WINNIPEG — Tomas Hertl scored at 4:47 of overtime on the power play to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, who had their losing streak extended to 10 games.
Mitch Marner fired the puck, and it bounced off Hertl as he was battling in front of goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
Mark Stone also scored on the power play for the Golden Knights (18-11-12), extending his goal-scoring streak to a career-high five games. Reilly Smith had a goal and Brett Howden also scored, giving him three goals in three straight games.
Carter Hart stopped 17 shots for Vegas, which ended a three-game road trip going 1-1-1 and picked up its first win in six games (1-3-2).
The Jets have lost 10 consecutive games (0-6-4) and haven't won in regulation since a 5-1 victory over Washington on Dec. 13.
"We've still got 41 games to play, you have a job to do ... we have to find a way," Winnipeg head coach Scott Arniel said post-game, when asked about his team's effort and belief in being able to orchestrate a mid-season turnaround. "You have to stay in these games and find a way to win these games ... I liked a lot of what happened today, but again, it's the end result we have to improve on."
Cole Perfetti snapped a 16-game goal drought, Luke Schenn scored in his 1,100th career game and Kyle Connor also scored for the Jets (15-21-5). Gabriel Vilardi contributed a pair of assists.
Hellebuyck made 27 saves in Winnipeg's first of five straight home games at Canada Life Centre.
Winnipeg held a 2-0 lead 12 minutes into the second period.
Perfetti beat Hart with a backhand at 5:16 of the opening period, skating by the boards and banging the glass in happiness at snapping his drought. He was playing on a new second line with centre Jonathan Toews and Vilardi.
"I thought our neutral zone game was pretty good, staying on top of them," Perfetti said after scoring just his third goal of the season. "So, I thought we did a good job eliminating their offence, their rush game ... I thought our line did pretty good, and stuff to build on."
Arniel echoed that sentiment, saying the line did "a lot of good work" and that there was "lots that I liked there."
The crowd was silenced after Jets defenceman Haydn Fleury was taken off the ice on a stretcher with just under seven minutes remaining in the first.
Fleury was shoved by Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar near the bottom of the circle while clearing the puck and slid hard back-first into the end boards. The team later announced on social media that he was fully alert and moving his extremities.
Schenn's point shot through traffic went past Hart at 12:04 for the 2-0 lead.
Stone then flipped a loose puck into the net 12 seconds into a man advantage for his 13th goal of the season with 51 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
Howden took a pass across the front of the net from Noah Hanifin and tied the game 2-2 at 8:13 of the third.
Connor gave the Jets the lead at 14:56, but Smith scored 59 seconds later to knot the score again.
After Hart made three great saves in overtime, Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg was called for tripping with 51 seconds left in the extra frame.
TAKEAWAYS
Jets: Winnipeg has now lost its last 12 one-goal games, with its last one-goal victory on Nov. 15. Its 10-game winless streak is the longest since the team moved to Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011. The franchise record is 16 games (0-13-3) by the Thrashers in the first two months of 2000. Schenn's goal was the 45th of his 18-year career. The last time the 36-year-old Saskatoon, Sask., native scored was Oct. 19, 2024, when the defenceman was with the Nashville Predators.
"We're playing hard, doing whatever it takes," Perfetti said when asked about his team's extended skid, part of a 2-10-5 record since December started. "Unlucky bounces ... the result in overtime there, getting a penalty. It's tough when you play that good of a game again, and that's the result.
"It's tough to swallow that one."
Golden Knights: Stone now has nine goals in his past 12 games, plus three assists. Vegas was 2-for-4 on the power play, which was ranked seventh (24.4 per cent) heading into the game. The team is now 3-5-3 in its past 11 games.
KEY MOMENT
Dylan Samberg's overtime penalty for tripping gave the Golden Knights a huge man advantage that they didn't waste.
"This is just Groundhog Day. These things seem to happen a lot recently," Arniel said when asked about the penalty leading up to Hertl's OT-winner. "Just have to stay with it. I know it's hard to say and hard to hear, but we have to find a way. We're 12 seconds away from getting out of that one."
KEY STAT
Vegas is 5-12 in overtime games this season.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Jets: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
"Some teams will throw in the towel ... but we still have belief and hope in this group," Perfetti explained. "We know what we're capable of, we just need one of these games to go our way and get some confidence and get some momentum, and then we're off to the races."
— with files from Sportsnet Staff
