Jets recover for OT victory against Kraken, remain undefeated 

SEATTLE -- Nikolaj Ehlers scored 1:26 into overtime, and the Winnipeg Jets extended their season-opening winning streak to seven games with a 4-3 victory against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

During a delayed penalty, Ehlers got the puck in the high slot and scored with a wrist shot that trickled under Joey Daccord’s arm.

“Obviously, it’s a great shot, and we knew once he got the shot it was [going] in,” Jets forward Nino Niederreiter said. “We didn’t do a lot of great things tonight, but we still found a way.”

Niederreiter scored twice, and Gabriel Vilardi also had a goal for the Jets (7-0-0), who became the fifth team in the past 10 years to start a season with a seven-game winning streak. Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves.

“As much as I’m disappointed on how we played, you still have to look at the fact that we’re doing a lot of good things to find ways to win,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “And we’ve got to bank points. If you look at the scoreboard tonight, Dallas won, [Minnesota] won … everybody in our division keeps winning, so you’ve just got to keep piling up points.”

Matty Beniers had two goals and an assist, Jordan Eberle scored and Jared McCann had two assists for the Kraken (4-3-1), who have lost two straight. Daccord made 32 saves.

“They’re a good team,” Beniers said. “I thought we played well throughout the night, and that was some good character coming back there in the end, tying it up, taking it to overtime. Obviously, you want a different outcome, but there’s a lot of positives to build off.”

Beniers scored his first goal of the season at 11:27 of the first period to give the Kraken a 1-0 lead. He took a pass from McCann at the top of the left circle and scored blocker side with a wrist shot.

“I think the defensive side of the game has been there all year for him,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said of Beniers. “I think the chances to score have also been there for him in pretty good amounts the last three or four games, but I thought he was at another level tonight.”

Niederreiter tied it 1-1 at 3:56 of the second period. Mason Appleton’s shot from the top of the right circle hit Daccord’s blocker and bounced in off Niederreiter’s chest as he drove to the net.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to go to the paint,” Niederreiter said. “That’s what I did, and it went right off my chest. I just tried to protect the puck with my skate, make sure I didn’t kick it, and after that, I thought it was a good goal.”

Vilardi gave Winnipeg a 2-1 lead at 15:05 of the second. Kyle Connor won a race for the puck at the blue line and passed to Mark Scheifele, who found Vilardi at the side of the net. Vilardi then drove across the crease and tucked it around Daccord’s outstretched left pad.

“Good track by ‘K.C.,’ and then obviously with that, all their guys on their team are flying out of the zone,” Vilardi said. “And that gives me more space down low, and so I just take it to the net and was able to score.”

Niederreiter pushed it to 3-1 with his second goal of the game at 4:21 of the third period. He faked a shot in the right circle, cut to the middle and lifted the puck into the open net with Daccord out of position.

The goal came three seconds after Winnipeg’s only power play of the game expired.

“When things are not going well, [my line] has to make sure we go back to what we do great,” Niederreiter said. “Wearing teams down, getting it down low, creating chances, create momentum, and I think that’s what we did tonight.”

Eberle cut it to 3-2 at 11:01 of the third, receiving a pass from Jared McCann at the top of the crease and lifting a backhand in off Hellebucyk’s blocker.

Beniers tied it 3-3 with his second goal of the game at 16:38, tipping Brandon Montour's slap shot past Hellebuyck.

“They obviously score that third goal in the third, and I thought we did a great job of not letting that get to us, continuing to play our game,” Beniers said. “[We knew] that it was going to come, and it did.”

NOTES: Hellebuyck became the sixth U.S.-born goaltender in NHL history to record a season-opening winning streak of at least six games. The others: Jack Campbell (11 games in 2020-21), Ryan Miller (eight in 2006-07), Tim Thomas (seven in 2010-11), Brent Johnson (seven in 2000-01) and Jeremy Swayman (six in 2023-24). … The Jets became the sixth Canadian team in NHL history to record a season-opening winning streak of at least seven games, joining the 1993-94 Maple Leafs (10 games), 2015-16 Canadiens (nine), 1934-35 Maple Leafs (eight), 1983-84 Oilers (seven) and 1985-86 Nordiques (seven).