CONNOR AND SCHEIFELE BRILLIANT AS JETS WIN GAME 1
It was money in the bank.
With a minute and 36 seconds remaining in regulation time and the game tied 3-3, Mark Scheifele found Kyle Connor alone in his spot. You know the spot. Right around the circle to the opposing goaltender’s left.
When the puck hit Connor’s stick it was in the net in a blink. No, not even a blink. The replay camera couldn’t find a focus on the puck until it hit the net and came whipping back out almost as fast as it went in.
It was a KFC goal. A classic. And one that will be remembered by a boatload of white-clad crazies who suffered through a few nervous moments in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinal series on Saturday night. In the end, the crazies went home happy as their heroes, the President’s Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets disposed of the visiting St. Louis Blues 5-3.
For the opening night of the Stanley Cup playoffs, this show was a mixed bag. Some of it was good, some of it was bad, but it did have a happy ending.
“You just have to stick with it, stay positive and keep doing the right things to get your chances,” said Connor. “On those plays, those cross-ice plays, I’m just trying to get the shot off as quick as possible. It was obviously a great play by Scheif and I just tried to get it off quick.”
It certainly wasn’t pretty. In the end there were sticks, gloves and bodies all over the ice as the Blues decided that a good fight might soften up a heavily-favoured Jets team in Game 2 on Monday. And the Blues play in Game 1 can’t be underestimated. St. Louis forced the Jets to grit out a win and don’t forget, St. Louis finished the 2024-25 season 20 points behind Winnipeg, but they arrived at Canada Life Centre ready to play smash-mouth hockey.
To their credit, the shorthanded Jets were ready for the assault. Playing without two of their best – Gabriel Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers – the Jets ground it out, stayed patient and then, after trailing 3-2 through the first 40 minutes, let the big line carry the load in the third period while everybody else played absolute shut down defence.
Make no mistake, every player in a Jets uniform pitched in – so did the fans inside and outside the arena.
The Jets didn’t allow a Blues goal for the final 38 minutes and 47 seconds of the game. In fact, they allowed only six shots in the last 38 minutes and 47 seconds of the game.
Saturday night in downtown Winnipeg, there was another full house, this time it was covered in the undyed lucent pellucidity of a Winnipeg White Out and these fanatics screamed, cajoled and prayed that their Jets would get back into a game they should have controlled from the opening face-off.
The Jets led 2-1 midway through the first, but allowed the visiting Blues to tie it before the end of the period and then take the lead in the second. Two of the three Blues’ goals were scored on the power play and all three were shots that went over the glove of Connor Hellebuyck and just under the bar.
Ahead 3-2 after 40 minutes, the Blues played strong defensively to start the third, but then, in the wink of an eye, everything changed. At the 9:18 mark, Scheifele found Alex Iafallo alone to the left side of Blues’ goalie Jordan Binnington and fed him a perfect pass (while under duress). Iafallo proceeded to sneak the puck through the five hole and suddenly it was all tied up.
Then, the Jets won a faceoff in the Blues zone, the puck went to Morrissey who fed Scheifele who whipped a pass to Connor who one-timed it past a startled, out-of-position Binnington.
Not surprisingly, the Whiteclads went bonkers.
Adam Lowry added an empty netter, Iafallo kicked the crap out of two Blues and Hellebuyck made a couple of game-saving stops in the third, and the Jets escaped with a 5-3 victory.
Winnipeg outshot St. Louis 26-17, but the Blues dominated every other statistic. The Jets are not the same team without Ehlers and Vilardi – oh they could play without one of them and still be the President’s Trophy-winning Jets, but not without both – and yet they were still better than the Blues because (a) the big line with Iafallo and not Vilardi, was terrific, (b) Hellebuyck made the big saves when he had to and (c) the Jets second, third and fourth lines did what they needed to do. They shut down the Blues with authority.
Scheifele finished with a goal and two assists, Connor had the winning goal and two assists, Morrissey had two assists and the virtually unknown Jared Anderson-Dolan got credit for the Jets second goal.
Scheifele notched his third three-point game in the playoffs and surpassed Blake Wheeler to become the Jets franchise leader in career playoff points. He now has 41.
“It’s obviously really cool,” Scheifele said. “To do it in front of the fans tonight was pretty special. It was a fun game to be a part of. I had a fun time.”
It might not have been a Rembrandt, but it was a win in a difficult situation and everyone contributed.
“I like that we didn’t start cheating the game,” said captain Adam Lowry afterward. “The structure was there. Once we settled into the game, we didn’t give them a lot of chances and didn’t give them a whole lot and I think that’s a good blueprint for success right there.”
Indeed. Game 2 goes Monday at 6:30 at Canada Life Centre. With their “blueprint” and the Whiteclads behind them, Scheifele and Co. should have another fun night.
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