Forward has 3 points, Scheifele leaves with injury for Winnipeg
Blues at Jets | Recap | Round 1, Game 5
Kyle Connor had a goal and two assists, and the Winnipeg Jets won 5-3 against the St. Louis Blues in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Wednesday.
“I thought throughout the lineup, it was outstanding. I thought that everybody stepped up,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We had a great first. We were physical. We were battling, competing, doing all the things we have to do to get ourselves going. Just real proud of the way the guys stuck together and just played our game. We got to Jet hockey. We got to Jet hockey early and we played it for 60 minutes.”
Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter each had a goal and an assist, and Mason Appleton had three assists for the Jets, who lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 after losing Game 3 and Game 4 in St. Louis. Connor Hellebuyck made 16 saves.
“It was huge,” Appleton said. “You start a series 2-0 and you go to St. Louis and think, ‘you win one, you really put a stranglehold on it.’ But they played really well in their barn and they got bounces and we didn’t and we were staring at an even series… Obviously, now we put ourselves in the driver’s seat to go to St. Louis. Hopefully we close this series out, but we know how good they are at home and what we have to do. That was our best game of the series, and we’ve got to duplicate that.”
STL@WPG, Gm5: Connor finishes Scheifele’s feed to get things started in the 1st
Game 6 is at Enterprise Center in St. Louis on Friday (8:00 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, Max).
Nathan Walker had two goals and Jimmy Snuggerud also scored for the Blues, who are the second wild card from the West. Jordan Binnington made 21 saves.
“They were better than us,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “There’s a lot of facets but we’re onto the next one. It’s a playoff series — I thought that was their best game, thought it was our worst game, we’re onto the next one. We can analyze every part of it — they were better. So, we’re onto the next one.”
Connor made it 1-0 Jets 1:23 into the first period, scoring top corner from the slot after Mark Scheifele fed him from behind the net.
Scheifele did not return to the game after the first period. Arniel had no update postgame other than saying Scheifele will be reassessed on Thursday.
“It’s not one guy that needs to fill the shoes of Mark,” Connor said. “It needs to be everybody. And the way [Namestnikov] plays, he’s been great for the whole series and a couple chances here or there he could have some better results. You see it tonight. He drives hard to the net, plays all hard areas very well, defends well and obviously a key contributor on two of those goals.”
Walker tied it 1-1 at 3:42, deflecting Colton Parayko’s point shot as he stood in front of Hellebuyck. It was Walker’s first career playoff goal.
“They’re a good team but we’ve played some good hockey at home for a couple of months now, so we’re comfortable there and the fans are behind us,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “We played well in Games 3 and 4. You knew it was going to be a tough series. They’re a good team, a lot of back-and-forth and momentum swings. So far, the road team hasn’t been able to get the job done. It’s our turn to get one at home now.”
STL@WPG, Gm5: Walker gets a piece of Parayko’s blast to tie it up early
Niederreiter tipped Dylan Samberg’s shot through traffic to make it 2-1 at 8:39.
“I think every game so far, the first period has been very physical,” Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist said. “It’s no different if it’s here or at home. So, it’s been a physical series. And I don’t think that’s going to stop on Friday either.
Snuggerud tied it 2-2 at 6:06 of the second, scoring on the rush from below the right face-off dot by sliding the puck between Hellebuyck’s left pad and the post.
Sundqvist said, “No one’s won on the road so far, so obviously we’re feeling good going home and do everything we can to come back here on Sunday (for Game 7).”
Dylan DeMelo’s point shot at 11:05 put the Jets up 3-2 after it deflected in off the back of Parayko.
Namestnikov pushed the lead to 4-2, banging in Connor’s setup on the backhand at 18:51.
“Things happen in playoffs, sometimes the puck doesn’t go in, but you kind of have to stick with it,” Namestnikov said. “When things don’t go your way, we lost [Scheifele], people have to step up. So I think as a team we stepped up today and got the win.”
STL@WPG, Gm5: Namestnikov caps off passing play to extend the lead late in the 2nd
Adam Lowry scored into an empty net at 16:47 of the third to make it 5-2.
Walker jammed in a rebound at the side of the net at 19:07 for his second goal and the 5-3 final.
The Blues had 10 shots on goal in the third after generating just nine total through the first two periods.
“That’s Jet hockey, defense,” Namestnikov said. “We played defense first and then take it to the offense. And I think for the most part of that game we did that. We stopped them in the neutral zone, and forechecked and kind of hounded them in their end. But we had the lead and kind of stayed back a little bit in the third and they got their shots. But overall, I thought we played it very well all game.”
NOTES: The Jets franchise has gone 1-1 in playoff series when tied 2-2 through four games. Winnipeg lost 4-2 to the St. Louis Blues in the 2019 Western Conference First Round and beat the Nashville Predators in seven games in the 2018 Western Conference Second Round. … Namestnikov’s goal was his first in 21 games, dating back to March 11 in the regular season. … The Jets held the Blues to less than 20 shots for the second time in the series. … DeMelo’s goal was the first of his career in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. … Connor’s second three-point game of these playoffs was the fourth of his career, tying Blake Wheeler for the most in Jets/Thrashers history. … Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi had a team-high four blocked shots in 18:23 of ice time. It was his first game since returning from an upper-body injury that kept him out of the final 11 games of the regular season and first four games of the playoffs.
🔹Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
🔹Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
🔹Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
🔹New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
🔹St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets
🔹Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars
🔹Minnesota Wild vs. Vegas Golden Knights
🔹Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
