Scheifele Buzzer-Beater Lifts Jets Past Lightning 4-3 as Gauthier Nets Hat Trick

Mark Scheifele scored on a 5-on-3 power play with 1.6 seconds left to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday at Canada Life Centre, completing a night of drama that saw Cutter Gauthier score his third hat trick in five games in the Anaheim Ducks' 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Scheifele buzzer-beater, a one-timer from the high slot off a feed from Cole Perfetti, was the NHL's latest game-winning goal in regulation since Feb. 14, 2023. It rescued a Jets side that had blown a three-goal lead in four minutes, and it stretched Winnipeg's winning run to three games after a nine-game losing streak.

Key Points

• Mark Scheifele scored at 59:58 of the third period on a 5-on-3 power play, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy with a one-timer from the high slot.
• The Jets led 3-0 after Brayden Yager's first NHL goal at 8:10 of the third, before Tampa Bay scored three times in 4:07 to level the game.
• Brandon Hagel started the Lightning comeback with 9:38 left, and Pontus Holmberg scored twice in 26 seconds to make it 3-3.
• Cutter Gauthier scored his third hat trick in five games and stretched his goal streak to six as the Ducks beat the Penguins 5-2.
• Other Sunday finals: Boston 4-1 Florida, Vegas 4-1 Buffalo, Calgary 4-3 Philadelphia in overtime, New Jersey 4-0 Toronto.

What Happened

Winnipeg looked to be cruising when Yager scored his first NHL goal on a power play at 8:10 of the third to make it 3-0. Perfetti and Morgan Barron had also scored, and Stuart Skinner had kept Tampa Bay quiet through two periods. The Lightning, one of the Eastern Conference's strongest teams at 11-4-2, then produced one of the fastest comebacks of the season: Hagel beat Skinner with 9:38 remaining, and Holmberg struck twice in 26 seconds, at 5:59 and 5:33 left, to tie it at 3-3.

Just when overtime looked certain, Winnipeg earned a two-man advantage late in the third. With the clock bleeding away, Perfetti found Scheifele in the high slot, and the Jets captain buried a one-timer past Vasilevskiy with 1.6 seconds showing. Skinner finished with 18 saves, while Vasilevskiy stopped 21 shots. The Jets went 3-for-5 on the power play; the Lightning went 0-for-4.

In Anaheim, Gauthier scored with a no-look shot between Arturs Silovs' pads at 6:28 of the second, then added a wrist shot from the slot at 9:11 to make it 3-0. Granlund, who finished with a goal and three assists, had opened the scoring with one second left on Anaheim's first power play, and Tristan Luneau made it 4-0 early in the third. Pittsburgh pulled its goaltender twice and got power-play goals from Kris Letang and Rickard Rakell to close to 4-2, before Gauthier completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:26.

Background/Context

The Jets' win was their third in a row after the nine-game losing run that preceded it. Winnipeg sits at 7-8-3, still below .500, but the mood has shifted sharply, and Sunday's escape will only add to the belief that the worst of the slide is behind them. Tampa Bay had won three in a row before arriving in Winnipeg and remains one of the league's best teams despite the defeat.

Gauthier's night was the latest chapter in one of the hottest goal-scoring stretches the NHL has seen in years. The 22-year-old has 13 goals during his six-game goal streak and 17 points during an eight-game point streak. He has now scored three hat tricks in five games, joining Perry, Vatrano and Selanne as the only Ducks with three hat tricks in a season. He also became the first player in NHL history to score three hat tricks within the first 10 days of a calendar month, and matched the NHL record for most hat tricks in a calendar month.

Scheifele Buzzer-Beater Caps Wild Finish

The final minutes in Winnipeg showed how quickly an NHL game can turn. The Jets had built a 3-0 lead, then watched it vanish in 4:07 as Tampa Bay's skill took over. Hagel's goal changed the energy of the game, Holmberg's two quick strikes changed the scoreline, and for a few minutes a Lightning comeback looked certain. Instead, the two-man advantage gave Winnipeg one last look, and Scheifele did what he has done so often for the Jets: he found the space, took the feed from Perfetti and finished cleanly.

Reactions/Quotes

Gauthier kept it simple when asked about his scoring run. "I'm just shooting the puck and they're going in, so I'm just going to keep shooting it," he said. His linemate Granlund was full of praise. "He's so natural. You see those shots going five-hole, like that's a goal-scorer's goal," Granlund said. Gauthier also praised Brossoit. "He's been a rock for us this little win streak we've had so far," he said. Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse acknowledged the Ducks' quality. "It was good that we had the push," Muse said. "We got some looks, but we're walking out of here with no points and a loss." The Associated Press recap of the Jets-Lightning game carried no postgame quotes.

Why It Matters

For Winnipeg, the win is about more than two points. A team that had lost nine straight has now won three in a row, and doing it with 1.6 seconds left is the kind of result that can change a dressing room. The slide is over and the belief is back. For Tampa Bay, the defeat is a reminder that even the Lightning cannot switch off for four minutes and expect to survive.

For Anaheim, the story is bigger still. Gauthier is not just scoring; he is doing it at a pace that is rewriting the record book, and the Ducks have won five straight behind him. A team that was supposed to be rebuilding is now 10-7-1, with Laurent Brossoit unbeaten in four starts since his recall.

What Happens Next

The Lightning visit Buffalo on Wednesday night. The Jets host New Jersey on Tuesday, aiming for a fourth straight win. The Ducks aim to extend their five-game run, with Gauthier chasing a seventh straight game with a goal.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time was left when Mark Scheifele scored?
Just 1.6 seconds. Scheifele's goal came at 59:58 of the third period on a 5-on-3 power play, the latest NHL game-winner in regulation since Feb. 14, 2023.

How many hat tricks has Cutter Gauthier scored?
Three in five games, with 13 goals in a six-game goal streak and 17 points in an eight-game point streak.

What were the other NHL scores on Sunday?
Boston beat Florida 4-1, Vegas beat Buffalo 4-1, Calgary beat Philadelphia 4-3 in overtime, and New Jersey beat Toronto 4-0, alongside the Jets' 4-3 win and the Ducks' 5-2 win.

What are the Jets' and Lightning's records now?
Winnipeg improved to 7-8-3 with a third straight win after nine losses, while Tampa Bay fell to 11-4-2.

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