Defenceman’s sixth goal of the year moves Jets closer to 100-point mark

SEATTLE — The legend of Dylan Samberg continues to grow.

No longer just a stay-at-home defenceman, the pending restricted free agent is showing he’s got some offensive chops in him as well — along with a flair for the dramatic.

Samberg’s career-high sixth goal of the year was the overtime game-winner Sunday night as the Winnipeg Jets downed the Seattle Kraken 3-2 inside Climate Pledge Arena.

With plenty of open ice during the three-on-three session, a pinching Samberg wisely found an open spot to the right of Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord and took a sharp pass from good friend and former roommate Cole Perfetti.

He buried his shot at 1:47 of the three-on-three session.

“I don’t know if he’s ever been out in the overtime like that but the old two roommates there, him and Fetts tagging up. Nice to see,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel. “He logged a lot of minutes and he can be a horse for us when he plays like that.”

Turnabout was fair play, since Samberg assisted on Perfetti’s first-period goal which helped the Jets start to crawl out of an early 2-0 deficit.

“We’ve been talking to each other about hooking up and connecting on a goal for quite some time now, and we’re fortunate enough to get two tonight,” said Samberg.

“I don’t get to play overtime very often. It was fun and ended up working out.”

He is starting to light the lamp with more frequency, however. Samberg opened the scoring in Friday night’s massive 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars that put the Jets in the driver’s seat of the Central Division playoff race.

He’s also formed an effective shutdown pairing with newcomer Luke Schenn, who moved up to fill the role of Samberg’s usual partner, Neal Pionk, who has now missed two straight games with a lower-body injury.

“I’m always trying to build. I’m known for my defensive game, so I’ve tried to build the offensive side more,” said Samberg.

“And obviously, when I’m going to play more minutes, it’ll come with time. Just more experience and getting more confident definitely helps.

The Jets have now won three straight games to improve to an NHL-best 47-17-4. Seattle, which had won two straight games entering play, falls to 29-34-5.

Goalie Shuffle

This was supposed to be a night off for Connor Hellebuyck, a chance to put his feet up and relax following a big victory over Dallas 48 hours earlier and to prepare for a pair of Western Conference playoff opponents in Vancouver and Edmonton to finish out this three-game trip.

But the No. 1 netminder saw the bat signal go off in the sky when backup Eric Comrie, making just his 17th start of the season, was bowled over in the opening minute by Seattle forward Matty Beniers. Comrie was slow to get up, shaking his head a few times, but stayed in the game until he didn’t have a choice.

The NHL’s concussion spotter perched above in the press box made the call to pull him for further evaluation, which included removing all his equipment and answering a series of questions.

“More just jammed my neck. My head was fine. It was more me trying to get my neck and back loosened up,” said Comrie, who had no issue with the protocol.

“I understand what they are doing, just trying to keep safety in the league and they do a great job of making sure we have a safe playing field out there and keep everybody healthy.”

While this was happening, in came an ice-cold Hellebuyck who was beaten once on four shots over nearly 10 minutes of game time before Comrie got the all-clear.

“I feel bad about that,” said Comrie.

It would appear all of this threw the Jets out of sorts a bit, as they seemed to be stuck in neutral for the opening 20 minutes.

Rookie Jani Nyman opened the scoring at 9:58 with the Kraken on the power play, and then former Jets winger Mikey Eyssimont made it 2-0 at 15:23 — shortly after Comrie returned to the crease. He walked right through Winnipeg defenceman Colin Miller and beat Comrie through the five-hole.

Comrie ended up with 16 saves on 17 shots as he improved his personal record to 8-8-1.

Momentum swings

While a two-goal hole wasn’t ideal, there was no sense of panic from the visitors.

The Jets got a momentum boost with just 17 seconds left in the first as Perfetti pounced on a rebound and scored his 14th of the year. Perfetti and Vlad Namestnikov had done a good job on the forecheck, winning a puck battle and getting it back to Samberg whose shot was stopped by Daccord.

“The craziness that happened with our goaltenders there kind of got us a little bit behind the eight-ball. But that was a big goal at the end of the period,” said Arniel.

“Obviously going into the second down one instead of down two makes a big difference. And it allowed us in the second to get up and running. I think we did a great job of hemming Seattle in in that second period.”

Indeed, the Jets looked a lot more settled in the middle frame and were rewarded with the tying goal off the stick of Kyle Connor. His 36th of the year was aptly set-up by No. 36, Morgan Barron, who made a perfect backhanded bank pass off the boards to send him in on a breakaway.

“The biggest thing that (Barron) gets the accolades for was the blocked shot. (The Kraken) got a great look coming right down the middle. He blocks a shot and if he doesn’t do that, maybe it ends up in the back of our net,” said Arniel.

“Then to be ready to do what he did, that was a really heads up play – and again, another big goal for us in that second period.”

Mood swings

Jets forward Brandon Tanev, facing a Kraken team which he spent nearly four years playing for only to be traded nine days ago, experienced quite an emotional roller-coaster.

He got a rousing ovation as he was introduced in the starting lineup, with plenty of Kraken fans in attendance still sporting his name on the back of his jersey.

Just moments later, he became Public Enemy No. 1 after a massive hit on very recent teammate Shane Wright, who was sent flying the boards. That drew a crowd and the ire of another former Kraken buddy, Tye Kartye, who came to Wright’s defence and exchanged shoves and swats with Tanev, who was met with a chorus of boos.

Tanev, who went out for dinner on Saturday night with several Seattle players, had said following the morning skate that it would be “business as usual” once the puck drops. He wasn’t kidding.

“It’s just him. Playing against when he was here (in Seattle, against) his old teammates, it doesn’t matter. He just plays one way and he plays hard. He’s a ball of energy and he disrupts people and that’s what he’s good at,” said Arniel.

However, the villain became a hockey hero once again when, during the final television timeout in the eventful opening frame, the Seattle game production crew rolled the tribute video they’d prepared for Tanev and he was once again greeted with a huge roar of support.

Scoreboard watching

While Jets players were having their pre-game nap on Sunday afternoon, a Central Division game was going down in Denver with significant implications.

Dallas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against Colorado, gave up three straight tallies before the second period was over, rallied with two goals in 20 seconds with just under six minutes left in regulation, then watched as Cale Makar quickly ended it for the Avalanche in overtime.

The Stars are now 11 points back of the Jets the race for top spot in both the Central Division and Western Conference while the third-place Avalanche are 13 behind. Winnipeg and Colorado have 14 games left, while Dallas has 16.

“At the end of the day, we’ve talked about it – take care of your own business. Let those guys kind of do what they have to do,” said Arniel.

“You don’t pick your poison, you don’t worry about wanting one (team) over the other. Don’t worry about what’s going on down there.”

Key play

Dylan Samberg’s overtime winner was a beauty.

Three Stars:

1. WPG D Dylan Samberg: Game-winning goal

2. WPG LW Cole Perfetti: 1 goal, 1 assist

3. SEA G Joey Daccord: 23 saves

Extra, extra

The Jets went with the same skaters for a second straight game, meaning defencemen Logan Stanley and Ville Heinola and forwards David Gustafsson and Rasmus Kupari were the healthy scratches.

Pionk remains week-to-week but is on this road trip, with Arniel joking that he “snuck on the plane” and was going to act as the “social convener.”

Winnipeg went 0-for-2 on the power play, both in the third period when the game was tied, and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.

The Jets flew to Vancouver following the game and will practice there on Monday before facing the Canucks on Tuesday in a possible first-round playoff preview.

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