WINNIPEG \u2014 The St. Louis Blues\u2019 season has been so surprising that it isn\u2019t hard to envision them winning Game 6 against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday and sending this Western Conference first-round series back north.<\/p>\n
Close your eyes and you can see Blues players skating out to tap goalie Jordan Binnington on the top of the mask, and a rambunctious sellout crowd of 18,096 saluting them for pushing the Presidents\u2019 Trophy team to the brink.<\/p>\n
They believe it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do,\u201d Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. \u201cI believe in our group. We\u2019ve done it here for two and a half months. There\u2019s no reason to believe that we\u2019re not going to be coming out full force and trying to force a Game 7.\u201d<\/p>\n
If they think it\u2019s possible, who are we \u2014 the ones who prematurely gave up on them even making the playoffs, the ones who lost hope once they fell 2-0 in the series \u2014 to say they can\u2019t?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s give the Blues the benefit of the doubt. But if that scene is going to take place at Enterprise Center on Friday, they\u2019ve got work to do after a 5-3 loss in Game 5 Wednesday that gave Winnipeg a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.<\/p>\n
The game started just like the first four with bodies flying everywhere on every shift. It quickly became clear whose night it was going to be, though.<\/p>\n
After losing star forward Mark Scheifele to a first-period injury, Winnipeg ramped up in the second period. The Jets outshot the Blues 14-3 that period, and though Jimmy Snuggerud tied the score 2-2, the home team took control for good.<\/p>\n
The Blues got two of their three goals from Nathan Walker on the fourth line, which also had five of the team\u2019s 19 shots. Outside of them and Binnington, who didn\u2019t have much of a chance on the Jets\u2019 non-empty-net goals, they looked nothing like a team trying to put itself in a clinching scenario Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were better than us,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to be more connected. I didn\u2019t think our puck support was good enough. I didn\u2019t think we got back quick enough. I didn\u2019t think we won our forecheck; we didn\u2019t establish it. It\u2019s every facet.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know what, it\u2019s a series, it\u2019s going to happen. We\u2019re not happy about it, but we\u2019re onto the next one. It\u2019s as simple as that. We\u2019ve got to forget about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The teams have had three two-day breaks in this series, but they will have a quick turnaround after traveling to St. Louis on Thursday. Game 6 is set for 7 p.m. (CT).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unknown at this point whether Winnipeg will have Scheifele, who was on the receiving end of a heavy hit by Blues captain Brayden Schenn less than seven minutes into the game.<\/p>\n
Schenn, who was assessed a two-minute minor for interference and two minutes for roughing, said afterward, \u201cI haven\u2019t seen the replay, but I don\u2019t believe I hit him in the head.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scheifele played three more shifts before being hit again by the Blues\u2019 Radek Faksa. After that hit, he took one more shift, then left and didn\u2019t return at the start of the second period.<\/p>\n
Which hit ended Scheifele\u2019s night depended on who you asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s make it clear: No. 55 (Scheifele) got hurt from the Faksa hit,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cHe played six minutes after the Schenn hit. He didn\u2019t come back after he got rocked by Faksa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel was told about Montgomery\u2019s comment and replied: \u201cI didn\u2019t know Monty got his medical degree, trying to say how our player got hurt. He\u2019s way off base.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whoever delivered the blow in question, or whether or not Scheifele plays in Game 6, will have little bearing on whether the Blues can send the series back to Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve got a lot of cleaning up to do, and there\u2019s a checklist of other items.<\/p>\n
When the Blues are connected, breaking the puck out of their zone and forechecking, they can play with anybody in the NHL playoffs. When they\u2019re not, they look like a team still in a retool.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo spread out,\u201d forward Oskar Sundqvist said.<\/p>\n
In the second period, the Jets directed 33 shots on net to the Blues\u2019 seven.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were kind of beating us to both goal lines, so we spent a lot of time in our end and not as much in theirs,\u201d defenseman Justin Faulk said.<\/p>\n
So what changed after the Blues were so dominant in Games 3 and 4, outscoring the Jets 12-3?<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, there are adjustments always, right?\u201d Schenn said. \u201cI just don\u2019t think we liked our game tonight. We weren\u2019t good enough tonight to turn the tide. We got some key goals at key times and just weren\u2019t able to grab momentum after that. Obviously, it\u2019s a little bit deflating.\u201d<\/p>\n
After chasing Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck out of back-to-back games in St. Louis, their plan in Game 5 had to be to pepper the Vezina Trophy finalist. They did do that Wednesday, with Walker scoring on a deflection of a shot by Colton Parayko and Snuggerud putting an innocent shot past the netminder.<\/p>\n
But they didn\u2019t do it nearly enough against someone trying to regain their confidence in this series.<\/p>\n
In the Blues\u2019 two wins in this series, they have 26 shots. In their three losses, they have 19.3 attempts.<\/p>\n
\u201cShots, traffic,\u201d Schenn said. \u201cWe made it too easy on him tonight and we know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s tough to say after the offensive outburst in St. Louis, but the Blues need more production from their top three forward lines. After five games, three of their top-six scorers are defensemen: Cam Fowler (9 points), Parayko (4) and Faulk (3).<\/p>\n
Pavel Buchnevich had a hat trick in Game 3 and has seven points in the series. Robert Thomas has two goals and seven points. Jake Neighbours has a goal and five points. But Jordan Kyrou has just two points and is a team-worst minus-5 in the series. Zack Bolduc has no goals and one assist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe (fourth line) is a good example of what we need to do,\u201d Montgomery said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Winnipeg broke through with some secondary scoring Wednesday. Vladislav Namestnikov, who replaced the injured Scheifele on the top line, netted his first goal of the series, giving the Jets a 4-2 lead late in the second period. Earlier, Nino Niederreiter had his first of the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had to move some guys up the lineup, shuffle the lines a bit, and a couple of them scored some goals,\u201d Faulk said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to do a little bit better job at our net and not let them get in tight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which brings us to the last issue: the third defensive pair.<\/p>\n