WINNIPEG, Manitoba — (AP) — Adam Lowry scored on a tipped shot 16:10 into the second overtime and the Winnipeg Jets rallied to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Sunday night to advance to the second round of the NHL playoffs.
Cole Perfetti had two goals, Vladislav Namestnikov also scored, and Kyle Connor and Neal Pionk each had three assists for Winnipeg, which scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to tie the score. Connor Hellebuyck finished with 26 saves.
Lowry deflected Pionk's shot from the right point late in the second overtime to end the third-longest Game 7 in NHL history at 96:10.
“It’s incredibly special,” Lowry said. “I probably dreamt it was a little nicer than just going off my leg, but 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."
The Jets will next face the Dallas Stars starting Wednesday at home in the teams' first postseason meeting.
Jordan Kyrou, Mathieu Joseph and Radek Faksa scored for the Blues. Jordan Binnington had 43 saves.
Winnipeg won the franchise’s first Presidents’ Trophy after having a league-best 56-22-4 regular-season record and were the favorites against the eighth-seeded Blues. They needed a late comeback to avoid getting knocked out in the first round for a third straight year.
“To lose in those first rounds, those were heartbreaking,” said Jets first-year coach Scott Arniel, who was the club’s associate coach the previous two seasons. “Last year, obviously with the season we had (52 wins), to do it this year we didn’t want to go out. That was one of the messages I said to these guys, ‘Bring your best game forward and have no regrets.’ And that’s what it was all about.”
Winnipeg was down 3-1 in the third period when Namestnikov scored with 1:56 remaining after his shot went in off Blues defenseman Ryan Suter.
With Hellebuyck pulled for an extra skater, Winnipeg appeared to tied it up 50 seconds later, but a review ruled the puck didn’t cross the goal line.
Perfetti then scored his second redirected goal of the game with 3 seconds remaining to lift 15,225 frenzied white-clad fans out of their seats inside Canada Life Centre.
“Even down 3-1, there was no doubt,” Perfetti said. “We had belief in one another and belief that we were going to come back. I’m just so proud of this group and so proud to be a part of it.”
Winnipeg went on the power play 6:20 into the first overtime when St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn was called for delay of game. The Jets tried to pound the puck in the crease, but Binnington covered it. He also stopped Nikolaj Ehlers on a breakaway.
The Jets were without star center Mark Scheifele (upper body injury) for the second straight game and then lost top defenseman Josh Morrissey about eight minutes into the first period.
“To play this long of a game with five defensemen, it’s pretty incredible,” Ehlers said. “So hats off to those guys. They stuck with it.”
The home team won each game in this series.
Kyrou scored on the Blues' first shot of the game at 1:10 of the first period after he and Colton Parayko went on the rush. It marked the fastest goal to begin a Game 7 in Blues’ history.
Joseph made it 2-0 after picking up a loose puck dropped by Connor in the neutral zone. Using Morrissey as a screen, Joseph sent a wrist shot past Hellebuyck on the stick side at 7:16.
Morrissey went to the dressing soon after the goal. Earlier in the game, he got hit into the boards by Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist and appeared to be in pain as he sat on the bench. He didn’t return.
The Jets missed on a couple chances early in the second period, but got the game’s first power play and quickly made it count. Seven seconds after Sundqvist was called for slashing, Connor sent the puck toward Perfetti at the side of the net and Perfetti redirected it by Binnington with 8:19 remaining.
St. Louis regained a two-goal lead after Ehlers lost the puck and Faksa beat Hellebuyck high over his glove with 34.1 seconds left in the second.
The Winnipeg/Atlanta Thrashers franchise is now 2-8 all-time when facing elimination. The other win came in Game 7 of their second-round series against Nashville in 2018. The original version of the Jets lost a pair of Game 7s on the road in 1990 and ’92.
St. Louis is now 10-9 in Game 7s.
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