ST. LOUIS — Statistics clearly favor the road teams in the first round of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it’s been borne out in the series pitting the Winnipeg Jets against the St. Louis Blues.
Each has won in their opponent’s arena, with the Blues staging the most improbable comeback from a 2-0 deficit, scoring three third period goals. The game-winning tally came off the stick of winger Jaden Schwartz, whose deft display of dexterity on a deflection with 15 seconds remaining gave St. Louis a 3-2 victory. The stunning outcome also gave the Blues a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6 tonight at Enterprise Center.
The Miracle in Manitoba, however, will be rendered meaningless if the Blues lose Game 6 at home.
Their best players have to be their best players. Everyone on the St. Louis bench who takes the ice has to give a concerted effort from the time the puck is first dropped to the game’s end to reverse the trend, helping to put an end to the Jets’ season.
The highly anticipated matchup in this best-of-seven series will favor the team that imposes their style of play on the other. The Blues defense must control play in the end of the rink, moving the puck quickly out of their zone to limit the scoring chances of Winnipeg’s top line in particular.
By doing so, the Blues’ defense can join the offensive attack. As a team, St. Louis has to outwork, outshoot, outhustle, outhit and simply outscore the Jets to move on to the next round.
Much easier said than done with Connor Hellebuyck minding the net for Winnipeg. But Blues’ netminder Jordan Binnington has been spectacular in goal, outplaying his counterpart by a wide margin, because these Jets are just that talented from their top line to their fourth.
The pressure is squarely on the Blues to take this one. If they can use their speed through the neutral zone to pressure the Jets, mounting endless attacks throughout the game and in the process, fire as many shots as they can on Hellebuyck, the odds for a series-ending win favor St. Louis.
The one thing that would undoubtedly give Winnipeg obvious momentum would be a third home-ice loss that would be deflating and depressing. The ‘Note need to go out on a high one tonight to avoid a Game 7.
Anything less than a win will make the Miracle in Manitoba totally meaningless. Talk about a blown opportunity!
