How the Jets completed an incredible Game 7 comeback and beat the Blues: Takeaways

New York Times

05-05-2025

WINNIPEG – In a span of two days, the Western Conference witnessed two incredible Game 7 finishes.
On Sunday, the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues matched – or even surpassed – the final game Saturday between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche in which the Stars scored four third-period goals to complete a 4-2 come-from-behind victory and clinch that series.
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The Blues were leading 3-1 with less than two minutes left in regulation when the Jets pulled goaltender Connor Hellebuyck for an extra attacker and scored two goals to tie it and send it to overtime.
Then Adam Lowry ended the third-longest Game 7 in NHL history when he scored at 16:10 of the second overtime period to give the Jets the unlikely 4-3 win.
#GoJetsGo Adam Lowry (96:08) scores the 3rd latest Game 7 goal in history pic.twitter.com/LtC8ZBIRGk
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) May 5, 2025
The game went to overtime because of the latest game-tying goal in NHL history in a Game 7.
With the puck on Nikolaj Ehlers' stick at the point and three seconds remaining in regulation, the Jets winger made a cross-ice pass to teammate Kyle Connor, who sent it to the front of the net where Cole Perfetti redirected it into the net with 2.2 seconds left. Perfetti's goal eclipsed the previous record held by the Vancouver Canucks' Matt Cooke in 2004.
Vladislav Namestnikov had a shot go in off of Blues captain Brayden Schenn for a 3-2 score with 1:56 left then Perfetti scored the equalizer.
In a series that saw the home team win each of the first six games of the series, the Jets held serve but needed the late dramatics and a memorable overtime to keep the trend alive.
There was plenty of pressure on Winnipeg heading into Sunday's game, and no one was feeling it more than Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck had been pulled in three of his six starts in the series – all in St. Louis. Hellebuyck surrendered a goal on the first shot he saw Sunday, albeit on a broken play, then gave up another soft goal to fall behind 2-0. But Hellebuyck rebounded and was solid the rest of the way, making 26 saves for the win.
The Jets were already playing without forward Mark Scheifele and then lost defenseman Josh Morrissey in the first period to an injury.
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Down two of their top players, they had a couple of key turnovers by Connor and Ehlers that led to goals by the Blues' Mathieu Joseph and Radek Faksa. Ehlers' led to Faksa's goal with 35 seconds left in the second period, giving the Blues a 3-1 cushion that looked safe until the end of the third period.
Faksa's goal to put the Blues ahead 3-1 to end the second should have been the dagger.
The Jets had played an excellent second period, showing tremendous resolve in the wake of Morrissey's injury. Ehlers flew up the left wing side and blasted a slapshot wide. Namestnikov had two Grade A scoring chances in the centre slot but missed with both. Gabriel Vilardi missed the net by inches.
Then Cole Perfetti, who the Jets didn't dress in four out of five playoff games last season, made the power play deflection that gave the Jets life. Faksa's goal should have brought that to an end – just as Ehlers' tripping penalty should have done right after it.
But the Jets kept pushing, scoring two goals with Hellebuyck pulled – including the latest tying goal in Game 7 history. First, it was Namestnikov's lucky bounce off of Ryan Suter and past Jordan Binnington with 1:56 left. Then it was Perfetti all over again, driving to the slot and redirecting Connor's pass into the middle past Binnington with just three seconds left on the clock.
It was a miraculous end to the third period of Game 7 following the best season in Jets history.
The Blues had a two-goal lead in the final minutes of regulation, but when the Jets pulled Hellebuyck, St. Louis fans had reason to be concerned.
The club gave up 11 6-on-5 extra-attacker goals in the regular season this season.
Granted, the first one, a shot by Namestnikov, went off Brayden Schenn and past Binnington, so it was a bit of an unlucky bounce.
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At that point, based on how the Blues' season has gone, another 6-on-5 seemed inevitable, and sure enough, it was.
The Blues laid a physical pounding on Morrissey all series long, laying 86 hits on Winnipeg's top-four defencemen alone.
Five minutes into Game 7, Oskar Sundqvist gave Morrissey his final hit of the series.
Josh Morrissey leaves for the locker room after taking a hit. pic.twitter.com/CHeJpaEbPD
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 4, 2025
Morrissey went to the Jets bench and was attended to by Jets staff, then returned to the ice for his next shift, laying a hit on Joseph. This hit appeared to hurt Morrissey further but Connor's giveaway in open ice forced him to try to defend Joseph's ensuing rush.
In the first six games of this series, Jordan Kyrou played on the Blues' second line with Brayden Schenn and Jake Neighbours.
In Thursday's practice, however, Montgomery moved Kyrou up to the top line with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich and dropped Jimmy Snuggerud to the second line.
'Just getting a different look,' Montgomery said. 'I'm not really settled (on making the switch), but they haven't practiced like that, so I just wanted to get a familiarity like that in case I switch to it in games.'
It seemed to be a response to Kyrou's lack of production in the series. In the first six games, he had just two points, and both were power-play goals.
Kyrou scored the Blues' first goal just 1:10 into Game 7. Playing his first shift on the top line, he sent a pass to Parayko, who passed up an open shot and gave it back to Kyrou. The puck went off his skate, and with Hellebuyck well out of the net, Kyrou poked it across the goal line for a 1-0 lead.
The Jets called their Game 6 problems 'self-inflicted' but got picked apart all over again to start Game 7. Bad transition defence led directly to the Blues' first two goals, with mistakes from top Jets players – and two saves Hellebuyck needed to make.
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Kyrou scored on the Blues' first shot just 1:10 into the game after scorching through the Jets in the neutral zone and Mathieu Joseph doubled St. Louis' lead six minutes and seconds later. For a moment, it looked like Hellebuyck was on his way to getting lit up for a second straight game, with no help from his defence.
To make matters worse, Morrissey was hurt in the build-up to Joseph's goal.
In the second period, the Blues surrendered a power-play goal toPerfetti and, trailing just 2-1, the Jets were starting to gain some momentum.
But with 35 seconds left in the period, the Blues got another goal from the heartbeat of their team – the fourth line.
Faksa's goal on a pass from Nathan Walker gave the Blues a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
It was the sixth goal of the series from the Blues' fourth line: Walker (3), Toropchenko (2) and Faksa (1). They combined for 17 in the regular season.
The Winnipeg Jets set an NHL record to start the season, going 14-1-0 in its first 15 games. They set a new franchise record with 116 points, winning the Presidents' Trophy. There's a chance that Hellebuyck and coach Scott Arniel win end-of-season hardware, while the Jets have already clinched their second straight William Jennings Trophy, giving up fewer goals this season than last – and scoring more, too.
The power play was No. 1 in the league and came to life when Vilardi returned to the series. Multiple players set new career highs in points, including Vilardi, Connor, Scheifele, and Perfetti. The Jets spent the season talking about lessons learned, resilience built, and the ability to push back harder in big games this year than ever before.
Maybe that's what led to the incredible comeback.
(Photo of Cole Perfetti celebrating his third-period goal: James Carey Lauder / Imagn Images)