Playoff Gm5 Recap: Blues @ Jets
With the opening round of the playoffs whittled down to a best of three after the Winnipeg Jets & St. Louis Blues split the first four contests, the action returned to the noisy Canada Life Centre for the all-important Game 5.
The True Northers got a boost with the return of their leading powerplay goal scorer, Gabriel Vilardi….would that be enough to propel the hometown club to victory?? Read on to find out…
GAME RECAP
After St. Louis spent the first shift of the game on the forecheck in Winnipeg’s zone, it was the Jets who got an early scoring chance on the second shift. After a long cycle that saw Mason Appleton jump on from a line change, the winger was possibly high-sticked as he fought for the puck behind the Blues’ net. Apples went down to the ice looking for a call, but got up as the puck came back to him, kicking it quickly to Mark Scheifele below the goal line on the other side of the net. Immediately, the Jets’ top pivot knew exactly where sniper Kyle Connor would be sitting, feeding him a quick pass to the low slot for the game’s opening goal. WPG 1-0. However, just 2 minutes later a failed zone exit by Winnipeg allowed St. Louis to get a quick cycle that ended with a point shot that was deflected right in front of Connor Hellebuyck to knot the game. TIE 1-1. The True Northers had a chance to retake the lead on a powerplay (cheap shot hit on Scheifele), but while they did create a couple looks (and gave up a SH 2 on 1 that ended with a huge stop by Bucky), it was the post-man advantage time that ended up paying dividends. After a rush by the Jets was turned aside by the Blues’ Jordan Binnington, a short cycle in the offensive zone saw the puck work its way back to Dylan Samberg at the point. The American defenseman saw the traffic in front, with big Nino Niederreiter providing a perfect screen, so he let a waist high wrister go towards the net, ultimately giving El Nino the chance to deflect the puck into the net for his 1st goal of the playoffs. WPG 2-1. Shortly after the refs sent St. Louis to the powerplay by penalizing more Winnipeg players during a post-whistle scrum, but the penalty killers did a good job by not allowing a shot on their net. The Blues really picked up their forecheck in the final 5 minutes, allowing a bunch of cycle shifts in the Jets’ zone and one huge opportunity for defender Colton Parayko from the right face-off circle, but Hellebuyck was there with a quick blocker save.
Winnipeg was dealt a big blow when Scheifele did not return to the game, so Vladislav Namestnikov got a promotion to the top line and Adam Lowry filled in on the 2nd. The Jets did get another man-advantage opportunity early in the middle frame, but good defense & a block kept the home team from threatening Binnington too much. After the franchises traded low grade scoring chances, a sloppy turnover in the offensive zone allowed St. Louis to break out on an odd man rush. The Winnipeg defenders did well to keep the attackers to the outside, but a low wrist shot from Jimmy Snuggerud caught Bucky off the post and it slipped into the net to knot up the match. TIE 2-2. With 14 minutes left in the period, the Jets responded well by controlling the puck for most of the next 6 or 7 shifts. Eventually one of those cycles paid off for the top line when a Dylan DeMelo point shot was stopped by Binnington’s blocker…only to bounce off Parayko’s backside and into the net. WPG 3-2. The True Northers almost extended their lead when young Cole Perfetti had not one, but two quality looks on net. Then it was the Blues time to push for offense, making Bucky stop a blast from the right face-off dot and a point shot through the bodies in front. As the 2nd neared a close, most of the Jets’ top forward unit rushed up the ice with Connor carrying the puck through the middle of the ice only to pass off to Appleton on the right wing as they entered the offensive zone. Apples didn’t keep the puck long, quickly returning it to Connor in the slot, allowing the sniper to send a no-look backhand pass to a driving Namestnikov for a 1 timer that beat the sliding across tender. WPG 4-2.
