The St. Louis Blues came into their first home playoff game in three years knowing they had to come out strong. Anything less and they might be staring down the barrel of an 0-3 series deficit.
The Blues and the fans got exactly what they wanted. St. Louis not only got off to a hot start but also got on the board.
Pavel Buchnevich scored less than a minute into the game. It initially looked like it was kicked in, but Buch kicked it towards the net and then swatted it out of midair to make it 1-0.
St. Louis kept buzzing for the next couple of shifts and nearly scored a couple of times. Although their power play got off to a slow, sloppy start, they would double the lead with the man advantage.
After a great cycle on the PP, Robert Thomas fired a hot pass into the slot. Buchnevich continued his hot start with a fantastic redirection that sailed over Connor Hellebuyck's glove and was 2-0.
The physicality and emotion were insane. The building barely held on at the seams, and the hits kept coming.
There was a scrum after almost every whistle for a good while. Even so, the Jets started chipping away at things, getting some quality shots through the traffic, but Jordan Binnington kept them off the board.
St. Louis would add another one in the final five minutes of the first. A fast transition push was ended by Cam Fowler, who started the play and then went coast to coast to accept the pass. Fowler roofed a wrister, which was 3-0 to the home team.
The second period opened up a little calmer, but more because of the long change as opposed to any less intensity. The offense was a little harder to come by as both teams only had one shot on goal near the midway point.
The Blues finally got some luck as well. Binnington made an unbelievable save on a Winnipeg power play, but the glove was right on the goal line. The replay seemed to show the puck might have been over the line, but with no way to see any white or the goal line, the referees correctly kept the call no goal.
The second period had far too many penalties, considering the first period was pretty lenient. Five penalties were handed out in total.
Although the Blues killed off the remaining penalty time to open up the third period, they couldn't keep the shutout. Even though the Blues had been solid defensively, they failed to track the late forward coming into the slot about five minutes in.
That left David Gustafsson wide open in the middle. His quick shot made it 3-1.
The lead was quickly restored to three. Fifty-two seconds later, Hellebuyck failed to see Thomas coming on the backside. The turnover went to Buchnevich, who backhanded it into an empty net for the hat trick.
Once it was 4-1, the Jets started looking to send a message. They had three guys in the box at one point with 12:39 to go.
The Blues took advantage of a two-man advantage. Just when it looked like they would be embarrassed and not even get in the zone, they found some open space and Jordan Kyrou snapped one glove side to make it 5-1 with the power play goal.
The Blues were not messing around in this one. A solid forecheck by the fourth line, coupled with slick passes, led to a deflection goal for Alexey Toropchenko and it was 6-1.
The Jets lured the Blues into retaliation and took advantage of the power play this time around. A big shot from out high went high on Binnington, and there was enough traffic to see it go through, making it 6-2 with about seven minutes left.
The Blues stood up for themselves, but they didn't really get suckered in. In the final four minutes, they drew a double minor and scored almost immediately.
Parayko unleashed almost a 100mph slap shot and made it 7-2. That would be the final.
Pro: Buchnevich
The Blues have needed Pavel Buchnevich to get going in the postseason. We can argue whether his tenure in St. Louis has been worth the money he's getting, but he has not shown up enough in the playoffs.
That changed, at least for one game. He was a man on a mission in this game.
Buch charged at the net, which led to the first goal. He took well-aimed shots, narrowly missing hat-trick opportunities in the first and second, and got to the hard areas of the ice, where he was for the second goal.
Buchnevich was also involved in many scrums, showing ability beyond scoring. Now, the Blues need him to sustain that kind of play and, hopefully, production.
Con: Penalties
I haven't been able to watch as many other games as in years past, but it feels like this series is being called tighter. We need look no further than Anthony Stolarz, the Leafs goalie, getting away with four penalties in one play before they finally called "interference" on him, but made up a call on the Ottawa player to even it out.
90% of the penalties in this game, and in the series, have been penalties, but they haven't been playoff penalties. They haven't been soft, but there's been plenty of stuff that could have been overlooked.
Similarly, the refs have made some stuff up. There was a hook on Thomas where he had one hand on his stick and barely grazed the glove of the Jets player. That's rarely a penalty even in the regular season.
Con: Start time
I understand many teams deal with this; it is what it is for the modern game. It's all dictated by national television. However, games ending near midnight when they don't go to overtime is silly, especially when both are in the same time zone.
What's irritating is that there are 20 different channels and streaming options to watch games, but the times are more screwed up now than they have ever been. Back in the day, they might have two games on at the same time or a 30-minute delay between one puck drop and another.
It wasn't forcing teams to play almost two hours after their normal start just for a TV slot.
Pro: Power play
The Blues' power play has been hot and cold all season, but it's been hot in the playoffs so far. The Jets gave them plenty of chances, but the Blues took advantage of enough.
Even without the power play goals, the Blues likely would have won, but it's good to slam the door shut. Three power-play goals on any night is pretty fantastic.
Overview:
This was about as good a game as you could ask for. Not only did the Blues get back into the series, but they also let the Jets know this will be a fight to the end.
If St. Louis had only snuck by with a squeaker, it would be different. Instead, they dominated the best regular season team and chased the likely Vezina winner from the net.
You get a hat trick from a guy you desperately needed to start scoring in the playoffs. You get five points and a new record for Blues defensemen from Cam Fowler.
Although the Blues did give the Jets four power plays, they were still relatively disciplined given how Winnipeg was goading them. Overall, the Blues just did everything right.
They defended well. They got the saves they needed, and one that probably should have gone in but didn't. St. Louis got a ton of goals, and they were all earned through hard work.
The power play came through and the PK did it's thing. This was a complete win.
As fans, we should celebrate it. Of course, we will play the whole Oh I hope they didn't use it all up before Sunday thing, but that will take care of itself on Sunday.
The Blues bounced back and showed they are to be reckoned with.