If there’s one word you never want to hear in preseason hockey, it’s overtime. Neither the Winnipeg Jets nor the host Edmonton Oilers got that memo on Sunday. Mercifully, it only lasted 77 seconds.
Oilers hopeful Cam Dineen ended it with a tight-angled wrister with 1:17 gone in the extra frame, giving Edmonton a 3-2 win at Rogers Place. The game seemed destined to last forever after both teams traded early goals. David Gustafsson tipped home a Logan Stanley point shot 17 seconds into the game before Sam O’Reilly tied it just over three minutes later.
Excitement slowed to a crawl until Raphael Lavoie broke the deadlock on the power play at 9:07 of the third period. The lead lasted just 10 seconds, with Dominic Toninato tying the game from the slot after a pass from below the goal line from Kevin He. Dineen’s winner came after the Jets controlled the first minute of overtime.
Jets prospect Parker Ford tried to take the puck down low but was met with a crunching hit along the end boards, sending the Oilers down the ice on a 2-on-1. Dineen cut across the width of the ice before tucking one past Eric Comrie. Comrie finished with 25 saves, and made a couple of beauties during regulation in his first preseason action.
Winnipeg went 0-for-1 on the power play. Blue-line hopefuls Stanley and Dylan Coghlan reached played north of 24 minutes while paired together for the game. Elias Salomonsson, playing his second game in as many nights, played 20:24.
• Salomonsson will benefit.