Jets rally to tie Game 3 in the third, but fall in double overtime

WINNIPEG -The Winnipeg Jets were one shot away from authoring another incredible three-goal comeback in a Game 3 at Canada Life Centre.
They did it in 2018 against Nashville, then again in 2021 against Edmonton, and after trailing the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 heading into the third on Saturday, they found a way to get to double overtime playing with just five defencemen for the majority of the game.
Unfortunately, the closest the Jets got was a post on a shot from Pierre-Luc Dubois in the first overtime, and then Michael Amadio won it for Vegas 3:40 into the second overtime.
"That was a hell of a hockey game," said head coach Rick Bowness. "The guys laid it all out there on the line tonight, they played their hearts out. Very proud of the way we played. We're down early, we get that, we fought back. We're down three going into the third, and we kept fighting. There is no quit in this group."

The group's mettle was certainly tested, and it was tested early, as defenceman Josh Morrissey left the game after playing just 1:14 due to a lower-body injury and didn't return.
Bowness announced after the game that Morrissey is done for the series.
"He's a top five D in this league right now," said Bowness. "It's a big hole, but we played the rest of the game without him and scored four, so we're going to have to find a way to play the rest of the series without him because this series is far from over."
The atmosphere leading up to puck drop and throughout the night was electric, as the whiteout inside Canada Life Centre -with fans - returned for the first time since 2019.
The fans had plenty to cheer about, despite the final result, as the Jets had goals from Kyle Connor in the first, and singles in the third from Nino Niederreiter, Mark Scheifele, and Adam Lowry.
"That was definitely a lot more fun being a part of them than playing against them," said Niederreiter, who was part of the Minnesota Wild squad the Jets beat in five games in 2018. "The fans are so passionate and terrific."
With the crowd at a fever pitch, Chandler Stephenson put Vegas up 1-0 just 2:52 into the game with a wrist shot off the rush from the right circle. Then, when a Jets power play turned into a 4-on-4 - and shortly after, a Vegas power play - Jack Eichel made it 2-0 on a broken play. A point shot from Alex Pietrangelo didn't get to the net due to a broken stick, and Stephenson found Eichel in the left circle for his second of the series 6:18 in.

"They got that lucky power play goal, where (Pietrangelo) fans on the shot and it goes right to Eichel and all of a sudden it's two-zip," said Bowness. "It took us a while to get over that."
A while turned out to be just a few minutes.
The Jets responded just before the midway mark of the opening period, with Connor redirecting a Dylan DeMelo slap pass to the slot area, with the puck getting past Laurent Brossoit on the stick side. For Connor, it was his second of the series, and it brought the energy back into Canada Life Centre.
Along with the assist, DeMelo played 36:31 in the game, the second most among defencemen. Neal Pionk led the way with three assists and 41:08 of ice time.
"Neal's looking for a new set of legs right now, as we speak," said Brenden Dillon, whose 30:30 was the third most. "It's not like we're losing a game like that and sulking around here. We're ready for Game 4 already and we've got to take that confidence with how that game ended."

In the second, Vegas restored their two-goal cushion with another Eichel power play goal form the left circle at 10:46. This one was a one-timer from a Pietrangelo pass, and Connor Hellebuyck just wasn't able to get across in time.
That lead extended to 4-1 when Keegan Kolesar got to a loose puck off the rush - that opportunity created by a Phil Kessel shot off Hellebuyck's pads - and with 2:15 left in the second it was 4-1.
But Winnipeg's belief was still intact.
"We all believe in each other," said Lowry. "You look at how hard the D battled, losing J-Mo early in the first. You go to double-overtime with five D, that's a lot of minutes. But they played great. They created some offence. They were jumping up, and that's all you can ask."

Niederreiter got the third period started in an ideal fashion for the Jets, as he ripped a wrister over the glove of Brossoit just 2:04 into the final period to cut the Vegas lead to 4-2.
Then, with 5:52 to go in the third, Scheifele also beat Brossoit with a wrist shot, a laser beam on the power play from the left circle into the top right corner to pull the Jets within one.
Winnipeg's power play finished 1-for-4 on the night.
"We're all yelling, the fans are yelling, "Shoot the puck!" But we don't see what they see," said Bowness. "Maybe they're seeing a guy right in front of them. You can't see that shot that looks so easy from up there."
And then, with time ticking down and Hellebuyck out of the net for an extra attacker, Adam Lowry pounced on a rebound after tipping a Pionk shot, and tucked home his fourth of the series to tie the game with 22 seconds remaining.

Pandemonium.
"I blacked out, let me tell you," said Lowry, who became the first player in franchise history to score a game-tying goal in the playoffs in the final minute. "I was pretty fired up. To kind of enter the third where we were at and get the building rocking and have a chance to win in overtime, it's a pretty big high emotionally."
Winnipeg killed two penalties in the overtime periods. Dubois took a tripping penalty with two seconds left in regulation, and then another tripping call in the second overtime.
Still, his chance in the first overtime period, a wrister from the right side of the slot area that beat Brossoit and grazed the post, turned out to be Winnipeg's best chance.
A turnover deep in the Winnipeg zone - a bad break that saw a puck go from Dylan Samberg's stick, off a leg, and into the slot - found the stick of Michael Amadio who put it off the cross bar and in.
It was a tough ending given all the fight the Jets showed, but they're not going away.
"You want to respond," said Lowry. "We gave ourselves a good chance to win tying the game, but like I said, it's our job now to be ready for Game 4. We're excited for the opportunity, and there's a lot of belief in this group that we can get it done and even the series."