Down 3-0 after a disastrous opening 20 minutes Dorance Armstrong Jr. Jersey , there was no flipping of tables or peeling of paint off the walls in the Winnipeg Jets‘ locker room.

They instead spent the first intermission calmly trying to figure a way out of that deficit.

”We got kicked in the teeth a little bit,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. ”Our goal was just to win the second period and give ourselves a chance.”

They did that, and a whole lot more.

Wheeler scored on the power play with 4:59 left after Winnipeg roared back from that early deficit to defeat the Nashville Predators 7-4 on Tuesday night and grab a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.

”It’s definitely not how you draw up a first period, but nobody panicked,” said Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba, who finished with a goal and an assist.

”We just regrouped. It wasn’t really any different in here than if it was a tie game or if we were winning.

”We just went out there and played a little bit faster and played with a little bit more confidence.”

Dustin Byfuglien had two goals and an assist for Winnipeg, and Paul Stastny added a goal and two assists.

Wheeler, who also had an assist, scored the first of two empty-net goals in the final minute, with Brandon Tanev getting the other.

Mark Scheifele added two assists to become the first player since Sidney Crosby in 2010 to have five consecutive multi-point games in a postseason. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 stops.

Filip Forsberg and P.K. Subban each had a goal and an assist for Nashville, while Mike Fisher and Austin Watson also scored. Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Johansen both added two assists for the Predators, who got 38 saves from Pekka Rinne.

”We just stopped playing,” Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis said. ”You can’t win hockey when you stop playing.”

Johansen said the Predators stopped skating after blowing the lead.

”We stopped moving our legs,” Johansen said. ”We did a lot of things poorly and they got better. Momentum swings in playoffs, they can be deadly.”

Game 4 is Thursday night in Winnipeg before things shift back to Nashville for Game 5 on Saturday.

After the Predators surged ahead on goals by Fisher, Subban and Watson in the first period, the Jets roared out of the gate in the second to tie it during a frantic three-minute stretch.

Stastny got the comeback started at 2:38 when Trouba’s bouncing shot from the point struck his skate in front and ricocheted in off the crossbar and straight out.

The veteran center raised his arms in celebration, but play continued for a few seconds before officials blew the sequence dead to check if the puck crossed the line.

Wheeler then missed a wide-open net after Rinne’s turnover before getting cleaned out by Watson along the boards.

Scheifele came to Wheeler’s defense to nullify what would have been a Winnipeg power play, but the Jets seemed to get a boost from the exchange and made it 3-2 when Byfuglien blasted his second of the playoffs past Rinne at 5:11.

Then with the teams still playing 4-on-4 Nolan Cromwell Jersey , Trouba took a slick pass from Wheeler just 18 seconds later to send the white-clad crowd Bell MTS Place into its third frenzy in quick succession with his second of the postseason.

”That was chaos,” Stastny said.

Winnipeg imposed its physical will as the period wore on, hitting Nashville’s defense at every opportunity, and the pressure finally paid off with 45 seconds remaining when Patrik Laine passed to Byfuglien for his second of the game.

The big defenseman celebrated by removing a glove and dancing – a far cry from the playful punches he threw at teammates after Winnipeg tied Game 2 late in regulation.

”You guys only see him on the ice,” Trouba said. ”I see him dance all the time.”

But Nashville punched back to even the score 4-4 at 7:40 of the third when Forsberg wheeled across the top of the slot on the power play to beat Hellebuyck with his fifth goal of the postseason shortly after Laine hit the post.

Trouba then turned the puck over at the offensive blue line to send Viktor Arvidsson in alone on a breakaway, but Hellebuyck was there with a big glove stop.

Winnipeg got its third man advantage of the third with 5:59 remaining when Subban went off for high-sticking after failing to clear the puck twice late in a previous Jets power play. Wheeler scored the winner from a tight angle after Rinne stopped Scheifele from the slot.

”Our fans are huge. It’s real, too,” Wheeler said. ”Our crowd noise is from the crowd. It’s not from speakers or music or live bands or whatever.

”That’s people making noise and that goes right through your body.”

Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor missed on a breakaway that would have sealed it on another man advantage before Nick Bonino hit the post at the other end for Nashville.

Wheeler and Tanev then sealed it into an empty net in the final minute.

The Jets opened the series with a 4-1 win in Nashville before the Predators picked up a 5-4 double overtime victory in Game 2.

The Predators silenced Winnipeg’s fans just 4:53 in Tuesday when Fisher poked a loose puck over the goal line for his first of the playoffs after Hellebuyck couldn’t squeeze Ryan Hartman’s tip of Ekholm’s shot from the sideboards.

Wheeler then took an offensive zone tripping penalty, and the Predators capitalized when Subban scored his second of the playoffs, and second in as many games, through Hellebuyck’s legs at 10:06.

Watson made it 3-0 with 2:25 left when he – Deandre Ayton pointed to the rim, asking for a lob. The pass came from Shaquille Harrison, and Ayton snared it in his right hand before slamming down a dunk.

