Kyle Connor notched his 47th goal of the season at 9:05 of the third period, propelling the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-3 comeback victory over the Seattle Kraken in their season finale on Sunday.
Morgan Barron, Blake Wheeler, and Dominic Toninato also found the net for Winnipeg (39-32-11), a team that missed the playoffs but concluded the season with an unblemished four-game homestand. Eric Comrie made 27 saves in the win.
“We can no longer call ourselves contenders,” Wheeler remarked. “I think we are one of those teams that is a fringe playoff team now. It’s up to everyone involved to look in the mirror and ask, ‘Why? Why did we get to where we’re at?’ First and foremost, it’s our responsibility as players to bring the quality of play that gives us a chance to contend and compete for a championship.”
Alex Wennberg led the way for Seattle (27-49-6) with a goal and an assist, while Daniel Sprong and Riley Sheahan also scored. Chris Driedger stopped 23 shots for the Kraken.
“There are a lot of aspects of our game that we’ve really liked over the past two months,” said Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol. “Those are the pieces we will carry forward as we re-evaluate and start planning for the future, and that process begins tomorrow.”
The game was a makeup contest rescheduled due to a storm in Winnipeg last month. It was the lone game on the schedule and took place two days after the rest of the league concluded the regular season.
The Jets faced numerous challenges this season, from weather disruptions to players missing games due to COVID-19 or injuries. The biggest hurdle was a coaching change, with Dave Lowry stepping in as interim head coach on Dec. 17 after Paul Maurice resigned. In his first stint as an NHL head coach, Lowry guided the team to a 26-22-6 record.
“It’s definitely a year I’ll try to forget a little bit,” said Jets center Mark Scheifele, who missed the final nine games with an upper-body injury but still tallied 29 goals and 70 points in 67 games. “It was tough with COVID, injuries, the coach leaving, a new coach coming in—all of it.”
Lowry acknowledged the team’s lack of consistency and the need for changes.
“If I stood here today and said we’re not going to make any changes, well, what we were doing didn’t work,” Lowry said. “We’re going to have to make some adjustments. Do we need to overhaul everything completely? I don’t think so. But yes, some changes are necessary.”
Winnipeg led 1-0 after the first period, but Seattle took control with a 3-1 lead entering the third.
Wennberg started the Kraken’s scoring with his 11th goal of the season 22 seconds into a power play at 5:55 of the second period.
Sprong extended the lead to 2-1 at 12:24 with a shot that beat Comrie on the glove side. Sheahan added another just 55 seconds later to give Seattle a two-goal cushion.
However, the Jets responded with three quick goals early in the third period.
Jets center Paul Stastny notched his 800th career point by winning a faceoff that led to Wheeler’s one-timer past Driedger at 4:49. It was Wheeler’s fourth consecutive game with a goal.
Toninato tied the game 3-3 at 7:16, earning Barron an assist.
Connor’s go-ahead goal came less than two minutes later, sealing the win for Winnipeg.
Barron had opened the scoring with his second goal of the season at 3:47 of the first period, giving the Jets an early 1-0 lead.
