Golden Knights defeat Jets for record-breaking 34th win

WINNIPEG -- The Vegas Golden Knights set a record for most wins by an NHL team in its inaugural season with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place on Thursday.
David Perron scored with 1:03 remaining to give Vegas its 34th win, breaking the record set by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (33-46-5) and the Florida Panthers (33-34-17) in 1993-94, when NHL games could end in a tie.

"It's fun," said Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 26 saves. "We're not talking about breaking records and reaching records; we're just focusing on improving as a team, playing well as a team every night, trying to be as consistent as a team and good things like this will happen.
"I'm proud and happy to see where our team is at right now."
\[WATCH: All Golden Knights vs. Jets highlights\]
Reilly Smith and Erik Haula scored for the Golden Knights (34-12-4), who twice cleared the puck out of their crease in overtime.

"It's great," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said of the record. "It doesn't mean a whole lot right now, to be honest with you. We're just trying to battle and get two points each night. At the end of the season we'll look at it and be happy, I'm sure."
Kyle Connor scored for the Jets with 2:36 remaining in the third period to tie the game 2-2.
"They put a lot of pressure on us and obviously they tied the game and we didn't know how we'd respond," Perron said. "But that's a big two points for us."
Joel Armia scored for the Jets (30-13-9), who lost for the second time in their past 16 home games. Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves.

Armia made it 1-0 with his 10th of the season at 15:10 of the first period. Fleury mishandled the puck behind the net, allowing Matt Hendricks to pass in front to Armia, who had an open net.
Smith tied it 1-1 with a shorthanded goal at 12:10 of the second period. The Jets couldn't clear the puck out of their zone and Blake Wheeler fell over at his blue line while handling the puck, allowing Smith to skate in alone on Hellebuyck.
"It's a tough loss," Wheeler said. "We had that game in control. I made a tough play there to give them one and they took a little bit of momentum from there. But they didn't spend a lot of time in our zone, so it's kind of a frustrating one to let go away. But it's a good team over there."
Haula gave Vegas a 2-1 lead on the power play at 18:30. Hellebuyck made the initial save on a point shot from Perron, but the puck fell behind him and Haula tapped it in.
Jets coach Paul Maurice challenged for goalie interference after James Neal appeared to slash Hellebuyck, but video review confirmed the goal.

Goal of the game

Perron's goal at 3:57 of overtime.

Save of the game

Haula's save in the crease behind Fleury at 2:52 of overtime.

Highlight of the game

Smith's goal at 12:10 of the second period.

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They said it

"We weren't great. We found a way. We know we're playing a good team that plays a physical game. Like I said, I don't think we were great and we didn't play one of our better games, but again we found a way." -- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant
"I thought we played a pretty solid third period. It took us a while to get that goal, but a huge goal by [Connor] for us. Another big point, but frustrating with some of the chances in overtime that we couldn't get the two points." -- Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey

Need to know

Vegas has 32 regulation/overtime wins and two i the shootout. ... Perron has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past seven games and 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in his past 16 games. … Jets forward Adam Lowry left the game in the third period. There was no update following the game.

What's next

Golden Knights:At the Minnesota Wild on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)

Jets: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN, ALT, NHL.TV)