied by Oettinger’s left pad.
The Stars got the puck back and were able to make a line change while Scheifele’s group had to stay out at the end of a long shift. Matt Duchene took the puck into the Winnipeg end and circled back, creating space for Harley to skate into. Duchene then passed the puck to an unguarded Harley, who used his skate to corral the puck before beating Hellebuyck on the backhand to end the game.
Immediately after the goal was scored, Hellebuyck was steamed, going to an official to ask why play wasn’t blown dead off an earlier play when one of his helmet buckles snapped off.
The loss drops Winnipeg to 1-6 in games decided in overtime this season.
The Jets will play their final game before the Olympic break Wednesday at home against Montreal. It’s an earlier-than-usual start time with the puck dropping a little after 6 p.m. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB begins at 4 p.m.