Adam Lowry had dreams of scoring a Game 7 winning goal, but not exactly the way it finally happened.
He didn’t mind, though.
The Winnipeg Jets captain was mobbed by teammates as white-clad fans stood and roared after he tipped in the winning goal 16:10 into double overtime for a 4-3 National Hockey League playoff victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 on Sunday night.
“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.
“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.”
The Jets will face the Dallas Stars in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, starting Wednesday in the Manitoba capital. Winnipeg has never played the Stars in the post-season.
Winnipeg earned home-ice advantage through the playoffs after winning the franchise’s first Presidents’ Trophy with a league-best 56-22-4 regular-season record.
The Jets were the favourites against the eighth-seeded Blues, but it was an epic battle to ensure the team wouldn’t get knocked out of the playoffs in the first round for a third consecutive season.
“To lose in those first rounds, those were heartbreaking,” said Jets first-year head 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.”
Sunday’s game clocked in as the third-longest Game 7 in NHL history at 96 minutes, 10 seconds.
Winnipeg was down 3-1 in the third period when veteran forward Vladislav Namestnikov scored with 1:56 remaining after his shot went in off Blues defenceman Ryan Suter.
With goalie Connor Hellebuyck pulled for the extra attacker, Winnipeg looked like it tied the game with 1:06 left but a review ruled the puck didn’t cross the goal line.
Cole Perfetti then scored his second redirected goal of the game with three seconds remaining to lift 15,225 frenzied white-clad fans out of their seats inside Canada Life Centre. Kyle Connor and Neal Pionk both had three assists for the Jets.
“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.”
The Whitby, Ont., native’s goal was the latest game-tying goal in a Game 7 in league history.
“It’s euphoric. It’s emotional. It’s motivating. We used that in overtime,” Connor said of Perfetti’s goal.
Hellebuyck finished with 26 saves. The finalist for the Vezina and Hart trophies was pulled in favour of backup Eric Comrie in the previous three games but made some key saves on Sunday.
The Jets lost top defenceman Josh Morrissey about eight minutes into the first period. They were already without star centre Mark Scheifele (upper-body injury) for a second straight game.
“To play this long of a game with five defencemen, it’s pretty incredible,” Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “So hats off to those guys. They stuck with it.”
The Jets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, but ended up hosting the first-ever Game 7 in the city.
Jordan Kyrou scored on the Blues’ first shot of the game and Mathieu Joseph and Radek Faksa also had goals for the visitors. Binnington made 43 saves.
Kyrou poked the puck past Hellebuyck after a rush with Colton Parayko at 1:10, marking 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 went stick side for his goal 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.
The Jets 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 he redirected it by Binnington at 11:41 of the second.
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.
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