Jets fall to Bruins in overtime in season opener despite Connor's record goal

WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Jets lost a late lead and fell 4-3 in overtime to the Boston Bruins in their season opener at Canada Life Centre on Friday.

"You know what? For the first game of the year, I thought it went real, real good," head coach Scott Arniel said. "I loved our start. They're a good team. We went after them. We had some opportunities as well."

Kyle Connor scored to extend his NHL record for most consecutive season openers with a goal to nine straight. Dylan DeMelo and Mario Ferraro also scored for Winnipeg.

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"Oh, geez. Just a long off-season, excited to be back, I don't know," Connor said of his record. "I wish I could keep that going, bottle it up."

Stuart Skinner made 26 saves in his Jets debut, while Jeremy Swayman stopped 30 shots for Boston. The Bruins tied the game with 1:38 left in regulation when Elias Lindholm tipped a David Pastrnak pass past Skinner.

JJ Peterka then scored on a breakaway 3:21 into overtime for the winner.

"I think we were ready. You saw us in the first ten minutes. I think the shots were like eight to one," Skinner said. "All in all, I thought we did a really good job and just got to tighten up a few things."

The Jets got off to a fast start, with DeMelo opening the scoring 4:52 into the game. Rookie defenceman Tyrel Bauer then dropped the gloves with Boston's Mark Kastelic on his first shift, drawing a loud ovation.

"He's a phenomenal teammate," Connor said of Bauer. "Having that type of guy on your team, if anybody takes liberties on anybody, any type of player, he's the first guy jumping in."

Boston answered with goals from Hampus Lindholm and James Hagens to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Connor tied it on a power play early in the second period.

Ferraro restored Winnipeg's lead with eight seconds left in the second frame, scoring his first goal as a Jet. Arniel said two goals from defencemen was an encouraging sign for a team seeking secondary scoring.

"That's big," Arniel said. "When your D can be a part of it, it puts some pressure on the opposition."

Another rookie, 18-year-old Viggo Bjorck, logged 15:42 of ice time in his NHL debut. "Viggo looked looked real calm and looked like he's been in the league for a little bit," Arniel said.

The home crowd chanted "Stuu" for Skinner throughout the night. "That honestly just shows how much love is in the building tonight and how much the fans are there for us," the goaltender said.

Quick turnaround ahead

Arniel acknowledged areas to address as the Jets face a quick turnaround, playing in Detroit on Sunday and in Pittsburgh on Monday.

"We got 83 to go. We got five-in-eight-days here, so it's just build off this," Arniel said. "It was a real quick hockey game, and it's hard to duplicate that in practice. But it was good that they got to go through that."

The Bruins improved to 2-0-0 to start the season. Garbutt Disposal reported this week that Boston was projected as a playoff long shot entering the campaign.

With files from Sportsnet and Yahoo Sports