Yager celebrates first NHL goal as Jets hold off Lightning for 4-3 win at Canada Life Centre

The Story

Brayden Yager was grinning ear to ear after Sunday night’s roller-coaster game at Canada Life Centre, where the 21-year-old Winnipeg forward recorded his first NHL goal to help lift the Jets to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Yager’s milestone also became his first NHL point, and he said it was extra meaningful because his family was in attendance. “Mom, dad and grandpa were here, so it was pretty cool to do it in front of them,” Yager said after the game. “Unbelievable feeling. Dream come true.”

The game swung in a bloody stretch early in the third period. Winnipeg was protecting a 2-0 lead after second-period goals from Cole Perfetti and Morgan Barron when Lightning forward Pontus Holmberg caught Yager in the mouth with a high stick, drawing blood and leading to a four-minute double-minor penalty and a quick check by Winnipeg’s medical staff. Yager returned to the ice moments later.

With nine seconds remaining in the first minor, Yager fired a one-timer past Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy after a deflected feed from rookie Viggo Bjorck. “Just a great play by Viggo there that touched over to me and I had a pretty wide-open net,” Yager said. “You can definitely feel it, the atmosphere. I thought the fans were unbelievable tonight.”

At 3-0, it looked like Winnipeg had pulled away, but Tampa Bay mounted a quick comeback to take control of the scoreline. Brandon Hagel scored after taking advantage of a Yager giveaway behind the net, and Holmberg later tied the game 3-3 at 14:27 of the third period.

Despite the turnaround, Winnipeg got the winning goal from Mark Scheifele, who scored with 1.6 seconds remaining in regulation. Scheifele said the group focuses on results rather than circumstances. “We’ve got a lot of great guys on this team, guys with a lot of heart and a lot of skill,” he said. “They don’t ask how. They just ask how many wins. We’ll put that one in the chamber and not look at it again.”

Winnipeg’s victory extended its win streak to three games, with head coach Scott Arniel pointing to the confidence the team gained from earlier momentum. He referenced the “Miracle in Montreal,” saying that kind of comeback helped take pressure off the players as they looked to make the next play rather than hope for it. Arniel added that the sequence involving Yager was also a lesson in the pace of the NHL. “That's a good lesson about how good this league is and how hard you have to play every shift,” Arniel said. “He didn't feel that pressure coming from behind, and that's part of the speed and quickness of the NHL. It's a great learning curve for him. He can build on the goal that he scored, but he continues to do stuff well.”

For Yager, the evening underscored how quickly games can change. “Just look to keep building, keep getting better every game, and keep getting more and more comfortable,” he said. “It's important that some of us other guys step up, and I thought we did a really good job of that tonight.”