Blues take Winnipeg to double OT in Game 7, but fall 4-3

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.

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.

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.

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.”

The home team won each game in this series.

St. Louis is now 10-9 in Game 7s.


(Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)