It seems that a little home cooking was what the Winnipeg Jets needed to get back on track.
After getting demolished in two games in St. Louis, the Jets regained control of their battle with the Blues thanks to a 5-3 win at Canada Life Centre Wednesday night, taking a 3-2 series lead.
The Jets got exactly the start they needed, opening the scoring just 1:23 into the game.
The play started when a forechecking Mason Appleton was clipped by a high-stick in the St. Louis zone but no call was made. As he got to his knees behind the net, he kicked a loose puck to Mark Scheifele who then fed Kyle Connor in front for a wrister that beat Jordan Binnington high over the glove.
But it didn’t take the Blues long to respond. Just 2:19 after Connor scored, Nathan Walker finished off a long St. Louis shift in the Jets’ end by tipping a Colton Parayko point shot through Connor Hellebuyck.
The intensity was ratcheted up a few notches when Brayden Schenn ran over Scheifele in the Winnipeg end, resulting in a Jets power play.
A minute into that man advantage, Gabriel Vilardi, playing in his first game since Mar. 23, was called for interference in the neutral zone but Oskar Sundqvist also went to the box for embellishment.
In the end, the Jets did not cash in, but not long after the Blues returned to even strength, Winnipeg regained the lead when Nino Niederreiter tipped a Dylan Samberg point shot past Binnington at the 8:39 mark.
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There was some more rough stuff at the midway point after the Blues took exception to the Jets banging away at a puck that Binnington had covered in the crease. St. Louis would wind up with a power play after the dust settled but Winnipeg killed it off.
The Jets got to the end of the period with the 2-1 lead intact, the first time all series they had led after 20 minutes, but had to play the rest of the game without Schiefele, who got hurt late in the period.
Winnipeg got their second power play look of the night early in the second when Justin Faulk was called for slashing but they couldn’t cash in, their 12th failed power play in 14 tries in the series.
To make matters worse, the Blues leveled the score at the 6:06 mark when Jimmy Snuggerud beat Hellebuyck with a low wrister in transition that Hellebuyck likely should have stopped.
Winnipeg got just the break they needed at the 11:05 mark of the period. Dylan DeMelo’s shot from the point appeared to be heading wide before it hit the butt of Parayko and trickled into the net, reminiscent of a Blues goal in Game 4 that banked in off the backside of Neal Pionk.
The Jets got a huge insurance goal with just over a minute to go in the second. Appleton took a pass from Pionk and skated over the St. Louis blue line before sending a pass to Connor streaking into the zone. He then sent it over to Vlad Namestnikov, on the top line because of the injury to Scheifele, and while he didn’t get everything on his shot it fooled Binnington and gave the Jets a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Winnipeg also had a 22-9 edge in shots on goal through two periods.
The Jets went into lockdown mode in the third, sitting on their lead and doing everything they could to ensure they got to the finish line.
With 4:06 remaining and the score still 4-2, the Blues pulled Binnington and less than a minute later, just like he did in Game 1, Adam Lowry scored into the empty net to seal the win.
Walker would add his second of the night with 51.4 seconds left but it wouldn’t be enough as the Jets improved to 3-0 on home ice this postseason.
Hellebuyck stopped 16 shots in the win while Binnington made 21 saves in defeat.
The Jets will try to end the series Friday night in St. Louis. The action begins just after 7 p.m. with pregame coverage on 680 CJOB starting at 5 p.m.
