The goal heard around the province Perfetti’s game-tying goal inks Jets forward in the hockey history books By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 2:41 PM CDT Monday, May. 5, 2025

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/05/2025 (325 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Be honest. How many times have you gone back and watched it? Five? Twenty five? One hundred?

We’re talking about “The Goal by Cole,” which has instantly rocketed to the very top of memorable moments — or, in this case, mere seconds — in Manitoba sports history.

The latest game-tying tally in Game 7 playoff history, which occurred late Sunday night inside Canada Life Centre, was the stuff of Hollywood, staving off elimination for the Winnipeg Jets and setting the table for a dramatic double overtime series-winner by captain Adam Lowry.

The official scoring play reads as Cole Perfetti from Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers at 19:57 of the third period to make it a 3-3 game against the St. Louis. But this is one of those times where the simple summary doesn’t do justice to what actually went down.

To set the scene, we’ll remind you the Jets had pulled goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, which had already led to the deficit being cut to 3-2 after Vlad Namestnikov’s shot deflected off Blues defenceman Ryan Suter at 18:04.

St. Louis had taken a couple shots towards the empty net — just missing by a few feet on one occasion — to allow the Jets to continue having a pulse.

Lowry, who was the de facto No. 1 centre for this game with Mark Scheifele out with an upper-body injury, had made a nice zone entry to allow the Jets to try and get set up.

Let’s break it down frame-by-frame and look at how the perfect storm of skill, grit, determination and puck luck sent the Whiteout into an absolute frenzy.

11 SECONDS…

The puck is somewhere in a sea of humanity which involves three Jets players — Lowry, Perfetti and Gabe Vilardi — and a pair of Blues. It’s pinned against the boards well to the right of St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington — which is where you’d want it to be in your end while clinging to a one-goal lead that has you on the cusp of advancing to the second round.

Credit Vilardi, who is like a Hoover vacuum in these situations, for winning the intense battle and emerging with the puck. But he’s under intense pressure and immediately tries to backhand it to Lowry, only to have it go off the skate of St. Louis forward Pavel Buchnevich, who had been hovering behind the five-man scrum.

Buchnevich clearly felt it but couldn’t find it. Fortunately, for the Jets, Lowry did. This whole sequence took several seconds off the clock. If the Jets lose the puck at any point, their season is toast.

7 SECONDS…

Lowry only has one real option here, to throw it back to Nikolaj Ehlers who is standing alone on the left blue line. Ehlers, who has never met a puck he didn’t want to shoot, immediately steps into a one-timer.

However, he completely whiffs on it — something he’d done countless times this game. Ehlers was only playing for a second game since his return from a lower-body injury that cost him seven in a row and was obviously battling rust.

The clock reads 6.3 seconds as his stick (sort of) hits the puck. It’s at 5.7 as it arrives in the location of where Lowry and Blues forward Robert Thomas are. Both go for it, but Lowry uses his size to get positioning and does the only thing he can — shovel it off his backhand straight back to Ehlers.

If Lowry doesn’t box out, their season is toast.

The clock reads 4.1 seconds as Ehlers gets a second chance. There’s no margin for error.

“I fan on the first one, so I thought, I’m not gonna let that happen again,” said Ehlers.

4 SECONDS…

Having flubbed the shot attempt, Ehlers is now thinking “pass” — which is quite something considering his club is four seconds away from elimination. His only real option is Kyle Connor who is completely across the ice, all alone near the right faceoff dot. Clearly, at that point, the Blues don’t view him as any threat. And, really, why would they?

“I knew KC was over there. If we can get the goalie moving just a little bit, we might be able to create something,” Ehlers explained.

The Jets have the extra man on the ice so somebody was going to be open. Ehlers finds that guy with one of the crispest passes you’ll ever see.

It hits Connor’s stick at 3.3 seconds.

Clearly there is no time to waste. Connor can’t try and stop the puck to set up a perfect shot or pick a corner. All he can do is one-time it and hope for the best.

The release comes at 3.2 seconds.

“I knew it was winding down. Just trying to get a puck centred and get it to the net,” Connor said of his mindset.

“There have been situations I can remember throughout the year that have been like that. You’re almost relying on muscle memory, knowing your routes, doing your job, just playing for the man next to you and getting it done.”

3 SECONDS…

Having emerged from that earlier board battle, Perfetti has gone straight to the front of the net as he’s supposed to. He’s directly in front of Binnington, perfectly positioned between veteran Blues defencemen Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk.

Parayko appears occupied by Vilardi, who is just to his right, but Faulk is trying to play Connor’s shot and actually slides to his left in an attempt to block it. In the process, he opens up a perfect seam for Perfetti to get his stick on the puck and deflect it over a stunned Binnington, just under the crossbar.

In the heat of the moment, the clock stopped at 1.6 seconds but it was later adjusted to 2.2. The NHL always rounds up, which is why the goal was officially deemed at 19:57.

“Some great plays late in that game. A lot of that starts with Gabe and Lows down low, battling. Exhausted, but battling through and winning puck battles,” said Perfetti.

“Then Fly makes a great play to KC, he makes a great play to me, and I just kind of chipped it in. Again, no quit. Guys were exhausted but fought until the last second and we got it done.”

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The scenes that followed were incredible.

Binnington laying flat on his face. Thomas burying his head in his hands. Perfetti looking like he was going to go straight through the glass with one of the biggest jumps you’ve ever seen. A mob scene with all six Jets — defenceman Neal Pionk was the only one not to touch the puck during this sequence — leaping into each other’s arms.

All 15,225 fans bouncing up and down and off each other. Thousands of people at the downtown street party going bonkers. Similar celebrations, no doubt, in living rooms and rec rooms across the province and beyond.

“The crowd was incredible. We really felt like they were standing on their feet. The loudest they’ve ever been, and I’ve ever heard them.”– Jets forward Kyle Connor

An entire hockey world melting down over the drama.

“It’s euphoric. It’s emotional. It’s motivating. We used that in overtime,” said Connor. “The crowd was incredible. We really felt like they were standing on their feet. The loudest they’ve ever been, and I’ve ever heard them. I think we just fed off that and just kept rolling. It gives you that extra energy to dig in at the back end of your shift and bear down.”

The Stanley Cup playoffs are something else. And the Jets now have a signature moment that will go down in hockey history.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg