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This article was published 22/02/2021 (833 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pierre-Luc Dubois said before the puck dropped that he’d never felt more ready to play a hockey game. And then he went out and showed just how ready and eager he was with a memorable breakout performance that might just offer a tantalizing taste of what’s to come.

The 22-year-old power forward scored his first two goals with Winnipeg — including the overtime winner — and added an assist as the Jets rallied for a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks Sunday night at Rogers Arena.

“It kind of feels like a weight off my shoulder,” Dubois said following the game. “It felt good. My game is still not where I want it to be, I know I can improve on a lot of things. Timing, executing, stuff like that. But it felt good to be out there.”

Winnipeg improves to 11-6-1, including 3-1-0 on this four-game western swing. Vancouver falls to 8-12-2.

This past month hasn’t been an easy one for Dubois since the blockbuster trade with Columbus which sent Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic in the other direction. First came two weeks of mandatory quarantine, followed by a few days of on-ice conditioning and a pair of pointless games with his new club that were rather pedestrian affairs.

Then came a frustrating lower-body injury that cost him another four games, which required another dose of conditioning to try and get back up to speed. He finally returned to the lineup against Vancouver, moved from his traditional centre spot to play on the left-wing with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler. And boy, did it ever pay off.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows off the hop, and a little more patience was required as Vancouver jumped out to an early 2-0 lead by taking advantage of some puck luck.

The first, just 3:38 into the game, was the result of a bizarre bounce off the back boards that landed right on the stick of Brandon Sutter, who basically had an empty net as Connor Hellebuyck was, quite rightfully, expecting the puck to come out the other side. Then came Elias Pettersson’s goal at 15:40, the result of a scrambly play in front of Winnipeg’s net that was only made possible by the puck hitting Mark Scheifele in the facial area.

The Jets didn’t sweat it, and their 4-2-0 record when trailing through 20 minutes would support that confidence.

“We felt that if we could win the second period and get it within striking distance, we’d have an opportunity to tie it up and win the hockey game,” said captain Blake Wheeler.

Dubois cut the deficit in half at 14:37 of the middle frame when he took a great feed from Wheeler and beat Vancouver goalie Braden Holtby. Mark Scheifele also got an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games.

Then Scheifele tied it 5:43 into the third period after a beautiful chip pass from Wheeler sent him in on a breakaway. Scheifele’s 10th of the season ties him for the team lead with Nikolaj Ehlers.

Winnipeg wasn’t done, as defenceman Neal Pionk, channelling his best Dustin Byfuglien, blasted an absolute bomb from the point at 10:33 for his 100th career point. Dubois set him up on the play with the Jets enjoying the man advantage.

It looked like that goal might hold up, but Pettersson tied it with 38 seconds left and Josh Morrissey in the penalty box for accidentally flipping the puck into the stands. Holtby was pulled for an extra attacker, making it a 6-on-4, and Pettersson — who had numerous glorious earlier chances including one that blew Hellebuyck’s helmet right off his head — didn’t miss.

But the Jets quickly regrouped after giving up the late goal, as coach Paul Maurice opted to send out three forwards to start the three-on-three overtime session. And the trio of Scheifele, Wheeler and Dubois found paydirt just 27 seconds into extra time.

“I love it. I don’t know why more teams don’t do it. Obviously playing with Wheels and [Dubois] it makes it pretty fun and we showed it out there and that’s 3-on-3. It’s fun hockey, it’s offence, it’s kind of let the boys play, which is awesome,” said Scheifele, who currently sits sixth in NHL scoring with 26 points through 18 games.

Winnipeg is now an NHL-best 4-4-0 when trailing a game after 40 minutes.

“We didn’t steer away from our game. being down two, we didn’t try to do too much, we didn’t try to spread the game out. We got more o-zone time, we got shots from the point, we started to get in front of Holtby and it proved off. we just kept on chipping away and chipping away and it was it was a great win by us,” said Scheifele.

Both Scheifele and Wheeler were signing the praises of their new linemate following the game.

“He was awesome. We skated together yesterday in practice, feeling pretty good and he was fun to play with. Skilled, big, does everything. It was fun to get a game with him and excited to have him back in the lineup, but boy he’s fun to play with,” said Scheifele.

“He’s a very powerful man. You see him without his uniform on, just in his shorts and t-shirt, he’s a young man but an adult body. He’s just tapping into his potential as a player. Some of the little things he does with the puck, the way that he protects it and can make guys miss…a pretty special player,” added Wheeler.

There was plenty of physicality in this one, including Jets defenceman Derek Forbort answering for his mauling of Canucks rookie Nils Hoglander at the end of Friday’s game (after what he felt was a high hit by Hoglander) by accepting Zack MacEwen’s invitation to drop the gloves.

Then Vancouver forward Antoine Roussel caught Scheifele with what appeared to be a late hit from behind which officials saw fit to ignore.

Winnipeg lost defenceman Tucker Poolman to an injury late in the second period, leaving them with just five defencemen the rest of the way. He will be re-evaluated when they return home on Monday.

The Jets are now off until they begin a four-game homestand on Thursday night with a visit from the Montreal Canadiens, their first of nine head-to-head meetings this season.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg