Connor goal lifts Jets past Blackhawks in OT

CHICAGO -- Kyle Connor scored 25 seconds into overtime to give the Winnipeg Jets a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Friday.

Connor’s shot from the right face-off circle deflected off the skate of Chicago forward Nick Foligno.

“They had a little bit of a break in the neutral zone,” Connor said. “Good play by (Jets defenseman) Josh Morrissey to kind of break it up. I was trying to hit them back door there and it kind of went off a skate. Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky to get a couple there.”

Tyler Johnson had tied it 2-2 for the Blackhawks on a rebound with 43 seconds left in the third period with Petr Mrazek pulled for the extra attacker.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored two goals, Morrissey had three assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for the Jets (35-15-5), who have won five of six. In the four-game season series that ended Friday, three were decided by one goal. The Jets won three of the four games.

“They play very hard against us,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said of the Blackhawks. “Home ice, (Chicago coach) Luke [Richardson] was getting the matchups he wanted. And that’s fine. We expect our guys to play through it no matter what. Give their team a lot of credit, their coaching staff. They do a great job. They’re ready to play against us. They give us a hard time. When we get opportunities, Mrazek was making a lot of big saves against us.”

Colin Blackwell scored, and Mrazek made 28 saves for the Blackhawks (15-39-4), who have lost 11 of 12.

“I thought we played really well in the third period,” Richardson said. “It was a great effort most of the game, but the third period, we really spent a lot of time in the O-zone carrying most of the play.”

Ehlers gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 14:47 of the first period. He took a pass at the red line from Dylan DeMelo and put a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Mrazek from a sharp angle in the left face-off circle. Ehlers had gone 10 games without a goal.

He then made it 2-0 at 1:49 of the second period during a delayed penalty. Ehlers picked up the puck behind the Jets net, skated through the neutral zone, banked it off the right-wing boards to himself and moved into the offensive zone to score from the slot.

“I tried to build a lot of speed,” he said. “At first, you just try to get into the zone. After that, I saw an opening and thought I could sneak through and maybe get a good shot off.”

Blackwell cut it to 2-1 on a breakaway at 15:58. He took a pass up the middle in the neutral zone from Seth Jones, skated in on Hellebuyck and scored on the forehand to the glove side.

“I just got the puck in the middle there, and ‘Blackie’ just took off,” Jones said. “That’s what I saw. It was a great play by him. Usually when there’s a turnover in the hash-mark area, no one expects a breakaway play. So it’s great recognition by Blackie, and I just tried to put it on his tape.”

Johnson said it was disappointing for the Blackhawks not to get two points after he tied the game.

“Especially when you tie it up late, obviously, the first overtime shift you get scored on,” he said. “But that’s hockey. I thought for the most part we played a pretty solid game. I think we got away from it occasionally, but if you want to say that’s a steppingstone of learning, we have to play a direct game, sure.”

NOTES: Morrissey had the fifth three-assist game of his NHL career, matching Toby Enstrom for the second-most by a defenseman in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history. … Connor scored his eighth overtime goal and passed Dustin Byfuglien and Bryan Little for sole possession of third in franchise history. … Blackhawks rookie center Connor Bedard was held without a point for the second straight game after scoring six points (two goals, four assists) in a three-game point streak. He had one shot on goal and was minus-1 in 18:06 of ice time.