Thanks to Adam Lowry's double overtime goal, the Winnipeg Jets were able to win an instant classic Game 7 on Sunday against the St. Louis Blues, 4-3, to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. While winning a Game 7 in double overtime is exciting enough on its own merits, it does not even begin to describe the madness that was this game for the Jets.
And the sadness that it is going to end up being for the Blues.
Winnipeg trailed by two goals entering the third period, 3-1, and looked to be on the verge of a stunning upset loss at home as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference when they still trailed by two goals with two minutes to play.
That was when Vladislav Namestnikov scored with 1:58 to play to cut the deficit to one.
That set the stage for Cole Perfetti to score one of the most dramatic goals in recent playoff history when he tied the game with just 1.5 seconds to play.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! COLE PERFETTI SENDS US TO OVERTIME!! #StanleyCup #Game7
— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2025
: @NHL_On_TNT (TBS) & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/0W6kbwvCx9
After a scoreless first overtime, the two teams were three minutes away from a third overtime when Lowry deflected a Neal Pionk point-shot by Blues goalie Jordan Binnington for the win.
ADAM LOWRY IS YOUR #GAME7 DOUBLE OVERTIME HERO!!
— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2025
The @NHLJets have punched their ticket to the Second Round of the #StanleyCup Playoffs thanks to their captain's @energizer overtime goal!! pic.twitter.com/x7Fxq5nuHn
The Jets are now advancing to the second round, where they will face the Dallas Stars. The Blues are now headed to the offseason and will have to deal with the fact that they were 1.5 seconds away from advancing. That is going to make for a long summer.
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Juraj Slafkovsky is one of the most promising players in the NHL, but now he has been called out by David Pastrnak, who stated he lacks humility. After being picked No. 1 overall in 2022 NHL Draft, expectations were high in Montreal for young star Juraj Slafkovsky, and thus far, he's shown glimpses of being the elite level player many expected when he entered the National Hockey League. However, there are still some major steps to go, and in a recent interview, Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak pointed out perhaps one area where the 21-year old may need to improve moving forward. When asked about Slafkovsky and his potential, Pastrnak gave nothing but a glowing review of the young Canadiens star, but he did note that he believes Slafkovsky needs more humility. 'He's still a young player who is gaining experience in the NHL every year. This season it was already clear that he gave the team more than before...He just needs a little more humility, he should set an example for the young ones.' On the ice, there's no doubting that Slafkovsky has the presence, the size and the talent to be a true star, posting 101 total points over the past two seasons, but for whatever reason, it appears as though Pastrnak believes he needs to improve off the ice before he can take a major leap in Montreal. Ultimately, the talent is still there for Slafkovsky, and at 21-years old, he'll continue to learn off the ice, and if he can go anywhere close to living up to the potential that he's shown in his first three years at the NHL level, there's no doubt that he can be a big time star and help lead the Canadiens to significant post-season success.
There have been a couple of different theories floated about why the Las Vegas Raiders made the shocking decision to cut star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, but head coach Pete Carroll has no interest in sharing the real motive. The Raiders released Wilkins on Thursday, which was barely a year after they signed him to a four-year, $110M contract in free agency. Initial reports suggested Wilkins and the team were at odds over how the 29-year-old's foot injury was being handled, but the story has since taken a bizarre turn. ESPN's Adam Schefter said on Monday that there was an incident between Wilkins and a teammate in the locker room that Wilkins viewed as playful, but his teammate did not take it that way. Tashan Reed of The Athletic reported that the incident took place in a meeting room at the Raiders' facility last week and was investigated by the team's human resources department. On Tuesday, a reporter asked Carroll about the alleged incident. The 73-year-old coach refused to get into it. "I have no comment to make,” Carroll said, via The Athletic. “We made a decision on what we’re doing, and we’re moving with it. We’ll see how that all unveils itself in time.” The last part of Carroll's comment is interesting. Carroll may have been saying time will tell how the decision to cut Wilkins will turn out for the Raiders, or he may have been insinuating that more information will come out at some point. Raiders defensive tackle Adam Nelson was also asked about Wilkins on Tuesday. Nelson responded by encouraging people to seek therapy if they are struggling with something in their life. Wilkins had 17 total tackles and a pair of sacks in five games with the Raiders before he suffered his season-ending foot injury.
