The Winnipeg Jets turned a 4-0 hole into a 5-4 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, finishing one of the wildest comebacks in NHL history. Dylan Samberg scored at 3:30 in overtime after Winnipeg tied the game with 32 seconds left in regulation.
The rally ended a nine-game losing streak for the Jets and left Montreal staring at a loss after leading by four goals early in the third period. Kyle Connor scored twice, while Tyrel Bauer and Morgan Barron started the push back and Mark Scheifele and Dylan Demelo each had two assists. Cole Caufield scored twice for Montreal, and Owen Beck and Josh Anderson also scored.
The game mattered because it flipped in the final minutes. Winnipeg scored four goals in two minutes eight seconds to force overtime, a burst that became the latest four-goal comeback in NHL history. Montreal had looked in control after Owen Beck opened the scoring 3:05 into the game, Josh Anderson made it 2-0 at 18:18 of the first period, and Cole Caufield stretched it to 3-0 four minutes into the second before adding his 10th goal of the season 46 seconds into the third for a 4-0 lead.
That edge disappeared even before the final buzzer. Tyrel Bauer scored with 2:39 left in regulation, Morgan Barron followed 42 seconds later, and Connor struck twice 27 seconds apart with an extra attacker to tie it. Montreal also played without Nick Suzuki, who missed his sixth consecutive game with a hand injury after opening his NHL career with 546 straight regular-season games.
The strangest part of the night was that Montreal’s collapse came with a layer of history attached to it. Arber Xhekaj and Florian Xhekaj both fought late in the third period, and the brothers became the first pair to record a point on the same Canadiens goal since Andrei Kostitsyn and Sergei Kostitsyn on Jan. 17, 2009. Winnipeg now turns to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, while Montreal hosts the Utah Mammoth, carrying the kind of defeat that lingers long after the standings move on.