The 3rd period saw St. Louis take control of momentum as Winnipeg opted to line 4 players up in the neutral zone to make zone entries as difficult as possible. Unfortunately, that didn’t help once the Blues were able to get set up in the Jets zone. As a result, a bunch of cycles by the visitors saw them try to find a hole in the True North defense and being unsuccessful, went back to trying the tried & true point shots with traffic in front. Jets defenders and Bucky did a good job stopping these attempts (great block by Luke Schenn after a Samberg turnover) and had a few looks to stretch their lead further on counter attacks (Vladdy undresses the goalie, but can’t tuck the puck into the wide open net & Gabriel Vilardi coming close on a wrap around attempt). Winnipeg continued to sit back for the most part though, allowing St. Louis to close the gap on the shot counter with more O-zone time. A great block by Alex Iafallo on a hard point shot allowed a Jets counter attack and Winnipeg’s captain rang the post on a wrap around attempt. With 4 minutes to play, the Blues pulled their goalie for the extra attacker but before they can really threaten the Jets’ defense, the home town club was able to clear the zone and pretty much seal the game with an empty netter. WPG 5-2. A late rebound goal for St. Louis was unfortunate, WPG 5-3, but the White Out crowd at the CLC was elated none-the-less.
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FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 5 ST. LOUIS BLUES 3
FINAL STATS
Shots: 26-19 WPG / Hits: 44-37 WPG / Face-Offs: 56.0% STL / x Goals: 4.02 WPG – 2.82 WPG /
MoneyPuck’s Deserve to Win: 67% WPG / High-Medium Danger Scoring Chances: 12 to 11 WPG
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SCORING SUMMARY from ESPN
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SHOT CHART from MoneyPuck
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ADVANCED SKATER STATS from MoneyPuck
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GOALIE STATS from ESPN & MoneyPuck
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If you would like to dive deeper into the game’s stats, follow the links below to the game pages:
MoneyPuck: St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets – Wednesday April 30 2025 – MoneyPuck.com
NaturalStatTrick: St Louis Blues @ Winnipeg Jets, 2025-04-30
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BOJA’s Observations:
After pocketing 41 goals in the regular season, Winnipeg’s star winger has continued to light lamps in the playoffs. Kyle Connor got his 4th of the post-season to open the scoring, then added a pair of assists on the game winning goal & the insurance marker.
With a nickname like Apples, you would think Mason Appleton would have more 3 assist games but that really isn’t the case. Big night for a guy who consistently gets a lot of slack from the fanbase. Nice kick pass on the first goal and he played a part in the tic-tac-toe insurance goal.
What to say about Connor Hellebuyck? A .842 save % isn’t very good, while a -0.12 Goals Saved Above Expected is only slightly better. That being said, Bucky made some big timely stops in the contest and looked a lot calmer in the crease on Wednesday. Hopefully he can carry whatever confidence he did gain over to Game 6. Will definitely want that Snuggerud goal back though.
Two point nights for a couple depth players, as Nino Niederreiter & Vladislav Namestnikov finally had an impact on the scoresheet with a goal & an assist each.
Finally, NHL officiating is horrible. That hit on Scheifele from Brayden Schenn was predatory when you consider he left his feet to deliver a hit on a player that was no where near the puck. Scott Arniel was right to lose it on the refs, considering they have the option to review those type of infractions to get the call right. I have very little faith in the NHL’s DoPS correcting the situation by suspending Schenn, but if Scheifele’s hit on Jake Evans got 4 playoff games there is no way Schenn should escape without 1. Don’t hold your breath though.
Time for big brother Luke Schenn to send a message to his family member….or one of the Blues’ other stars. The Jets could probably live without Logan Stanley for the rest of the playoffs, so maybe send him on a mission in Game 6?? Sad that it comes to me thinking of ways to get retribution outside the rules because I have so little faith in the league doing the right thing.
With the win on Wednesday night, the Winnipeg Jets now hold a 3-2 series lead on the St. Louis Blues as the home teams continue to come out on top. According to our pals at MoneyPuck, that victory gives the True Northers a 80.7% chance of making the 2nd round as the series switches back to Missouri for Game 6.
Unlucky head coach Scott Arniel just got one top sixer back from injury (Vilardi), but now might have to deal with top line centerman Scheifele after he received multiple questionable hits last night. At least Nikolaj Ehlers is back skating, though it doesn’t sound like he will shed the non-contact jersey in time for the next contest. We will go to bed (very late, in my case) with the hope that we receive positive news about #55 tomorrow. Can the Jets be the first team in the series to win one on the road or is a Game 7 unavoidable? Guess we will find out….
UP NEXT: Winnipeg Jets @ St. Louis Blues – Friday, May 2nd @ 7 pm Central...
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