Amadio Scores Double Overtime Winner as Golden Knights Beat Jets

Laurent Brossoit made 30 saves as Vegas scored the final goal of the game, sending Canada Life Centre into absolute shock. 

Thanks to a 17-shot third period, Winnipeg stormed back in dramatic fashion with three-straight goals after falling behind 4-1 through 40 minutes of play. 

Jack Eichel's two goals helped the Golden Knights to their early lead, but it was Winnipeg that did not give up, despite trailing heavily and playing down a man all game.

Vegas played one of the best second periods in recent memory, scoring twice and outshooting Winnipeg 16-4, but the script flipped for the final 20, as the Jets turned up the heat with a huge comeback. 

“It was incredible. It was amazing," Brenden Dillon said of the fan support. "From the first strides in warm-up, to even the whole third period, it was electric. That just says something about the city of Winnipeg and seeing the fan cam out there, wherever it was – Hargrave Market or Square – it’s super fun to be a part of, especially these games that go into overtime.” 

The Jets had it all on Saturday: the whiteout, the fans, the noise, the excitement... They just didn't seem to have the shots, or goals, to keep up with the Knights - for the first two periods at least.

The Jets also didn't have Nikolaj Ehlers, who remained out of the lineup following an illegal check from Minnesota's Ryan Hartman 11 days prior. 

Making matters worse, Winnipeg lost its top defenceman in the early stages with what appears to be a right knee injury. 

"They played their hearts out," head coach Rick Bowness said of the five defenceman making up for Morrissey's minutes on Saturday. "Those five guys did a phenomenal job for us. Our forwards did everything they could to help them. But yeah, very unfortunate to lose Mo. He’s got a lower-body and he’s done for the series, so we don’t have to talk about that every day.”

Having opened their first round matchup with a decisive 5-1 victory in Nevada, the Jets fell victim to the Golden Knights' strong offence in Game 2, losing that game 5-2. 

But wanting to turn the tables for their first home playoff game in front of fans since 2019, things did not go according to plan in the early stages on Saturday.

Giving up goals on the first two shots faced to start the game, Winnipeg trailed nearly from the get-go.

The worst news of the day for Winnipeg stemmed from the injury to star defenceman Josh Morrissey.

Skating in parts of just two shifts, the Jets' top blueliner left the game after just 74 seconds after an awkward knee-on-knee collision with Brandon product Zach Whitecloud. 

He made his way to the home bench rather slowly after the check, but remained in the game. Morrissey took part in the first half of a Jets power play but quickly left the ice and went straight down the tunnel for medical attention.

He did not return at any point in the first period. The Jets later announced he was ruled out.

And then Vegas started scoring.

First, it was a perfectly-placed Chandler Stephenson wrister off the rush that went through both Nate Schmidt and Connor Hellebuyck en route to finding its way to the top shelf.

The Golden Knights kept the good times rolling with a power play marker before seven minutes had even drained off the clock.

With Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois in the box following a net-front skirmish, Alex Pietrangelo fanned on his point shot, which landed on the stick of Stephenson. He calmed dished it laterally to Eichel who hammered home his second career playoff goal, silencing the lively home town crowd.

Brenden Dillon squared off with Winnipeg product Keegan Kolesar in a spirited bout just 49 seconds into the game, before a number of hatred-fuelled body checks occurred over the course of the next 19 minutes and change.

The Jets did manage to cut the visitors’ lead in half before the period came to a close, as Kyle Connor kept pace with Stephenson and Eichel in scoring his second goal of the series.

He deflected a Dylan DeMelo point shot through Brossoit at the 9:43 mark, restoring some hope to the white clad faithful at Canada Life Centre.

The Jets finished the period trailing on the shot and score boards, but ahead 29-17 on the hit chart through 20 minutes of play. 

Winnipeg completely fell apart in the second period, with its only chance coming off the stick of Dillon, who found the goalpost on a long-range point shot.

In fact, the Jets were outshot 16-4 and outscored 2-0 in the frame. 

With Dylan Samberg in the penalty box for what the officials deemed a trip, Eichel blasted his second of the game through Hellebuyck, extending Vegas' lead to two with a period-and-a-half to go. 

Keegan Kolesar added another with 2:15 to play, potting a Hellebuyck rebound off yet another Eichel shot. 

With nothing left to lose, the Jets turned up the temperature in the third period. 

Nino Niederreiter got the fans back on their feet, scoring his first of the postseason just 2:04 into the frame. The trade deadline acquisition perfectly executed a give-and-go play with Dubois on a rush up ice, and finished things off with a heavy wrist shot that found its way through Brossoit.

Then, with Phil Kessel in the box for holding the stick, Scheifele made the Knights pay. Almost giving the puck away, he recollected the disc and stickhandled a couple times before ripping it through a Whitecloud screen and into the top corner of the net. The goal brought Winnipeg to within one with just 5:52 left to play. 

"We talked in the intermission," Lowry said. "We've got a lot of belief. We've come back, 4-1, before and won a game in overtime against the Oilers. When Nino scored early, it gave us some momentum and got the building rocking again. Rightfully so, the wind had gotten taken out of their sales with our lackluster second. But Scheif scores a huge power play goal, and anything can kind of happen with the net out."

With time as the Jets' biggest enemy, Winnipeg opted to pull Hellebuyck for the extra attacker with a minute left. And the choice paid off handsomely.

Lowry jammed home the game-tying goal with just 21 seconds remaining, on his fourth of the postseason, propelling the game into a sudden death overtime period. In doing so, he became the first player in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history score such a goal in the final minute of a playoff game. 

"Right until the last buzzer of the third period, we battled and Lows coming through with an unbelievable effort," Dillon said. "He’s been doing stuff like that all year, but it didn’t matter what line was going out there, we all just wanted to contribute and wanted to be that hero.” 

Winnipeg began the extra frame with 1:58 to kill, as Dubois took a necessary tripping penalty to prevent a near-winner with just seconds left in the third. The Jets killed it off, much to the pleasure of those getting their full money's worth at the rink.

Winnipeg came within an inch of the game-winner at the 10-minute mark, as Dubois hit the post from the top of the crease. But that was as close as either team would get, as the first overtime period came to a close without a goal scored. 

Vegas outshot Winnipeg 6-5 in the first overtime period and maintained its 43-33 lead in the game.

Much like that of the first overtime period, Dubois found himself in the box for tripping as things got underway. 

The Jets made it through the penalty, but a goal line giveaway landed right on the stick of Michael Amadio, who fired it through Hellebuyck 3:40 into the fifth period.

“I talked to him right after," Bowness said of Samberg's giveaway. "I said ‘Dylan, we’re where we are because of you. You helped us get here. You helped us get to double overtime.’ That’s usually what happens. You get in those situations and the puck takes a bounce off a skate or a stick and it goes to them. That’s usually how overtime games are ended. I talked to him right away. He’s a big part of why we’re here. We’ll keep playing him.”

Hellebuyck made 43 saves on Vegas' 48 shots in the game, while his former counterpart Brossoit turned aside 30 of the 34 pucks he faced. 

The Jets and Golden Knights will do it all again on Monday night when the teams regroup for Game 4. Puck drop is set for 8:30 PM central time at Canada Life Centre. And much like the rest of the series, that game will be available to view on Sportsnet.