Perfetti ties it with 2.2 seconds remaining for Winnipeg, which will play Dallas in 2nd round
Blues at Jets | Recap | Round 1, Game 7
WINNIPEG — Adam Lowry scored at 16:10 of the second overtime for the Winnipeg Jets, who rallied for a 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round at Canada Life Centre on Sunday.
Lowry won it when he deflected Neal Pionk‘s shot from the right point past the blocker of Jordan Binnington.
“It’s one of those things, on the outdoor rink, in the driveway, you dream about being the hero in a Game 7 and giving yourself a chance to continue chasing a Stanley Cup,” Lowry said. “To do it in Winnipeg, at home — we have such tremendous fans, such tremendous support — just really happy we get to continue playing in front of them. They’ve been such a blessing for us all year. It makes it a real tough building to play in. We feed off that energy.”
STL@WPG, Gm7: Lowry lifts the Jets to victory in double overtime
Lowry’s goal came after the Jets tied it by scoring twice in the final two minutes of regulation with Connor Hellebuyck pulled for the extra skater.
“Amazing, absolutely amazing,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “I’ve seen a lot of hockey games, been in a lot of hockey games. To be a part of that was one of the most exciting games I’ve been a part of. Man, we were extremely nervous to start the game, got down quickly, but just our resolve, just our ability to stay in it, pretty much that’s all I kept preaching. Just hang in there, just hang in there.”
Vladislav Namestnikov cut it to 3-2 with 1:56 remaining when his centering pass deflected in off Blues defenseman Ryan Suter.
Cole Perfetti then tied it 3-3 with 2.2 seconds remaining. He redirected Kyle Connor‘s one-timer from the edge of the crease just under the crossbar.
“To feel how it kind of, the momentum shifted after ‘Vladdy’ scores and ‘Fetts’ has his second of the game. It almost felt like the ice tilted and we were really able to start controlling play,” Lowry said. “And we had some great chances early in overtime and we really fed off that.”
STL@WPG, Gm7: Perfetti ties it in waning seconds with his second goal
Perfetti scored twice, Connor and Pionk each had three assists, and Hellebuyck made 26 saves for the Jets, who won the Presidents’ Trophy as the team with the best record during the regular season.
“It’s kind of what you dream of, playing in a Game 7,” Perfetti said. “It was incredible tonight. Some great plays late in that game. Vladdy gets us going, and then a lot of that starts with [Gabriel Vilardi] and [Lowry] down low battling. Exhausted, but battling through and winning puck battles. … Again, no quit. Guys were exhausted but fought until the last second, and we got it done.”
Winnipeg will play the Dallas Stars in the second round. The Stars, who are the No. 2 seed from the Central Division, advanced by rallying in the third period for a 4-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of that series on Saturday.
“We watched it last night, Colorado and Dallas, them staying in it. It was just stay into it, keep doing what we do, and we got stronger as the game went on,” Arniel said. “We got out of that first period, and after that it was a battle, and to tie that game up at the end, it was amazing, exciting. It was just, I think anyone watching that one, it’ll be in the memory bank for a long time.”
Jordan Kyrou, Mathieu Joseph and Radek Faksa scored, and Binnington made 43 saves for the Blues, who were the second wild card from the Western Conference.
“It really hurts right now,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “You lose Game 7 in overtime, especially when you have the lead going at the end, it just hurts.”
Kyrou gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 1:10 of the first period. He passed across on a 2-on-1 to Colton Parayko, who had a chance at an open net with Hellebuyck scrambling to get into position. The defenseman, though, decided to pass back to Kyrou, who tapped the puck into the open net after the pass hit off his skate.
It was the third time in the series that Hellebuyck allowed a goal on the Blues’ first shot of the game.
“Honestly, it reminded me of the first period in Game 1,” Arniel said. “The nerves, it seemed nobody wanted to make a play. We got rid of pucks really quickly, we actually sat back, kind of allowed them, even on the first goal they came down and skated 200 feet, came down the ice to make that play. It was kind of us on our heels, and that was the message from our leaders, the message from me. … We’re no good sitting back. That’s not us and we just did a great job of turning the tide and getting back to playing the way we can.”
STL@WPG, Gm7: Kyrou nets one-handed shot for opening goal
Joseph made it 2-0 at 7:16. He picked up the puck in the neutral zone after Connor lost possession, skated to the top of the left circle and scored with a wrist shot that beat Hellebuyck short side.
“That one stinks,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “Just, from a two-goal lead and two 6-on-5 goals against and a second and a half away from closing out the series. [Stinks]. It’s brutal. We had a good group in there that played hard for one another all year, and there’s no other words to really describe that one.”
Josh Morrissey, who was defending Joseph on the play, left the game following the goal with an undisclosed injury. Morrissey appeared shaken up earlier in the period after taking a hit from Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist at 4:59. Arniel had no update after the game.
“We’ll find out once we get through all this craziness, see where everybody’s at tomorrow,” Arniel said. “We’ll do a roll call, check on him. Right now, obviously, he couldn’t play the rest of the game. We’ll just kind of move forward with him and everybody else.”
Perfetti cut it to 2-1 on the power play at 11:41 of the second period. He angled his stick along the goal line and chipped Connor’s pass over the left shoulder of Binnington, who was hugging the post.
“I know we were up, I didn’t like the first 10 minutes of the second,” Montgomery said. “I liked the last 10. I thought the first period was pretty good. I didn’t like how we sat back with our checking. I didn’t think we were as tenacious as we needed to be.”
Faksa pushed it to 3-1 at 19:25, taking a pass from Nathan Walker on a 3-on-2 rush and roofing a shot over Hellebuyck’s glove from the left circle. The play started after Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers turned the puck over in the neutral zone.
“I went in and thanked [the players after the game],” Montgomery said. “I wanted to thank them for their effort, their execution and their part in helping change things. It took everybody on deck to be able to do what we did. We went 19-4-3 down the stretch and we tied the (Calgary) Flames to make the playoffs. It’s special. The last three months are some of the most fun times I’ve had being a part of a team, whether it was as a player or coach, doesn’t matter. It’s because of the energy and positive attitudes and how we wanted to get better every day. So, I thanked them for that. I’m very grateful for that.”
NOTES: Perfetti (59:57) scored the latest game-tying goal in a Game 7 in NHL history. … The Jets were also without forward Mark Scheifele for the second straight game because of an undisclosed injury. … It was the sixth time in the past 30 years that the home team won each game of a best-of-7 series.
