The biggest question heading into Sunday’s St. Louis Blues–Winnipeg Jets Game 7 is which Connor Hellebuyck shows up.
The Jets goaltender once again is struggling in the playoffs after a spectacular regular season. He’s a finalist for the Hart Trophy and the Vezina Trophy, but was pulled in all three games in St. Louis in this series.
Sunday, he’ll be at home, where the Jets are 3-0 and have limited the Blues to seven goals.
The winner of Sunday’s game will face the Dallas Stars, who rallied behind Mikko Rantanen’s third-period hat trick to down the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in Game 7 on Saturday night.
Here are predictions and how to watch Game 7 between the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues.
TBS reports that Jets No. 1 defenseman Morrissey is not on the bench.
Joseph skates into the zone after a Kyle Connor giveaway and beats Connor Hellebuyck clean. The struggling Jets goalie should have stopped that. Blues 2, Jets 0
Hellebuyck gets the save he needs after that first goal, stopping Robert Thomas.
St. Louis scores on its first shot. Connor Hellebuyck is out of position when Colton Parayko passes to Jordan Kyrou, who taps it in 70 seconds into the game. Winnipeg coverage broke down on the play. Blues 1, Jets 0
Winner faces the Stars in the second round.
Game 7 between the Jets and Blues is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
This goalie matchup is the same one as in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off. Binnington and Canada won that game 3-2 in overtime against Hellebuyck and the USA.
Winnipeg’s Scott Arniel has never been a head coach in an NHL Game 7 but is 3-3 as an assistant or associate coach. St. Louis’ Jim Montgomery is 1-2 as a head coach. That includes a first-round loss in 2023 when he was coach of the Boston Bruins, the No. 1 overall and record-setting team that season. The Bruins won their Game 7 last season.
Blues goalie Jordan Binnington is 2-0 with a 0.82 goals-against average and a .968 save percentage in Game 7s, both of them in the 2019 playoffs, including in the Stanley Cup Final. Winnipeg’s Hellebuyck is 1-0, 1.00, .973, winning in the 2018 playoffs.
Arniel said No. 1 center Mark Scheifele won’t play in Game 7. He was injured in Game 5 on a Brayden Schenn hit and didn’t play in Game 6.
Jason Anderson: Blues 5, Jets 4. The Jets had the best defense in hockey this year, with Connor Hellebuyck in the hunt for the Vezina, which makes his struggles in this series all the more baffling. He’s been pulled from all three road games and has a .815 save percentage in this series. This pick is less about the Blues, and more about Winnipeg being unable to keep pucks out of the net.
Mike Brehm: Jets 4, Blues 3. I’m giving the Jets the edge because they’re at home, and they were able to bounce back and win Game 5 after losing back-to-back games in St. Louis. They won that game despite losing Mark Scheifele to an injury. He won’t play Sunday, but Winnipeg still will have plenty of offense.
Jace Evans: Blues 4, Jets 2. The Jets battled all year to get the top seed for this moment, but I just don’t trust Connor Hellebuyck right now. The likely Vezina Trophy winner has given up at least three goals in five of the series’ six games. Not to oversimplify the game … but Game 7’s outcome hinges entirely on which Hellebuyck shows up.
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