Winnipeg Jets forward Nik Ehlers could muster only one word to describe the feeling of their 4-3 double-overtime Game 7 victory that eliminated the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.

“Joy.”

Here’s another word: historic.

Captain Adam Lowry‘s goal at 16:10 of the second overtime closed out the series and advanced the Jets to face the Dallas Stars beginning Wednesday in Winnipeg. But overtime doesn’t happen without forward Cole Perfetti‘s goal with three seconds remaining in regulation, which established an NHL record.

Perfetti’s goal at 59:57 was the latest game-tying goal in a Game 7, topping the record set by Vancouver Canucks winger Matt Cooke (59:54) in the 2004 conference quarterfinals against Calgary. The Flames won the series in overtime. Perfetti also tied Washington’s Dale Hunter (1993) and Carolina’s Eric Staal (2006) for the second-latest game-tying goal in NHL playoff history. Cooke’s goal with two seconds left in a conference semifinal for Minnesota in 2003 is still the fastest.

Perfetti redirected a desperation Kyle Connor one-timer past St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington off a cross-ice pass from Nik Ehlers.

“I fanned on the first [shot], so I thought I’m not going to let that happen again. If we could get the goalie moving just a little bit, we might be able to create something,” Ehlers said of his pass.

“Sometimes, for whatever reason, if you look at the home teams in this series, the puck luck was incredible,” St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.

Winnipeg didn’t have much luck to start the game. Jordan Kyrou gave the Blues a 1-0 lead just 1:10 into the game, as lackluster defense from Connor led to a 2-on-1 down low. Defenseman Colton Parayko found Kyrou for his third goal of the postseason. The Blues scored in the first period of every game of the series.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck allowed a questionable goal 6:16 later, as Mathieu Joseph wristed one past him from the top of the circle for a 2-0 lead. Hellebuyck finished the series with an .830 save percentage and a 3.85 goals-against average.

Winnipeg was 2-25 all time in the playoffs when trailing by multiple goals at any point in the game.

To make matters worse, defenseman Josh Morrissey left the game just four shifts into the first period because of an apparent shoulder injury. That meant Winnipeg played the majority of Game 7 without its top defenseman and second-leading scorer, as center Mark Scheifele missed Games 6 and 7 because of an upper-body injury suffered in Game 5.

This is the same scenario the Dallas Stars faced in winning Game 7 of their series against Colorado, playing without defenseman Miro Heiskanen and winger Jason Robertson. Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said he cited Dallas’s late-game comeback against Colorado on Saturday night to give the Jets hope for a rally.

The Jets chipped away at the lead in the second period on Perfetti’s power-play goal, but St. Louis’ fourth line — one of its best in this series — got it back with Radek Faksa‘s goal with 35 seconds left in the period.

“We obviously didn’t get the start that we wanted today,” Ehlers said. “They got another one at the end of the second period. But there was belief in this group. Nobody was hanging their heads. We looked at each other and said we’re not done playing hockey yet. It was special.”

Entering Sunday night, teams with a multigoal lead in the third period of a Game 7 were 119-4. Things were looking good for the Blues — until they weren’t.

Winnipeg pulled Hellebuyck with 3:14 left, leading to Vlad Namestnikov scoring with 1:56 left in regulation. Perfetti then scored with three seconds left.

The teams were scoreless in the first overtime, with Binnington (11 saves) busier than Hellebuyck (4 saves) in the opening extra session. Then, Lowery ended the series with his deflection of Neal Pionk‘s shot at 16:10 of the second overtime.

Lowry was born in St. Louis. His father, Adam Lowry, played five seasons with the Blues during his 19-year NHL career.

The Jets mobbed Lowry in celebration. For Hellebuyck, there was also a palpable sense of relief.

He’s considered the best goaltender in the world, expected to collect his third Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top netminder this season, giving him back-to-back Vezina wins. But Hellebuyck had been a playoff disappointment in the Jets’ first-round losses in 2023 and 2024, both in five games. He was disastrous against the Blues, especially on the road: getting pulled in three straight road games with a .758 save percentage and a 7.24 goals-against average.

The last time he was across the ice from Binnington in overtime was the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, when Binnington was brilliant in leading Canada to victory over Hellebuyck and the U.S.

This time, Hellebuyck was saving the day until his team could win the game in double overtime. He made 13 saves in the final three periods.

“Amazing. Absolutely amazing,” said Arniel, who won his first playoff series as an NHL head coach. “I’ve seen a lot of hockey games. I’ve been around a lot of hockey games. Man, it was thrilling.”

FORT WORTH, Texas — Reigning NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano overcame a lot to get his first victory this season.

