Blues' biggest strength has become a weakness in back-to-back playoff losses to Jets

New York Times

22-04-2025

WINNIPEG — In the final two months of the regular season, St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery would sit down behind a microphone to discuss the superlatives that came with a dramatic run, and almost every time, it included how impressed he was with the third period.
By now, Blues fans have memorized the team's record since the 4 Nations Face-Off: 19-4-3.
But dig deeper and you'll find that within those 26 games, the Blues were almost unstoppable when they were leading, or even tied, heading into the third period.
That's right, a record of 18-1 in games they either led or were tied in heading into the third.
The one defeat came on April 7, a 3-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, in which the teams were tied 1-1 heading into the third period. The Jets got a goal from Alex Iafallo midway through the period and an empty-netter from Adam Lowry.
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Well, guess what? There's a theme here: Winnipeg.
For the second time in three nights, the Blues found themselves in a familiar position. They were tied 1-1 heading into the third period in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series, and just 1:43 into the final frame, the Jets' Kyle Connor scored the go-ahead goal for what became his second game winner of the series in a 2-1 triumph over the Blues.
In Game 1 Saturday, the Blues were leading 3-2 heading into the third period. The Jets got three unanswered goals, including the decisive game winner from Connor, in a 5-3 victory.
'Winnipeg has made one more play than us. Both games,' Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. 'Shots are dead even, so they're just making one more play, and their best players are making them.'
As a result, Winnipeg leads 2-0 in the best-of-seven series, which heads to St. Louis for Game 3 on Thursday.
With both games essentially being decided by one goal — the Jets added an empty-netter in Game 1 — one could make the case that the Blues deserved a little better fate in Winnipeg. The shots were 22-22 in Game 2, and the Jets have just a 49-39 edge in the series. However, they've outshot the Blues 16-7 and outscored them 4-0 in the third period.
'It's close,' Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. 'We had some chances, and they were able to capitalize on their chances in the third period so far. They did their job at home, and now it's our turn to go to the Enterprise, where we've had success, in front of our fans, and do our job.'
It's no fluke that Winnipeg has been the only team to do this to the Blues three times in their last 28 games. The Jets won the Presidents' Trophy for a reason. But while they should get the credit for what they're doing — more specifically, what their top line is doing — the Blues are making some poor plays in their defensive zone to allow these game-deciding goals.
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In Game 2 on Monday, the Blues tied the score 1-1 on Jimmy Snuggerud's first NHL playoff goal, which came on the power play with two seconds left in the first period. Neither team scored in the second period, setting up a third-period showdown.
But less than two minutes in, Connor found himself wide open again and beat Blues goalie Jordan Binnington after multiple misplays, according to Montgomery.
'I thought we had good puck pressure on the play up top,' Montgomery said. 'I think that play should be killed behind the net by us, and then we got to be able to cover. We want to force the puck up high versus allowing 81 to get a shot from the hashmarks.'
Blues defenseman Colton Parayko and forward Robert Thomas had a chance to kill the play, but Winnipeg's Cole Perfetti came out with the puck and sent it back up to the point. The Jets then moved it D to D before putting it back down below the goal line again, where Cam Fowler had another opportunity to extinguish the play.
Instead, Mark Scheifele got the puck to Perfetti, who slipped it past Parayko and teammate Pavel Buchnevich to Connor for the easy shot from the slot. Thomas was nearby, looking on, but couldn't get to Scheifele behind the net, or Connor in front of the net.
In trying to explain the scoring sequence, Parayko said, 'Just trying to hold and then a quick play behind the net, a quick strike out front and then, yeah, bang-bang.'
Bang-bang, that's what it's felt like against Winnipeg's No. 1 line in this series. In the two games, Connor and Scheifele have a combined four goals and nine points, and seven of those points have come at five-on-five.
For the Blues in the series, Thomas' line includes him at minus-4, Pavel Buchnevich minus-3, and Jimmy Snuggerud and Jake Neighbours, who've split time on that unit with Thomas and Buchnevich, both minus-2. The top defensive pair of Parayko and Fowler is also minus-4.
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'They just play well together,' Parayko said of Connor and Scheifele. 'They're dangerous from all areas, and they can score from all over the offensive zone. They've played together all year and know where each other are. They're just dangerous players whenever they get the puck.'
'They're just poised,' Snuggerud said. 'That's kind of how the NHL's turned to, like the corner plays. I feel like Connor does it really well. He's very poised in the corners. So you have to have your stick in seams throughout the whole game whenever they're on the ice. They're good at what they do, so it's it's tough, but you got to do it.'
It also doesn't help that both Thomas and Parayko may not be at 100 percent. Thomas left the Blues' regular-season finale with a lower-body injury and missed a practice before the playoff series began. He's played both games in the series, including 23:13 in Game 2, but he was seen walking gingerly in the locker room after the game.
Parayko missed close to six weeks with a knee scope, and while he returned for the final two games of the regular season, he doesn't appear to be himself either.
So, what can the Blues do moving forward in the series against Winnipeg? For starters, look for a different matchup against the Jets' top line, which Montgomery will have control over as the home team.
'Well, we're going to have the last line change now,' Montgomery said.
'We have the matchup and whatever Monty wants,' Schenn said. 'We know they're good players. They've had good seasons. Just keep being hard on them, in your face, and try and make them play in their own end. So far, they've capitalized on their chances, and now it's our job to go home and worry about our job.'
Offensively, the Blues haven't been nearly aggressive enough in front of Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck. They had just three high-danger chances in Game 2 on Monday compared to 12 by the Jets, according to Natural Stat Trick. In Game 1, it was 8-4 in favor of the Jets.
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'I do think they've been harder at the net front than we have offensively, and that's net hunger,' Montgomery said. 'Our net hunger needs to increase.'
The Blues had just one rebound attempt at five-on-five Monday, according to Natural Stat Trick.
'Yeah, get inside a little bit more,' Schenn said. 'Do a little bit better job of getting traffic, and pucks and people to the net for some second opportunities.'
And regardless of how close the games have been thus far, the Blues won't get back in the series without better third periods.
'Third periods, for sure,' Snuggerud said. 'They had two good third periods the last (two) nights, so I feel like we have to have a stronger third period, and we're working on it.'
They've got two days to work on it before Game 3.
'As a group, we're not happy to be down 2-0, but the games are really close,' Montgomery said. 'There's not much separation going on right now. We need to make a separation, we need to find another level when we go home, so we can end up on top by a goal.'
(Top photo of Kyle Connor scoring his second game winner of the series: Cameron Bartlett / Getty Images)