The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets made it clear this week that they are judging their season by the quality of their playoffs. Their 5-3 win on home ice in Game 1 showed that they are more resilient than ever.
The way the Jets kept pushing in the third period, with Alex Iafallo tying the game on a rebound and Kyle Connor scoring the game-winning goal with 1:36 left in the game, an early review of Winnipeg’s playoffs shows the team is resilient when it counts.
Winnipeg took a game that was slipping away, and often controlled by Blues’ stars Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, and turned it into a 1-0 series lead. Iafallo’s goal tied the score with 10:42 left in the third period, and Winnipeg’s top line, with Iafallo in place of injured Gabriel Vilardi, kept pushing until Connor delivered the late game-winning goal.
Connor’s goal brought a raucous home crowd to its feet, and that’s where it remained as Adam Lowry scored the empty net goal that sealed the 5-3 win.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 14-of-17 shots in the win.
The Jets controlled the flow of play for large portions of the game but were burned early when Thomas and Kyrou each scored with the man advantage, and Oskar Sundqvist took advantage of a failed Morgan Barron clear and a puck that bounced awkwardly off of Luke Schenn.
The Jets have preached the benefits of “scar tissue” from last year’s playoffs and are meant to be a more resilient group this year. They’ve shown that to take a 1-0 lead against a hard-working, hard-checking Blues team in Game 1.
Iafallo steps up in the third period
Iafallo is one of Winnipeg’s best forecheckers, hardest backcheckers and most tenacious forwards. Coach Scott Arniel likes to refer to him as a Swiss Army knife for his ability to play any role that the coaches ask of him.
He was also a fourth-line player for most of the season.
Iafallo scored four goals and three assists in 11 games upon his sudden promotion when Gabriel Vilardi got hurt, but no play he made was as big as the goal he scored against St. Louis in Game 1.
With Mark Scheifele and Connor cycling on the outside, trying desperately to find a chance in the middle, Iafallo drove to the net and jumped on a Scheifele rebound, scoring the game-tying goal while off balance in the slot.
Hellebuyck bounces back after Blues’ third goal
Hellebuyck is facing down playoff demons this year after giving up 24 goals in five games to Colorado last year. The Jets’ two-time Vezina Trophy winner, who has been the best goaltender in the world again this season, gave up three goals on St. Louis’ first three quality chances of the game. Winnipeg needs to do much more to help him out, but Hellebuyck rose to the occasion all the same.
Game 1 could have gone differently. St. Louis’ first goal came as the Jets’ PK chased transition offence, failing to get the puck out, and leaving Thomas all alone in the circle. The chaotic bounce off Schenn that helped Sundqvist score the Blues’ second goal came after a failed Barron clear, while Kyrou’s power play goal took advantage of a Sundqvist screen. Hellebuyck did his part to keep the Jets in the game, stopping Kyrou’s breakaway fivehole attempt after Dylan Samberg misplayed a puck in the neutral zone, and stopped everything he faced in the third.
This could be the first step in Hellebuyck erasing demons from playoffs past.
Connor and Scheifele can deliver results against St. Louis’ star players
Scheifele got the Jets’ first goal on the power play, thanks to a fortunate bounce off of Ryan Suter. There were parts of the second period when Scheifele and Connor ran their two-man offensive game, relying on cutbacks, quick turns, and perimeter play to open up seams — and it almost paid off, with Binnington going post-to-post to make two tough saves off of Connor.