It came a week after Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric‘s win at Talladega, where Logano had a fifth-place finish that became 39th after a postrace inspection found an issue with the spoiler on his No. 22 Ford. There was also Logano’s expletive-laden rant on the radio toward his teammate in the middle of that race that the two smoothed out during the week. Oh, and he started 27th at Texas after a bad qualifying effort on the 1½-mile track.

But Logano surged ahead on the restart in overtime Sunday to win in the 11th race this year. He led only seven of the 271 laps, four more than scheduled.

“After what happened last week, to be able to rebound and come right back, it’s a total ’22’ way of doing things. So proud of the team,” Logano said.

On the final restart after the 12th caution, Logano was on the inside of his other teammate, Ryan Blaney. But Logano pulled away on the backstretch and stayed easily in front for the final 1½ laps, while Ross Chastain then passed Blaney to finish second ahead of him.

“Just slowly, methodically,” Logano said of his progression to the front. “Just kept grinding, a couple here and a couple there and eventually get a win here.”

Logano got his 37th career victory, getting the lead for the first time on Lap 264. He went low to complete a pass of Michael McDowell.

“I mean, there’s always a story next week, right?” Logano said. “So I told my wife last week before we left, I said, ‘Watch me go win this one.’ It’s just how we do stuff.”

On a caution with 47 laps left, McDowell took only two tires and moved up 15 spots to second. He ended up leading 19 laps, but got loose a few laps after getting passed by Logano and crashed to bring out the caution that sent the race to overtime. He finished 26th.

“We were giving it everything we had there to try to keep track position,” McDowell said. “Joey got a run there, and I tried to block it. I went as far as I think you could probably go. When Blaney slid in front of me, it just took the air off of it and I just lost the back of it. I still had the fight in me, but I probably should have conceded at that point.”

Odds and Ends

William Byron, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott remained the top four in season points. … Elliott left Texas last spring with his first victory after 42 races and 18 months without one. He hasn’t won since, and now has another long winless drought — this one 38 races and nearly 13 months after finishing 16th. … A crew member for Christopher Bell crawled in through the passenger side of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and was fully in the car to reconnect an air hose to the driver’s helmet during a caution in the second stage. It took two stops during that caution, and twice climbing into the car, to resolve the issue.

Fiery end to Hamlin streak

Hamlin had finished on the lead lap in 21 consecutive races, but a fiery finish on Lap 75 ended that streak that had matched the eighth longest in NASCAR history. He was the first car out of the race.

After the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota lost power, something blew up when Hamlin recycled the engine. Flames were coming from under the car and it was engulfed in smoke when it rolled to a stop on the inside of the track, and Hamlin climbed out unharmed.

Youngest pole sitter

Carson Hocevar, the 22-year-old driver who is McDowell’s teammate with Spire Motorsports, was the youngest pole sitter in Texas. He led only the first 22 laps of the race, losing it while pitting during the first caution. He finished 24th after a late accident.

Stage cautions

Both in-race stages finished under caution. Cindric won Stage 1 after Hamlin’s issues, and Kyle Larson took the second after a yellow flag came out because of debris on the track after the right rear tire on Chris Buescher‘s car came apart.

Larson got his 68th overall stage win and his sixth at Texas, with both marks being records. He has won a stage in each of the past five Cup races at Texas, starting in his 2021 win there.

Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele did not play in Game 7 of the Jets’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday due to an undisclosed injury, coach Scott Arniel said.

Arniel ruled out Scheifele following the team’s morning skate. He was hurt in Game 5 — playing only 8:05 in the first period before exiting — and then did not travel with the Jets to St. Louis for Game 6. Arniel previously had said Scheifele was a game-time decision for Game 7.

Scheifele, 32, skated in a track suit Saturday, and Arniel told reporters the veteran was feeling better than he had the day before. Scheifele, however, was not able to participate in the Jets’ on-ice session by Sunday, quickly indicating he would not be available for the game.

Winnipeg held a 2-0 lead in the series over St. Louis before the Blues stormed back with a pair of wins to tie it, 2-2. The home team has won each game in the best-of-seven series so far.

The Jets’ challenge in closing out St. Louis only increases without Scheifele. Winnipeg already has been dealing with the uneven play of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, a significant storyline in the series to date. Hellebuyck was pulled in all three of his starts at St. Louis while giving up a combined 16 goals on 66 shots (.758 SV%). In Game 6, Hellebuyck allowed four goals in only 5 minutes, 23 seconds of the second period.

Hellebuyck was Winnipeg’s backbone during the regular season, earning a Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy nomination for his impeccable year (.925 SV%, 2.00 GAA).