Jets get past Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime
Robin Lehner looked fantastic in net.
Brandon Saad scored short-handed and continues to prove he deserves more ice time.
Calvin de Haan made his season debut, giving the Chicago Blackhawks their full complement of defensemen for the first time.
And yet the Hawks lost.
Again.
Winnipeg managed to walk out of the United Center on Saturday night with a 3-2 OT victory after getting a game-tying goal by Andrew Copp with 8:16 remaining and the game-winner from Mark Scheifele 47 seconds into overtime.
The Jets have fallen behind in all six of their games yet are 4-2-0. The Hawks, meanwhile, have taken the lead in all three of their contests and are 0-2-1.
"It's a mini step forward," Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. "But certainly sour."
Lehner, making his Chicago debut after signing a one-year contract in the off-season, made 30 saves. Two impressive ones came in a four-minute span of the second period as the 6-foot-4, 240-pound veteran lunged to his right to deny a Jack Roslovic one-timer and then stood his ground on a Scheifele wrister from 10 feet away.
"He was good," Colliton said. "Made some big saves for us. He's a big presence back there - covers a lot of the net."
The Hawks jumped on Winnipeg with Saad's first goal of the season at 4:02 of the first period, then made it 2-0 by converting on a power play when Seabrook slapped home a shot at 12:37.
Just like last season, though, a Hawks opponent controlled the second period and turned the tide.
And in Colliton's mind, it's a situation that absolutely must be remedied.
"The best teams, they dominate the second period," Colliton said. "We'd like to control the tempo of the game … and outchange the other team. That's where you show how good you are. So we're not close to where we want to be in that area."
The Hawks allowed the eighth-most goals (90) in the second period last season. None of the bottom nine teams made the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the top five - Tampa Bay (61), the Islanders (61), Dallas (66), Carolina (70) and Boston (71) - all qualified.
"We have to find a way to control the momentum and play in the offensive zone - hold it down there for 20, 30 seconds at a time," said Colliton, whose team has been outshot 38-20 in the middle period. "We're going to get a lot of success out of that, and we've just got to do it more."
It would help if the Hawks got Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane going as well. Toews has yet to record a point in three games, while Kane has just 6 shots on goal.
Their next chance for a victory comes against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Monday at the UC.
"We've got to make sure that our low is a little bit higher," Lehner said. "When we go into those low modes, we've got to make sure it's not as good of chances. But … we're going to get there.
"I really liked what I saw from a lot of today's game. So, progress."