The situation looked hopeless: the Winnipeg Jets were trailing the Montreal Canadiens 0:4 with two and a half minutes left in the third period and were heading toward a tenth straight loss. Instead, the visitors scored four goals in 2 minutes 6 seconds, tied the game with 33 seconds left before the horn and snatched a win in overtime — 5:4. It is the latest four-goal comeback in league history.
Until that moment, teams that had fallen four goals behind in the final three minutes of regulation had never won — the record stood at 0-10 299-0. The Jets did not merely break the rule; they did it in the midst of a nine-game winless streak and after a rout by 0:7 in their previous game. The psychological collapse seemed to have become part of the team, but that evening something broke in the opposite direction.
The key was not only character but also concrete actions. Defenseman Tyrel Bauer opened the scoring with his first NHL goals and completed a Gordie Howe hat trick — a goal, an assist and a fight. Morgan Barron converted a 2-on-1 breakaway, and Kyle Connor scored twice within 27 seconds with the net empty and on the power play. In overtime, Dylan Samberg converted a pass from Adam Lowry. Puck possession in regulation favored Winnipeg — 36 minutes to 24 — and all five goals in the comeback came from precise shots from the neutral zone.
For the Canadiens, it became a classic example of complacency: leading 4:0, the players, by their own admission, "thought the game was over." Cole Caufield, who scored twice, later admitted there were no excuses. In hockey, where a one-goal difference often decides everything, a four-goal cushion in the final minutes turns into an illusion as soon as the opponent starts to believe that all is not yet lost.
This episode shows how fragile any losing streak is and how important belief is at the moment when the numbers on the scoreboard no longer leave any chance. Winnipeg proved that even in the deepest pit a team is capable of turning around not only the score but also its own history.
