Jets salvage point in Chicago

CHICAGO — Ever have one of those days where you should have just stayed in bed? That pretty much sums up how Thursday went for the Winnipeg Jets here in the Windy City.

It began with the bad news that top defenceman Josh Morrissey’s wrist issue is more serious than feared, and he likely won’t be back in the lineup any time soon. Then, veteran forward Vlad Namestnikov, coming off his best game of the young season, crashed into the boards at the end of morning skate, suffering an upper-body injury that sent him to the sidelines.

Off to the game itself, which began with Dylan DeMelo hitting the post on the first shift, a parade of Winnipeg penalties helping the home team build a healthy early lead and, last and certainly least, an eventual 4-3 overtime loss at United Center.

It actually could have been worse.

Rookie Viggo Bjorck looked like he might have suffered a scary injury in the middle frame when his foot got stepped on, but the only thing that ended up getting cut was his laces. And give the Jets credit, as they erased a pair of two-goal deficits to at least salvage a point.

Winnipeg had some glorious looks to win it late in the third and then in overtime before defenceman Artyom Levshunov scored the deciding tally 97 seconds into the three-on-three session.

“We had a ton of chances. There was lots of opportunity there. Anything that we did give up, it was self-inflicted,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel.

“I liked the way that we hung in there and battled our way back.”

Winnipeg is now 4-1-2 on the season, while Chicago improves to 3-5-0.

Penalty parade

Were referees Trevor Hanson and Ben Betker working out new whistles in this one?

They flagged six violations of the NHL rule book — four against Winnipeg, two against Chicago — before the game was seven minutes old.

“In my opinion, there were some questionable calls there,” said Arniel. “You really want to get going on the road and get your feet underneath you. For guys to sit there that long, it’s hard. But it’s moments in games that you have to try to handle and handle it better.”

Chicago benefited the most, opening the scoring with two seconds remaining on a 75-second 5-on-3 advantage that was a bit dubious. Jack St. Ivany was called for high-sticking, though replays suggested Blackhawks forward Ryan Greene was a victim of friendly fire.

That was compounded by Mario Ferraro tripping Patrick Kane 45 seconds into the kill.

Connor Bedard, who missed his team’s first six games of the season with an injury, ripped a shot from the slot past Stuart Skinner.

Goals galore

Once the referees realized the crowd didn’t come to watch them, the players took over. And the red light got a workout as the first period wore on.

Frank Nazar made it 2-0 with just under five minutes left after he was sprung on a breakaway courtesy of a big blocker save from goaltender Spencer Knight, who batted the puck all the way to centre ice.

Winnipeg answered 107 seconds later as Neal Pionk’s point shot was deflected by Chicago defenceman Ethan Del Mastro. Morgan Barron and Brad Lambert had the assists.

But the one-goal deficit was back to a pair 14 seconds later as Ryan Donato beat Skinner with a shot the goaltender would likely want back.

KFC keeps cooking

Kyle Connor is off to an incredible start, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

The veteran winger scored the only goal in the second period, a perfectly placed wrister with his team on the power play, to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Connor is now up to eight goals through his first seven games, which would put him on pace for 96.

Should we start noting in these stories the all-time NHL record for one campaign is 92, held by Wayne Gretzky?

We kid, of course. But could this be the year Connor hits the 50 mark for the first time? His career high of 47 was set in 2021-22.

Mark Scheifele made yet another terrific pass to his linemate, giving him seven points (1G, 6A) in his last four outings.

Oh, no, J-Mo

Morrissey has now missed three straight games, and there’s no telling how big that number could grow to.

Arniel told the Free Press no surgery is required “for now”, but what was initially deemed day-to-day is now week-to-week. Morrissey jammed his wrist last Wednesday in a game against Colorado.

Give credit to Pionk for stepping up. He’s up to five points in the past two games, which included setting up Alex Iafallo’s game-tying goal in the third period on Thursday.

“Not just Neal, we need everybody to step up. That’s the type of hockey that we need from Neal though,” said Arniel. “Even when Josh (Morrissey) gets back, he needs to continue to do that. He’s looking confident, offensively with the puck, and he’s obviously playing against the other team’s top-six forwards. That’s a big load as well. He’s handling that and we need him to continue to do that.”

Key play

Spencer Knight’s terrific pad stop on Neal Pionk in overtime, followed almost immediately by Artyom Levshunov’s game-winner at the other end.

“I’ve got to find a way to put that in the net,” said Pionk. “I thought overall it was a good job for us to come back and get a point, but there’s some things we’ll clean up on our game and got to find a way to get those overtime wins.”

THREE STARS:

1. CHI C Connor Bedard: 1 goal, 1 assist

2. WPG D Neal Pionk: 1 goal, 2 assists

3. CHI G Spencer Knight: 31 saves

Extra, extra!

You can put this loss to the Blackhawks in the rare category. Winnipeg entered play 17-2-1 in their last 20 meetings with Chicago, including 7-1-1 in the last nine visits to United Center.

Kane’s assist on Bedard’s goal was the 895th of his career, moving him to No. 1 among American born players. The record had been held by former Jets defenceman Phil Housley. Kane and Bedard then set up the OT winner.

Lambert was set to be a healthy scratch, but came into the lineup when Namestnikov was unable to play. That left defenceman Tyrel Bauer as the only one.

The Jets are still without blue-liner Elias Salomonsson, who is getting closer to being game-ready as he works his way back from shoulder surgery. Arniel said they’re still debating whether he might go down to the Manitoba Moose for a quick conditioning assignment or step right in for the Jets once cleared for takeoff.

The Jets flew home after the game and will prepare to host Nikolaj Ehlers and the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre.

“We’re gonna be pumped for this one,” said Iafallo.

“It’s a huge test and I think everybody’s waiting around for it and excited to get it going. Good team coming in and we gotta be ready to go from the drop of the puck.”

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