The Winnipeg Jets finally found a way to beat Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord with 27 seconds remaining in the third period, securing a 2-1 regulation victory.

Apart from the LA Kings game, this was probably the slowest of all the games in the season-long eight-game homestand so far. Despite the sluggish play from both teams, Seattle opened the scoring at 8:12 with Matty Beniers notching his 9th goal of the season. Jaden Schwartz flipped the puck into the Jets’ zone to Kaapo Kakko, who then made a backhand pass into the crease. Beniers got his stick on it and put it past Connor Hellebuyck to make it 1-0.

Not much else happened in the opening frame. The period ended with Seattle up 1-0, and controlling the shots 11-8.

About halfway through the middle frame, Nino Niederreiter drew a penalty, sending Jamie Oleksiak to the sin bin for an interference minor. The Jets would tie things up at one on the ensuing power play. Kyle Connor blasted a one-timer to the goal and Daccord kicked out the rebound to Mark Scheifele who potted his 27th of the season. Additionally, Connor and Josh Morrissey earned the assists.

With 3:03 remaining, the Jets got caught on a bad line change and Andre Burakovsky was sent all alone on a breakaway but Hellebuyck flashed the leather calmly to deny Seattle from taking the lead again.

The second period concluded and the score remained knotted up at one. Shots were 27-16 in favour of the Jets and they outshot Seattle 19-5 in the second period.

The Jets found themselves stuck in a “hitting the iron” fever. Logan Stanley struck the crossbar with 13:18 remaining, and shortly after, Adam Lowry hit the crossbar as well. Nothing was getting past Daccord.

With 27 seconds left, Mr. 600, Smoke, Mels, whatever you want to call him—came up clutch with the go-ahead goal to make it 2-1. Nikolaj Ehlers set up DeMelo, who ripped it top corner over Daccord’s glove for his 2nd of the season, leaving Seattle stunned. What a memorable moment for him.

Seattle pulled the goalie and attempted to tie the game but the Jets held on to collect their fourth win of this eight-game homestand.

Dylan DeMelo was asked about his game-winning goal with 27 seconds left:

“That was awesome. Obviously, I’m a guy who doesn’t score a lot. 600 games is a great accomplishment; I’m proud of it,”said DeMelo. “It takes a lot of people to help you get there. That was kind of on my mind before the game—between your family, friends, coaches, teammates, and all the staff who help get you here.” DeMelo continued, “That was special in its own right. And then to get the game-winner, that just kind of put the cherry on top, and then to get the win—it was a really special night, one that I’ll remember.”

Genuinely one of the slowest hockey games I’ve attended in a while, but it was well worth it to see that electric game-winning goal from Dylan DeMelo in his 600th NHL game. It came at the perfect time.

On a serious note, not much was going right tonight. Apart from the power play and the game-winning goal, the play was sluggish and sloppy from both teams. I thought Morrissey had a really off game; he coughed up the puck a few times and didn’t look like his usual self. Not too worrying, though.

The luck was against the Jets a couple of times, with the only thing standing in the way of the puck going into the net being the crossbar and goalposts, which were hit multiple times this game.

The most important takeaway is that the Jets collected two points and pulled it together when they needed to the most. Thank you, Dylan DeMelo.

The Jets will wrap up their season long eight-game homestand on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames. Game time is at 6:00 p.m. CT and it will be available to watch on Sportsnet West.

Make sure to check out the pre-game report before the game and the post-game article after the game. Cheers, Jetsnation.