SEATTLE — Nikolaj Ehlers scored the winning goal 1:26 into overtime, and the Winnipeg Jets remained unbeaten this season with a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
Nino Niederreiter had two goals for Winnipeg, Gabriel Vilardi scored one and Connor Hellebuyck had 29 saves as the Jets improved to 7-0.
Matty Beniers had two goals and an assist for Seattle.
Beniers scored first at 11:27 of the first period to put the Kraken ahead 1-0. Seattle’s lead disappeared in the second period, when Niederreiter tied it with a goal at 3:56.
Vilardi snuck one past Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord at 15:05 of the second to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.
Niederreiter scored again just over four minutes into the third period to put the Jets ahead by two.
Jordan Eberle made it a one-score game with 9:58 left with his sixth goal in Seattle’s first eight games, and Beniers tapped in his second with 3:22 remaining to tie it at 3-3.
“I think both coaches might be tossing that one away … It was sloppy both ways,” Jets coach Scott Arniel told reporters. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful to Dan (Bylsma) and his team. We weren’t very good in the first. We were a lot better in the second. Third, we did everything we needed to do and then made a couple mistakes and they’re in the back of our net.
“But at the end of the day, it’s two points, it’s on the road, move on and (go) to the next one.”
Daccord finished with 32 saves.
Takeaways
Kraken: Beniers’ goals were his first two of the season. He didn’t score his second goal last season until Seattle’s 18th game.
Jets: Winnipeg, which ranks second in the league in scoring, has now scored three or more goals in four consecutive games, and has reached the mark in five of its seven contests this season.
“As much as I’m disappointed with how we kind of played, you still have to look at the fact we’re doing a lot of good things and finding ways to win. We’ve got to bank points,” Arniel said.
“…It’s great that we’re off to the start we are but now we’ve just to re-set and go back up to Calgary on Saturday.”
Key moment
The Kraken appeared to take a 2-1 lead on Oliver Bjorkstrand’s goal midway through the second period, but the goal was disallowed after review due to goaltender interference. Vilardi put Winnipeg ahead just a few minutes later, making that overturned call sting even more.
Key stat
Winnipeg outshot the Kraken after the first period, 29-20, with four of those shots finding the back of the net.
Up next
The Jets will play at Calgary on Saturday night, while the Kraken will play host to Carolina.