Jets hold off Blues in Game 2, extend lead in Western 1st Round

WINNIPEG -- Kyle Connor broke a tie 1:43 into the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets extended their lead in the Western Conference First Round with a 2-1 win against the St. Louis Blues in Game 2 at Canada Life Centre on Monday.

“We talked about our mentality going into tonight,” Connor said. “You saw, it was a tight-checking game, run around, not a ton of space and not a ton of odd-man rushes. They weren’t going to be beat that way, we weren’t going to be beat that way. Just came down to who wanted it more.”

Connor made it 2-1 with a one-timer in the slot after Cole Perfetti found him with a pass from behind the net.

“I think that play should be killed behind the net by us, and then we’ve got to be able to cover," St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. "I mean, we want to force the puck up high versus allowing 81 (Connor) to get a shot from the hash marks.”

In Game 1 on Saturday, Connor scored the go-ahead goal for the Jets with 1:36 remaining in a 5-3 win.

“[Connor] finds the right pockets of the ice, how to get open,” Perfetti said. “I just made a quick look and he was wide-open, and then he makes a great shot. So, it was a great play.”

Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist for the Jets, who won the Presidents’ Trophy as the team with the most points in the regular season. Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves.

“He kind of settled us into the game (early),” Connor said of Hellebuyck. “They did get a couple looks, and he’s been doing that all year. Even Game 1 on the breakaway, he just comes up with timely saves after timely saves. He’s one of the best in the world for it. Just like everybody, I think he elevated his game tonight.”

Jimmy Snuggerud scored his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal for the Blues, who are the second wild card from the West. Jordan Binnington made 20 saves.

"Hellebuyck made some saves tonight," St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn said. "We could just do a little bit better job of getting traffic and pucks and people to the net for some second opportunities.”

Game 3 will be in St. Louis on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, ESPN2, SN, TVAS, CBC, TVAS2).

“I think as a group, we're not happy to be down 2-0,” Montgomery said. “But the games are really close. There’s not much separation going on right now. We need to make a separation, we need to find another level when we go home so we can end up on top by a goal.

“We're going to go home, we're going to be in front of our frenzied crowd, and we're going to have an opportunity to hold serve at home. We’ve got to get to Game 3.”

Scheifele gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 16:32 of the first period. After driving to the net around Blues defenseman Nick Leddy, Scheifele lost the puck while trying to avoid Binnington’s poke check. However, the puck ended up deflecting into the net off the skate of Snuggerud as he delivered a hit on Scheifele.

“I feel like (I’m) just trying to backcheck him, play the body on him,” Snuggerud said. “Puck happens to hit skates and stuff and it just went in. It's an unfortunate bounce, but it happens. ... That's how hockey goes. I feel like it's that one play that can make the difference in the game, and it was unlucky for us that they got it.”

Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said: “That’s your best players playing at the top of their game. That’s what [Scheifele] has done. You can see that he’s taken on that challenge. He’s going head-to-head against their best player, whether it’s defending or whether he’s (on) offense with the puck. He has a strong skillset that we have seen in all 82 games, and now he’s taken it into this playoff series. When your best players are your best players, that certainly goes a long way towards helping you win hockey games.”

Snuggerud tied it 1-1 on the power play with two seconds remaining in the first period. Pavel Buchnevich sent a cross-ice pass to Snuggerud, who beat Hellebuyck blocker side with a wrist shot from the top edge of the left circle.

“It was a great play by 'Bucci' [Buchnevich],” Snuggerud said. “I tried to pick a corner and fortunately enough it went in, but at the end of the day, we lost and it's no fun losing.”

St. Louis, which started 3-for-4 on the power play in the series, had three other opportunities following Snuggerud's goal but was unable to score.

“That’s one of the biggest things in the playoffs are special teams, especially when 5-on-5 is always so close,” St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko said. “So many different opportunities can be created on the power play. If not a goal, then momentum. That’s huge in the playoffs. ... [The series] is super close. I think the special teams are going to be huge. Just could be the difference as well.”

NOTES: Connor is the fourth player in the past 20 years to score the game-winning goal in consecutive games to open the playoffs. He joined Chris Kreider (2023), Nathan MacKinnon (2021) and Nicklas Lidstrom (2007). … Snuggerud (20 years, 324 days) is the third Blues player in the past 15 years to score his first career playoff goal at the age of 20 or younger, joining Robert Thomas (19 years, 303 days) and Robby Fabbri (20 years, 90 days).