The Minnesota Vikings are without superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson during training camp due to a minor hamstring strain. That in itself is a tough spot to be in for the Vikings, but it does create other opportunities for players on the roster. It's an unintended bright side for the offense and J.J. McCarthy, as they continue to build toward the start of the 2025 season. There are plenty of players who can benefit from Jefferson not being on the practice field, and one player has been stepping up in a big way. https://www.youtube.com/live/sMBr3o5qveY?si=IBWdjVrnycm5FXWA Lucky Jackson taking advantage of WR3 opportunities The Vikings ended up signing Jackson going into training camp of 2023. He was an XFL all-star on the runner up D.C. Defenders team and was their deep ball specialist. Jackson was getting a lot of opportunities with the first team as the wide receiver three with Jefferson out, and he was taking advantage of those. During his press conference on Tuesday, head coach Kevin O'Connell was asked about Jackson and raved about I think it shows a lot that he can step in for in many ways, and take the, you know, the positional reps that Justin will be taken. I think it says a lot about Key (Keenan McCardell) and Tony's (Sorrentino) trust in him, Wes and myself, but this is a guy that does everything the right way. Doing everything in his control to become the best player he can become. Just happens to be in a very deep receiver room, but he's getting some opportunity right now. I think Jalen Nailor's having a great camp. I showed the team three or four clips last night that can sometimes go unnoticed, guys just doing their job in that inside position that you know many, many cast of characters over the years have made real famous by just doing their job from the slot in this system. Speedy is having a great camp, picking up right where he left off in the spring. But, yeah, Lucky, (along with) Jeshaun Jones, is off to a really good start. We're seeing our young guys all taking strides, not making the same mistake twice. And Rondale is getting his legs underneath him and continues to do some things that really impressed. Really fired up about that group as a whole." This is a really good sign for the Vikings as we get closer to the first preseason game. The more opportunities that players have to make an impact, the better chances they have of getting what they want. Jackson hasn't done much over the last two seasons with the Vikings, but he's stuck around nearly every week on the practice squad, even making it to the active roster for a short time at the end of 2023. He's developing into a well rounded player, which is exactly what the Vikings like in their wide receivers. If he does throughout all of training camp as well as he's played to start, Jackson could end up not just making the roster, but earning real playing time.
In need of relief help at the looming trade deadline, the Seattle Mariners have now been connected to several high-end arms. First, former executive Jim Bowden of 'The Athletic' says that the team is a player for both David Bednar (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Ryan Helsley (St. Louis Cardinals). 'The reliever market led specifically by David Bednar #Pirates and Ryan Helsley #Cardinals is moving quickly all of a sudden today with #Phillies #Mets #Dodgers #Tigers #Mariners #Rangers all in play... both could get moved prior to Thursday trade deadline day now.' Bednar, 30, is under team control through the 2026 season and has gone 2-5 with a 2.37 ERA this season. He's appeared in 42 games, saving 17, and he's struck out 51 batters in 38.0 innings. A two-time All-Star, he'd pair with Andres Munoz, Matt Brash and Gabe Speier at the back-end of the M's bullpen. He led the National League in saves (39) in 2023. Helsley, 31, is a free agent at the end of this season and should cost less in terms of prospect capital. He's gone 3-1 in 36 games, registering a 3.00 ERA and striking out 41 in 36.0 innings. He led baseball in saves last season with 49. Beyond those two, there have been rumblings that the M's are interested in both Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax of the Minnesota Twins. Both pitchers are under team control through 2027. The Mariners have interest in Twins utility player Willi Castro as well, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. Duran has 16 saves this season and features a 100+ mph fastball and a devastating "splinker" while Jax features an upper-90s fastball and a devastating sweeper. The Mariners are currently 57-50 and in sole possession of the second wild card spot, though they are just 0.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. They'll play the A's on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. PT.
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