Key Takeaways
- Winnipeg led 3–0 in the third period on goals by Perfetti, Barron and Brayden Yager's first NHL goal, then Tampa Bay tied it with three goals in under five minutes — two from Pontu
- Mark Scheifele won it on a 5-on-3 power play with 1.6 seconds left, the latest regulation game-winner in the NHL since February 2023.
- The Jets have won three straight after losing nine in a row; Tampa Bay's Brayden Point left in the first period with an undisclosed injury.
Three Goals Up, Ten Minutes From a Cruise — Then Chaos
For nearly fifty minutes in Winnipeg on Sunday, this looked like a coronation. Cole Perfetti opened the scoring on a second-period power play, Morgan Barron made it 2–0, and at 8:10 of the third, Brayden Yager scored his first NHL goal — in his sixth game, with his family watching — to put the Jets up 3–0 on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Then everything unravelled. Brandon Hagel scored at 10:22. Pontus Holmberg scored at 14:01, and again at 14:27 — two rebound goals in 26 seconds — turning a comfortable Winnipeg lead into a 3–3 tie. The building went silent, and the Jets' nine-game winless streak from October suddenly felt very recent.
1.6 Seconds, a 5-on-3, and One-Timer
Winnipeg had one last chance, and Tampa gave it the opening. A late 5-on-3 power play gave the Jets their moment. Perfetti dug the puck out of the corner and fed Mark Scheifele at the left hash marks. His one-timer crossed the line with 1.6 seconds on the clock — officially 59:58, the latest regulation game-winning goal in the NHL since Ryan Graves scored at the same second in February 2023.
Stuart Skinner made 18 saves for Winnipeg; Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 for Tampa Bay. The win gives the Jets their third straight victory after a nine-game winless streak (0-7-2), lifting them to 7-8-3. The cost for the Lightning (11-4-2) may extend beyond the scoreboard: Brayden Point left in the first period with an undisclosed injury, and coach Jon Cooper said he might miss some time.
The Twikup Take
A 3–0 lead disappearing in five minutes can turn a comfortable night into a confidence crisis. Winnipeg nearly watched its comeback story become another collapse — until Scheifele changed the ending with 1.6 seconds left.
The difference between another painful defeat and a third straight win was one power play, one perfectly timed pass and Scheifele's finishing touch.
*Image: Scheifele in October 2014 by Lisa Gansky, CC BY-SA 2.0.