The Winnipeg Jets trailed by two goals with less than two minutes to play in regulation, and by one in the dying seconds. But the Presidents' Trophy winners showed their mettle in an epic Game 7 double-overtime victory to eliminate the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Sunday night in front of an ear-splitting crowd at Canada Life Centre.
Dave Lowry scored the series winner at 16:10 of the second overtime, when he deflected Neal Pionk 's shot from the just inside the blue line past Blues goalie Jordan Binnington .
The Jets largely dominated each overtime period, but Binnington was outstanding, keeping the score tied 3-3 after the Blues blew a two-goal lead late in the third period. Binnington stopped 11 shots in the first overtime, including a Hadyn Fleury slap shot that hit a stick in front and dove down quickly, forcing the Blues goalie to make an unreal left-pad save. Binnington also denied Nikolaj Ehlers on a partial breakaway.
Winnipeg was stopped seven more times in the second OT and hit a post before Lowry ended this one with his third goal of the series.
That the Jets even reached overtime was pretty incredible. With the Jets trailing 3-1 and goalie Connor Hellebuyck pulled for an extra attacker, they got a goal from Vladislav Namestnikov at 18:04 to make things interesting. With Hellebuyck again on the bench, Cole Perfetti scored his second of the night, this one off a perfect deflection at 19:57.
The Blues raced to a 2-0 lead in the first period and never trailed until Lowry's overtime heroics finished them off. Jordan Kyrou scored just 1:10 into the game and grinding forward Mathieu Joseph doubled their lead at 7:16.
Jets coach Scott Arniel said his team was nervous at the start but settled in as the game wore on. They pulled to within 2-1 on Perfetti's power-play goal at 11:41 of the second period, another pretty deflection. But Radek Faksa answered back for the Blues at 19:25, scoring his first of the series off the rush, to make it 3-1 St. Louis.
It would be the Blues' final goal of the series. Hellebuyck faced only 13 shots the rest of the way — only four each in the third period and first overtime — and stopped them all.
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Credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
This was a super resilient effort by the Jets, one that saved their season. Not only did they have that epic comeback late in the third period, but they did it without two of their most important players.
They were without No. 1 center Mark Scheifele for the second straight game due to an unspecified injury. Then the Jets lost their top defenseman Josh Morrissey in the first period. He left the game following Joseph's goal put the Jets in a 2-0 hole.
But others stepped up in a massive way for their brothers. Pionk had three assists, including on Namestnikov's goal and Lowry's game-winner, and played nearly half the game with a whopping 46:15 TOI. HIs defense partner Dylan Samberg logged an even 44 minutes; and Dylan Demelo was out there more than 36 minutes.
Up front Kyle Connor played 36:08 and had three assists; Namestnikov saw more key minutes (25+) and scored a hugely important goal; and Perfetti netted a pair.
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This was the 200th Game 7 in Stanley Cup Playoff history and the 50th decided in overtime. Interestingly, the previous Game 7 to go to overtime was exactly one year ago — May 4, 2024 — when David Pastrnak scored the series-winner for the Boston Bruins in a 2-1 first round victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs .
You have to go back to April 30, 2023 for the most recent Game 7 decided in multiple overtimes. That was when Carter Verhaeghe lifted the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win in triple overtime to eliminate the Bruins in the first round.
Of course, this was the second Game 7 in as many days in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Dallas Stars overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third period by scoring four unanswered goals for the 4-2 win. The Stars and Jets will meet in a best-of-7 second-round series beginning Wednesday in Winnipeg.
The Jets won 30 times at Canada Life Centre this season. Only the Carolina Hurricanes and Los Angeles Kings (each with 31) had more victories at home in the regular season.
And it really was "Win"ipeg in this first-round series against the Blues. The Jets won all four games played in the 'Peg, scoring four goals or more three times and outscoring the Blues 16-10. On the road, the Jets were 0-3 and totaled just five goals. Worse, Hellebuyck was pulled in each of those games.
The good news for the Jets is that they have home-ice advantage for the entirety of the postseason, earning that right as the Presidents' Trophy winner with the League's best record in the regular season.
