Adam Lowry scored at 16:10 of double-overtime to give the host Winnipeg Jets a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 on Sunday and a trip to the Western Conference semifinals.
“Not the prettiest goal, but I’ll take it,” Lowry said. “It’s what you dream of, scoring an overtime goal in the playoffs, Game 7. It’s incredible.”
The Jets will face the Dallas Stars in the second round beginning Wednesday in Winnipeg.
Cole Perfetti scored twice and Vladislav Namestnikov added a single for the Jets, the NHL’s regular-season champions who erased a two-goal deficit in the final two minutes of regulation.
“That one stings,” Blues forward Brayden Schenn said. “Two-goal lead and two 6-on-5 goals against. It’s brutal.”
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck recovered after a tough start to make 26 saves. He has won both Game 7 games he has played.
Neal Pionk, who played just over 46 minutes, and Kyle Connor both collected three assists.
Lowry ended the third-longest Game 7 in league history by deflecting Pionk’s point shot.
The home team won all seven games in the series.
Jordan Kyrou, Mathieu Joseph and Radek Faksa scored for the Blues, who were the West’s second wild-card entrant.
Goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 43 shots.
St. Louis was close to completing the upset before the Jets took flight. With the Blues up 3-1, Namestnikov made it a one-goal game with 1:56 remaining in regulation when he fired a sharp-angled shot that went off a defender while the Jets had the goalie pulled for an extra attacker.
Perfetti forced overtime with his second goal of the game, a nifty redirect of a Connor offering with 2.2 seconds remaining on the clock — the latest game-tying Game 7 goal in NHL history.
The Blues were on the verge making it the second time in three years the Presidents’ Trophy winners were eliminated in the first round in seven games.
“Any time you go out, it’s painful, no matter what situation,” Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. “Just proud of our group. It was a great group to be proud of. What a year and I’m looking forward already to continue building and what’s ahead.”
Kyrou quieted the raucous crowd 70 seconds into the clash on the game’s first shot by scoring from the slot. Then Joseph doubled the lead at 7:16 with a short-side shot while using a defender as a screen.
Perfetti put the Jets on the board with a power-play goal at 11:41 of the second period. However, Faksa restored St. Louis’ two-goal lead with 34 seconds remaining in the second period by converting on an odd-man rush.
“We obviously didn’t get the start we wanted,” Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “They got another one at the end of the second. But there was belief in this group. Nobody was hanging their head. We looked at each other and said, ‘We’re not done playing hockey yet.’ It was special.”
Making Winnipeg’s comeback more impressive was that top defenseman Josh Morrissey left the game midway through the first period after being on the receiving end of a hard check. The Jets were already without top-line center Mark Scheifele, who was injured in Game 5.
–Field Level Media
