Final - OT
  for this game

Byfuglien nets OT winner for Jets

Jan 26, 2014 - 6:42 AM Winnipeg, MB (SportsNetwork.com) - Dustin Byfuglien scored the game-winner 2:44 into overtime to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at MTS Centre.

Byfuglien controlled a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated to the point and fired a wrister over Jonathan Bernier's glove for the deciding tally.

"They backed off a little bit, they didn't know we were trying to regroup type of thing." Byfuglien said. "I just got the puck on the net."

Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler both had one goal and one assist and Byfuglien also had a helper for the Jets, winners in five of their last six games.

Zach Bogosian and Mark Scheifele also scored and Ondrej Pavelec made 24 saves in the win.

Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist while Dion Phaneuf, Tim Gleason and Troy Bodie added one tally apiece for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped two straight on the heels of a six-game winning streak. James Reimer allowed three goals on 18 shots before he was replaced by Bernier, who allowed two goals on 14 shots.

"It's the kid's (Reimer) hometown and he's played really well," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said on his decision to start Reimer. "That was our plan when we mapped out the week."

Winnipeg held a 2-0 lead entering the second period before Phaneuf got the Leafs on the board after one-timing Kessel's feed from just inside the blue line into the back of the net.

The Jets scored two straight goals 37 seconds apart, to take a three-goal edge. With a two-man advantage, Little redirected Tobias Enstrom's shot past Reimer, spelling the end of his night.

Bogosian greeted Bernier at 8:13 by rippling the net with a wrister from just above the right circle.

Bodie's goal 61 seconds later made it 4-2, before Gleason notched his first goal in two seasons to make it a one-goal game.

With 1:33 remaining, Kessel scored his 27th goal of the season to force the extra session. James van Riemsdyk forced a turnover deep in the Winnipeg zone and flipped it to Kessel, who skated in and quickly snapped it through.

Scheifele scored just 3:10 into the opening session and Wheeler added a power- play goal at the 6:34 mark to stake the Jets to an early 2-0 lead.

Game Notes

The Jets were 2-for-3 on the power play ... Wheeler has 19 goals and 41 points this season ... Kessel has 54 points this season ... The Jets visit the Blackhawks on Sunday ... Toronto, which concluded a four-game road trip, will open a three-game homestand with Tampa Bay on Tuesday.