For the first time in almost two months, the Winnipeg Jets have lost two games in a row.
Winnipeg couldn’t find the back of the net Wednesday night in Toronto, falling 1-0 to the Maple Leafs in overtime.
The Jets killed off five straight penalties, but couldn’t beat Ilya Samsonov in suffering a second straight loss. Auston Matthews scored the only goal of the game late in the extra period as the Jets settled for a single point.
“I like the way our guys came out,” said Jets defenceman Nate Schmidt. “We attacked the game early and I don’t think we really let off the gas. We did a great job. Our goaltender played fantastic.
“He was phenomenal tonight. Their goalie played well too. So, crazy a long game comes down to just one shot.”
Laurent Brossoit stopped 29 of 30 shots as his personal four-game win streak came to an end.
The Jets came out with a strong first period with 16 shots on goal, but were outshot in the final two periods.
Josh Morrissey left the game in the first period after getting hit by a shot in the midsection, leaving the Jets with only five defenceman for the final 40 minutes.
“That’s by far the best game of the road trip,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. “We played really, really well and give the five guys a lot of credit. And our forwards did a great job supporting them.
“It was a great team effort defensively tonight. We didn’t give up very much 5-on-5 and the few chances we gave up, L.B. made some good saves. But again, that’s the best game of the road trip.”
The Jets had a glorious scoring opportunity to take the lead in the second period with a 2-on-0 shorthanded, but Samsonov made three saves in succession on Adam Lowry and Morgan Barron.
“You got to tip your cap,” said Brossoit. “He played really well. I knew we were in trouble after he made the 2-on-0 saves. Crowd got into it. You could tell he was starting to feel it.”
After generating very little offence in Monday’s loss in Boston, the Jets dominated the first period in Toronto, outshooting the Leafs 16-4 but they were unable to get one past the much-maligned Samsonov.
Toronto earned the game’s first power play early in the second but it was the Jets getting the best chance when Barron and Lowry were sprung on a rare shorthanded 2-on-0.
They passed it back and forth a few times before Lowry fired a shot that was stopped by Samsonov, and the rebound chance from Barron was turned aside by a sprawling pad save, earning the Toronto netminder a standing ovation from the home crowd.
Toronto had two more power plays in the period that were also ineffective as the 0-0 stalemate remained through 40 minutes.
The Leafs earned a fourth power play early in the third that was able to generate more chances than the previous three but Brossoit continued to stand tall for the Jets.
Power play number five for Toronto came with just over five minutes left, and before it was over, the Leafs were finally called for an infraction of their own, giving the Jets 1:23 of power play time that they weren’t able to do much with.
Into the final minute, the game remained goalless when Mason Appleton was hauled down, giving the Jets a power play for the final 35 seconds of regulation and first 1:25 of overtime, but again they couldn’t crack Samsonov.
Teams played 4-on-4 after the penalty expired until a whistle with 1:32 to go. Off the ensuing faceoff, the Jets wound up controlling the puck but as they tried to break out of their own end, Nick Robertson forced a turnover that would help decide the game.
Neal Pionk stepped out from behind his own net and fired a pass up the middle that was sticked down by Robertson, setting up a great chance for Toronto that was denied in part by a sliding Nikolaj Ehlers, who lost his stick on the play.
The Leafs cycled the puck and just as Ehlers went to grab his stick behind the net, Lowry fell along the wall, giving the Leafs some room to work. As Ehlers skated back in front of the net, he lost Matthews in coverage, who got to the crease and redirected a great pass from Morgan Rielly past Brossoit for the winner with 47 seconds left in OT.
Samsonov earned his second shutout of the season, turning aside 32 shots for the win.
The good news for the Jets is that their once-lousy penalty kill took care of all five penalties they took, and they did earn a point despite not scoring a goal.
But it is the first time they have suffered back-to-back losses since a three-game skid to close out November. They’ve also scored just nine goals in their last six games, with four of them coming in their win over the Islanders Jan. 16.
The two teams will meet again in Winnipeg Saturday night in the Jets’ final game before the All-Star break. The puck drops just after 6 p.m. with pregame coverage on 680 CJOB beginning at 4 p.m.
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