Never mind the milestone markers, it was Nikolaj Ehlers who found an extra gear and delivered the overtime winner for the Winnipeg Jets.

Ehlers, who told reporters after the morning skate it felt like Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin often scored memorable goals against the Jets, was the one who sent the hometown fans happy in a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night before a sold out crowd of 15,225 at Canada Life Centre.

At the end of a long shift of three-on-three action, Ehlers took advantage of a line change when many wondered if he might be heading to the bench himself.

Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS Nikolaj Ehlers (right) made no mistake Tuesday scoring in overtime to give the Jets a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.

But sensing an opportunity to put his blazing speed to use, Ehlers called for the puck and accepted a pass from Dylan Samberg before exploding into the offensive zone and wiring home a wrister that beat Logan Thompson high to the glove side at 1:28 of the extra period.

“It’s just kind of following my guy and reloading. And then I saw them change, and I thought, ‘Why not?,’” said Ehlers, who is up to 24 goals and 61 points in 63 games this season. “Perfect pass. At first, I was thinking, ‘What are you doing putting that on the wall?’ But when you put it that perfectly on the wall and off the wall, yeah, it couldn’t have worked out better.”

The Jets, who improved to 49-19-4 on the season and punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup playoffs, continue this four-game homestand on Friday against Brenden Dillon and the New Jersey Devils.

In a battle between the top two teams in the NHL and the leaders in each conference, overtime was required for the second time in as many meetings this season.

This game once again lived up to the hype as it was a highly-entertaining contest, featuring plenty of intensity, some glass-rattling hits and plenty of scoring chances to go along with sound defensive structure from both teams.

“That was a heavyweight battle right there. It really was,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “Even though one team’s from the East, one’s from the West, it was like we play each other eight times a year. There was a lot of trash talking going on, there were some big hits, there was a lot happening. Both teams recognized that they want to be No. 1. It was a great game. Punch, counterpunch going on all night.”

The Jets are now one point behind the Capitals in the chase for the Presidents’ Trophy, though Washington holds a game in hand.

Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS Ehlers celebrates his game-winning goal with teammate Mark Scheifele, Tuesday.

Winnipeg scored first and built a 2-1 lead, but needed extra time after giving up a goal late in the third period to none other than Ovechkin.

“Sometimes those can be real deflating, but that didn’t deflate our group at all,” said Jets forward Mason Appleton, who provided the go-ahead goal for the Jets late in the second period. “We had that 2-1 lead, and sometimes you sit back and protect it a little bit too much, but I didn’t think we did that at all. We played a really good third, and they got that one but our mindset didn’t really change.”

Let’s take a closer look at this one:

OVI WATCH

Ovechkin is the subject of conversation each and every day at the rink in both dressing rooms as he continues his pursuit of the NHL goal-scoring record.

Opponents and teammates alike continue to be dazzled by the accomplishment and Ovechkin took another step closer to Wayne Gretzky by scoring his 36th goal of the season and 889th of his career with four minutes to go in regulation, sending this game to overtime.

Ovechkin found some quiet ice in the offensive zone around the faceoff dot and Capitals forward Aliaksei Protas got a pass across to him for a quick shot that beat Connor Hellebuyck.

“It’s a fun time, obviously. You just have to enjoy it. It’s a special moment,” said Ovechkin. “Everybody is watching, everybody is paying attention to it.”

Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin celebrates his 889th NHL goal Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets.

And everybody will continue to pay attention to it as the chase continues.

THE LAST LAUGH

There was a humorous exchange that spilled over into the penalty box involving Jets defenceman Colin Miller and Capitals forward Anderw Mangiapane.

Miller was given a boarding minor for a hit on Mangiapane, who retaliated with a cross check to the chest of Miller, who was sent flying.

Miller got Mangiapane’s attention with a smirk as he rose from the ice, knowing that the Capitals power play had been nullified.

The two continued the exchange for the bulk of the broadcast timeout and didn’t appear to come to much of a resolution.

Mangiapane quickly got back in his coach’s good books by coming out of the penalty box at the end of the four-on-four situation and taking a pass from Jakob Chychrun on a three-on-two rush and burying his shot high to the blocker side of Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

SLUMP BUSTER

Shortly after a Jets’ power play expired late in the second period, Nino Niederreiter found Appleton with a cross-ice pass and Appleton ripped home a shot over the glove of former Brandon Wheat Kings goalie Logan Thompson.

Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS Washington Capitals’ Andrew Mangiapane grapples with Winnipeg Jets’ Colin Miller during the first period.

It was the first point in eight games and first goal in 12 games for Appleton, who is up to nine markers for the season.

The Jets already have 11 players in double digits in goals, with Appleton and defenceman Neal Pionk sitting at nine.

NOT-SO-WELCOME BACK

Capitals centre Pierre-Luc Dubois has changed teams twice since leaving the Jets, but he’s received the same treatment in each of his three return visits to Canada Life Centre.

Dubois was lustily booed every time he touched the puck, but that didn’t prevent him from having a solid showing in just over 20 minutes of ice time.

Much of the Dubois trade tree from the deal that sent him to the Los Angeles Kings was heavily involved in the storylines revolving this meeting.

With the upper body injury to Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo was promoted to the top line while Rasmus Kupari returned to the lineup for the first time since Mar. 4.

Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS Mason Appleton scored with 10.5 seconds left in the second period to give the Jets a lead that would last until late in the third period.

Iafallo didn’t get an assist on the play, but his ability to get to the net allowed Josh Morrissey to blast home a slapper that went in off of Capitals defenceman Martin Fehervary.

THE KEY PLAY

Nikolaj Ehlers burst down the left wing and buried a wrister at 1:28 of overtime.

THE THREE STARS

1) Nikolaj Ehlers, Jets, Delivered the overtime winner, finished with seven shot attempts.

2) Alex Ovechkin, Capitals, Scored the equalizer late in the third, had four shots on goal, seven shot attempts.

3) Josh Morrissey, Jets, Scored a goal, finished with nine shot attempts in 25:03 of ice time.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Election Extra

During Elections

Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election.

Sign up for Election Extra

EXTRA, EXTRA

Hellebuyck made his 54th start of the season and finished with 27 saves.

Jets defenceman Luke Schenn led all players with six hits.

Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS Washington Capitals’ Jakob Chychrun is tripped up by Winnipeg Jets’ Cole Perfetti in the second period.

The Jets healthy scratches were defencemen Haydn Fleury and Ville Heinola and forward David Gustafsson.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld

Ken Wiebe Reporter

Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.

Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.