It was another slow start, but another strong finish for the Winnipeg Jets.
The Jets picked up a second straight comeback victory, spoiling the Arizona Coyotes home opener with a 3-2 overtime win on Friday at the first ever NHL game at the tiny five-thousand seat Mullett Arena.
Blake Wheeler scored just 32 seconds into overtime to give the Jets their third straight victory.
The Jets went down by two goals early, but tied the game midway through the third period before Wheeler scored the overtime winner.
Mark Scheifele scored for the third straight game. Cole Perfetti had the other marker for Winnipeg.
Josh Morrissey recorded one assist to give him five points in his last three games. He now has eight assists in the first eight contests of the season.
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The Coyotes scored the first ever NHL goal at the Mullett Arena midway through the first period. Troy Stecher’s point shot went off the body of Christian Fischer and in past David Rittich.
Five minutes later Arizona extended the lead when they won the faceoff clean and Fischer fired the shot immediately for his second goal of the game.
But only 26 seconds later Perfetti scored on a great solo effort. He stole the puck and skated right around Coyotes goalie Karel Vejmelka before tucking it in. His third goal of the season had the Jets trailing by a single goal after 20 minutes.
Nick Bjugstad had a late period breakaway, but was stuffed by Rittich.
Winnipeg came close to tying it up early in the second when the snake bitten Kyle Connor hit the goal post. Connor has only one empty-net goal so far this season.
There was no scoring in the period, but the Jets carried the bulk of the play as they outshot the Coyotes 14-9.
The Jets found the equalizer nearing the midway point of the final frame. Morrissey’s shot was stopped, but Scheifele pounced on the rebound to score his team-leading sixth goal of the campaign.
For a moment the Jets thought they’d taken the lead with six minutes left. Perfetti raised his arms in celebration but his shot never crossed the goal line, so the game remained tied.
But early in the extra frame, Pierre-Luc Dubois swiped the puck at the blueline and it turned into a 2-on-0 with Wheeler. Dubois fed him the puck and Wheeler buried the one-timer to win it.
Rittich needed to make only 19 saves, while Vejmelka finished with 32 stops.
The Jets were 0-for-5 on the power play.
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Defenceman Logan Stanley missed a second straight game after getting hurt earlier in the week while blocking a shot.
The Jets will wrap up the road trip on Sunday with their third game in just four days against the Vegas Golden Knights starting at 7:00 p.m.
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