Ehlers could return, Scheifele out for Winnipeg; St. Louis eyes 15th straight home win to extend series
© Scott Rovak/NHLI
ST. LOUIS — The Winnipeg Jets will try to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2021 when they face the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at Enterprise Center on Friday (8 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
Winnipeg, which leads the best-of-7 series 3-2, last reached the second round in 2021, when it was swept by the Montreal Canadiens in four games. The only other time the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers advanced to the second round was in 2018, when Winnipeg reached the Western Conference Final and lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
The Jets have mixed news on the injury front; center Mark Scheifele is out due to an undisclosed injury sustained in a 5-3 win in Game 5 on Wednesday. Scheifele has six points (two goals, four assists) in this series, second on Winnipeg to forward Kyle Connor (eight points; four goals, four assists).
But the Jets could be getting Nikolaj Ehlers back; the forward, who has been out with a lower-body injury since April 12, was on the second line during Winnipeg’s morning skate Ehlers was third on the team with 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) in 69 regular-season games, behind Connor (97 points; 41 goals, 56 assists) and Scheifele (87 points; 39 goals, 48 assists).
“I think obviously with Mark not playing tonight, that’s a huge hole to fill,” Jets center Adam Lowry said. “Power play, big minutes. But if ‘Nikky’ is ready to go, if we can have him step into the lineup, that’s a big boost for our offensive game, a big boost for our transition game, and adding another elite player to the lineup, especially with the loss of Scheifele.”
The Blues have won 14 in a row at home (regular season and playoffs combined) dating back to Feb. 22, a 4-3 shootout loss to — the Jets. Coach Jim Montgomery said St. Louis played its worst game Wednesday, so they’ll be looking to bounce back in a big way.
“You have nothing to lose,” Blues center Robert Thomas said. “I think that’s what we’ve been playing with for the last little while, especially on home ice, we’ve been really confident in ourselves. That’s pretty much it. Coming into this series, we knew it was going to go six or seven (games). That was our mindset from the start. We’re right where we thought we’d be. We’ve got to win two games to move on. We’re pretty excited for this opportunity.”
Teams leading a best-of-7 series 3-2 are 357-94 (.792) overall and 217-52 (.807) when starting the series at home.
Here is a breakdown of Game 6.
Jets: There’s no doubt they will miss Scheifele, but they’ve got others to help in his absence. Vladislav Namestnikov stepped into Scheifele’s spot as top-line center in Game 5 and blended in fast, scoring the winning goal and ending his personal 20-game goal-less streak (regular season and playoffs). And if Ehlers can play, that will help balance the forward lines and help Winnipeg’s power play, which is 2-for-14 (14.3 percent) in the series.
Blues: St. Louis was delayed getting out of Winnipeg on Thursday due to plane maintenance and didn’t get home until about 9 p.m. CT. The players said they were unaffected by the delay and got plenty of sleep. So back to Game 6: to play spoiler, the Blues want to tap into what worked for them so well in Games 3 and 4 at home: a great forecheck, balanced scoring and a productive power play.
Number to know: 10. Number of times the Blues have won Game 6 in the 26 times they’ve trailed 3-2 in a best-of-7 series. The last time was in the 2019 West Second Round against the Dallas Stars. They went on to win that series and the Stanley Cup.
What to look for: Can the Jets improve to 4-1 in potential series-clinching games? Or do the Blues win their 15th in a row at home and force Game 7?
🔹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
“Just focus on what we have to do in that first period, like we did the other night. We got everybody’s best (in Game 5) and that’s what it’s going to take. We know what’s happened in this building, they’re going to come hard and they’re not going to lay over. For us, there isn’t one thing yet. We’ll talk about it more tonight but again, we went out and defended well, did a lot better job defending, played faster. Sowe’re kind of harping on those things again. — Jets coach Scott Arniel
“Every little play is big, every detail is big, but at the same time, you don’t overcomplicate, you don’t overthink it. You go out and play and do what you’ve been doing for 88 games or whatever it’s been this year. It’s obviously not just another game, but the mindset is. You just have to go out there and play your game and stick to your details and your habits and your system and ultimately that’s what wins you hockey games.” — Blues captain Brayden Schenn
Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor — Vladislav Namestnikov — Gabriel Vilardi
Nikolaj Ehlers — Adam Lowry — Cole Perfetti
Nino Niederreiter — Morgan Barron — Mason Appleton
Brandon Tanev — Dominic Toninato — Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey — Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg — Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley — Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: David Gustafsson, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller, Ville Heinola
Injured: Mark Scheifele (undisclosed), Rasmus Kupari (concussion)
Blues projected lineup
Pavel Buchnevich — Robert Thomas — Jimmy Snuggerud
Jake Neighbours — Brayden Schenn — Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph — Oskar Sundqvist — Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko — Radek Faksa — Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler — Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg — Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter — Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Scratched: Alexandre Texier, Nikita Alexandrov, Matthew Kessel
Injured: Dylan Holloway (lower body), Tyler Tucker (lower body)
Status report
Scheifele did not travel for Game 6 and will not play after the center was injured in the first period of a 5-3 win in Game 5 on Wednesday. … Ehlers is a game-time decision and could return after being out since April 12 because of a lower-body injury. … Toninato will play for the first time in the series. … Joseph could play for the first time since Game 1 and replace Texier, a forward.
NHL.com independent correspondent Lou Korac contributed to this report
