Jets rally for win

WINNIPEG—A breakaway goal may have put him in the highlight reels, but Evander Kane was happy with his tap-in overtime winner yesterday.
Kane’s goal handed the Jets a 5-4 victory over the N.Y. Islanders as Winnipeg won its third-straight game.

Kane’s goal at 1:59 of overtime came off a rebound from a long Olli Jokinen shot and sealed a win that seemed out of reach when the Jets were down 4-2 midway through the third period.
“I knew Olli had [the puck] and there was nobody in my way and I was actually looking for the breakaway, but Olli kept it,” noted Kane, who also had an assist yesterday.
“I knew he would shoot it when I saw the big windup,” Kane added. “He has a really hard shot.”
Goals 65 seconds apart by Dustin Byfuglien and Alexander Burmistrov set up the extra period for Winnipeg (3-1-1), who also got goals from Alexei Ponikarovsky and Bryan Little.
Kane thought Jokinen would bury the shot behind Islanders’ goalie Evgeni Nabokov, but the puck rolled along the goal line and he poked it over.
The goal was reviewed but Kane had no doubt it counted.
“It was just like watching a football game. It just has to break the plane,” he reasoned.
Byfuglien’s goal on the power play at 12:59 of the third period marked the first time this season the Islanders had let in a power-play goal in 17 short-handed situations.
John Tavares had a goal and two assists for the Islanders (2-2-1). David Ullstrom, Matt Moulson, and Mark Streit also scored while Frans Nielsen had a pair of assists.
Jets’ back-up goalie Al Montoya got his first start of the season against his former Islanders’ teammates and stopped 21 shots. He signed as a free agent with Winnipeg last July.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and 2-1 for Winnipeg after two before New York scored three-straight goals.
Islanders’ head coach Jack Capuano knew the Jets weren’t out of it after Winnipeg went down 2-0 in the first period against Pittsburgh last Friday before pulling out a 4-2 win.
“After watching the Pittsburgh game, we knew they were going to come,” Capuano said. “They got good speed, they got really good transition with their [defence], and they beat us up the ice in the first period.
“We could have been down a lot more than a goal.”
Elsewhere in the NHL, Montreal nipped New Jersey 4-3 (OT), Pittsburgh edged Ottawa 2-1 (SO), San Jose beat Vancouver 4-1, and St. Louis topped Minnesota 5-4 (OT).
Washington shaded Buffalo 3-2, Tampa Bay dumped Philadelphia 5-1, and Chicago edged Detroit 2-1 (OT).