Kyle Connor scored his second consecutive goal winning the match, finding sweet ice behind the blanket of the blues like a 97-point scorer should not be able to do, giving the Winnipeg jets a 2-1 victory against the Blues of St. Louis to play a 2-0 series advance.
A closely disputed match 2 was punctuated by thunderous body checks – the crushing check for Logan Stanley on Jordan Kyrou in the group – as well as a Jimmy Snuggerud Power -Play Snipe and acrobatic backups of the two goalkeepers.
Connor’s goal was his second goal and his fourth point in a uniformly equal series. Although the blues do not get the upper hand on the battle of the special teams, the jets made the biggest games at key moments. Connor slipped behind Pavel Buchnevich to take over on the line of the Blues line for the second consecutive match, after a washer battle victory and a Cole Perfetti centering pass.
The killing of the jets abandoned the goal of Snuggerud with 1.8 seconds to play in the first period, but killed two penalties in the second period and another in the third, and only sold five shots in the third period. Connor Hellebuyck finished with 21 stops on 22 shots.
Consecutive goals for Connor
The winning goal of Connor match 1 was the product of a game of Winnipeg confrontation game, with the five jet skaters performing their roles to perfection. His goal of winning match 2 was a pure offensive instinct – an offensive power quietly sneaking in the soft ice before pulling the winning dagger in front of Jordan Binnington.
When Perfetti won a washer battle in the area to extend an offensive area change, Connor went to work in search of sweet ice that he often exploits. First of all, he offered support to the washer to Josh Morrissey High in the area. Then he curled up towards the slit completely without guard while the jets worked the washer around Scheife boards, then perfetti behind the goal line.
Perfetti’s pass was perfect; Connor’s finish was the same.
KC likes big goals in playoffs 😤 pic.twitter.com/zee3xqnehb
– Winnipeg jets (@nhljet) April 22, 2025
Snuggerud, neighborhood of neighbors
Blues coach Jim Montgomery made a change with his avant-garde combinations on Monday, turning Jimmy Snuggerud and Jake Voisins.
Snuggerud went on the upper line with Robert Thomas and Buchnevich, while the neighbors slipped into the second line with Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou.
Although the Blues scored three goals in match 1 against Hellebuyck, they only had 17 shots.
“Sometimes, as a coach, you have the impression that this, hopefully, will create a little more offense and give us better defensive positioning with our two main lines,” said Montgomery.
On Monday, they managed 22 shots on the net and Snuggerud scored his first NHL qualifiers on the power game very late in the first period.
Stanley made a big impression at both ends
“Sometimes a stick check is just as important as a great success at the right time,” said Logan Stanley before match 2. Then he did this:
It is the hockey of the playoffs 😤 pic.twitter.com/a65fmpr881
– Winnipeg jets (@nhljet) April 22, 2025
Stanley’s control was a thunderous moment, with Kyrou entirely occupied by the pressure of Adam Lowry. This is exactly what the staff of Winnipeg coaches hopes that Stanley will be able to bring great moments to the playoffs. Kyrou left the ice immediately afterwards, while Canada Life Center made its approval roar.
Stanley’s check almost erased the memory of him that fell after an Appleton Mason gift to give the blues one of their first year chances. He was too exuberant with his cross -checks on Snuggerud in the second period, calling himself his third after the drop in Snuggerud.
But Stanley’s heavy shot made a big impression on the match. He followed his check on Kyrou with another good blow on Thomas in the second period.
Tucker inserted for tenacity
After the Blues’ morning skate, it appeared that they would keep the same programming for match 2. But shortly before Puck-Drop, he became official that they inserted defender Tyler Tucker and taking the striker Mathieu Joseph, choosing to go with seven defenders and 11 attackers.
There were two potential reasons for this: Joseph was held on the bench in the third period for several games along the regular season, and the Blues wanted to add a certain tenacity to the alignment after match 1.
In the last minute of match 1, five players from each team had 10 -minute misconduct.
Tucker, who has played 38 regular season games this season, had 10 combat majors. He underwent a cross -checking penalty during the first period of match 2.
Winnipeg PK jets look, break, then come together just in time
Scott Arniel and Dean Chynoweth went to work during the 4 nations break in order to upgrade the penalty in difficulty of Winnipeg. The PK jets came out of the break with more assault and made a long section where they were the most difficult team in the league against which to generate a shot.
Then St. Louis scored out of three first four power games in the series, including the equalizer of the first Snuggerud period on Monday. When Scheifele and Stanley combined to give St. Louis for two seconds of power, the PK jets kept stable, obtaining blocks, clear and large backups from Hellebuyck.
Luke Schenn’s jamming penalty with the jets at the top of 2-1 and 11:59 am in the third period caused the most angry crowd to the match. This time, Winnipeg’s high pressure approach did not lead to Snuggerud or Thomas alone with time and space to burn. The home crowd has found additional decibels for the Clear of Dylan Demelo and Neal Pionk, while Schenn came out of the box just in time for a pass from Morrissey. Binnington made the safeguard, but the jets had accomplished their task.
No cap for Montgomery
With the start of the playoffs, Winnipeg’s “Whiteout” was back in Canada Life Center in 1-2 games.
Montgomery, who has a shaved head, joked Monday morning that he could have a scally ceiling for match 2.
“Our players were talking about (white) because white shone on my bald head when they were changing,” he said. “It blinded them and they couldn’t hear me. They were pleasing all the time. ”
Alas, there was no screen cap for the coach when he went on the bench for the match.
(Photo of Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor: James Carey Lauder / Images Images)