And thousands of Phoenix Suns fans roared.

In that one moment, they saw a glimpse of what their team’s future may look like. The No. 1 pick in this year’s draft made his debut at the NBA Summer League on Friday night, and he walked off a winner as the Suns topped the Dallas Mavericks 92-85.

Ayton played 22 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, with the alley-oop in the opening minutes being his first basket. He also grabbed eight rebounds, blocked a shot and committed five fouls.

”A lot of energy,” Ayton said Ricky Wagner Jersey , when asked for the takeaway from his first NBA game – albeit just of the summer variety. ”I could feel the energy around.”

Davon Reed and Mikal Bridges made things easy for Ayton and the Suns, each shooting 4 for 5 from 3-point range. Reed led the Suns with 18 points, while Bridges added 14.

”They showed up,” Ayton said. ”Some of these guys, they’re vets, they execute plays. They’re loud, vocal,” Ayton said. ”I felt very comfortable.”

Jalen Jones scored 16 points and Dennis Smith Jr. added 14 for Dallas (0-1). Luka Doncic did not play for Dallas, as he still awaits his clearance from his Real Madrid deal – which has to arrive before he can sign his contract with the Mavericks.

”I’m just excited to be here,” Doncic told ESPN in an in-game televised interview.

The Suns-Mavs game was part of a 10-game lineup on opening day in Las Vegas, where all 30 NBA franchises have sent a team for the first time. Leagues in Sacramento and Salt Lake City ended Thursday, with about 85,000 tickets sold over three days of play in each of those cities.

More than 125,000 fans went to the games in Las Vegas a year ago.

Friday’s summaries:

CELTICS 95, 76ERS 89

Furkan Korkmaz led all scorers with 40 points in a losing effort for Philadelphia (0-1). Korkmaz was 10 for 18 from the field, 8 for 14 from 3-point range and 12 for 15 from the foul line. Guerschon Yabusele and Semi Ojeleye each scored 16 points for Boston (1-0).

ROCKETS 92, PACERS 89

Trevon Duval scored 20 points and the rookie out of Duke also had three rebounds and two assists for Houston (1-0) in his summer league debut. Danuel House added 20 for the Rockets, while Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Former UCLA point guard Aaron Holiday, the younger brother of NBA guards Jrue and Justin Donte Jackson Jersey , had a game-high 23 points for Indiana (0-1).

PELICANS 90, RAPTORS 77

Trevon Bluiett came off the bench for New Orleans (1-0) and scored a game-high 24 points. The 6-foot-5 guard out of Xavier, who went undrafted last month, was 6 for 8 from 3-point range and had six rebounds and two assists. Alfonzo McKinnie and Rawle Alkins each had 12 points for Toronto (0-1).

MAGIC 86, NETS 80

Troy Caupain scored 22 points, Jonathan Isaac had 20 points and seven rebounds, and Mohamed Bamba, the No. 6 pick in last month’s draft, added 11 points and seven boards for Orlando. Isaiah Briscoe added 16 points for the Magic (1-0). Shawn Dawson scored 20 points and Tyler Davis, who went undrafted out of Texas A&M, had 13 points for Brooklyn (0-1).

HORNETS 88, THUNDER 87

Malik Monk scored 23 points for Charlotte (1-0), which won a game where neither team ever led by more than eight points. Willy Hernangomez added 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets. Rashawn Thomas scored 23 points, Dakari Johnson had 20 and Daniel Hamilton finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder (0-1).

BUCKS 90, PISTONS 63

Christian Wood scored 23 for Milwaukee (1-0). Henry Ellenson had 16 for the Pistons (0-1), who shot 27 percent and trailed by as many as 32.

CAVALIERS 72, WIZARDS 59

Ante Zizic had 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for Cleveland Kemoko Turay Jersey , which led by double figures from the start of the second quarter on and prevailed. First-round pick Collin Sexton scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Cedi Osman finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers (1-0). Devin Robinson led Washington with 14 points, while Troy Brown Jr. scored 13 and Aaron Harrison 12. The Wizards (0-1) shot 30 percent from the field and were outrebounded 51-35.

NUGGETS 70, TIMBERWOLVES 69

Monte Morris scored 15 points, Vlatko Cancar added 11 and Malik Beasley 10 to help Denver – which led by 21 points going into the fourth – hold on for the win. Keita Bates-Diop, a second-round pick who finished with nine points and seven rebounds, missed a potential winner from just inside half-court at the buzzer. Isaiah Cousins led the Timberwolves with 15 points and Amile Jefferson scored 12 and grabbed 14 rebounds. First-round pick Josh Okogie shot 2 for 10 and finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks.

WARRIORS 77, CLIPPERS 71

Kendrick Nunn, who went undrafted last month, hit 4 of 7 from 3-point range and finished with 18 points for Golden State (1-0). Josh Magette added 10 points, including a step-back 3 that made it 75-71 with 9.8 seconds to play. Sindarius Thornwell led the Clippers (0-1) with 18 points while first-round picks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.

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