Take all your regular season records and toss them out the window, along with whatever momentum either team might have through the first six games. The St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets had to lay it on the line in a winner take all Game 7.
The crowd was electric, as expected, to start the game, but instead of weathering the storm, the Blues got right to it. Jordan Kyrou made it 1-0 just 70 seconds into the game with a backhanded tap in. Colton Parayko passed up a great look himself, so it was great that Kyrou finished it off or the Blues would have been in trouble.
St. Louis kept up the pressure and pretty much dominated the entire first period, sending the crowd into shock. It got deafly quiet at 7:16 when the Blues went up by two.
The normally rock-solid Kyle Connor fanned on a stickhandle in the neutral zone and turned it over to Mathieu Joseph. The former Penguin came into the zone and snapped a wrister from the top of the left circle and it snuck in under the blocker of Connor Hellebuyck, making him look shaky again.
The Blues held the two-goal lead into the intermission, but it looked much less confident of a lead in the first half of the second period. The Jets, after having just three shots in the first, had six shots in the first nine minutes of the second and several were dangerous.
Nikolaj Ehlers had a great chance that just glanced off the elbow of Jordan Binnington. The Jets just missed the net on a couple odd-man chances too, showing they were far from done.
The referees handed the Jets a goal about 12 minutes in. After letting both teams get away with some questionable hits, they called a weak slash on Oskar Sundqvist. Winnipeg then got an amazing deflection from Kyle Perfetti to make it 2-1.
The Blues settled down and forced several icings from the Jets. They nearly made it 3-1 when Cam Fowler drove to the goal line and had an open spot for a backhander. Unfortunately, the puck just slipped off the toe of the stick.
Just when the nerves started really building, the fourth line came up huge. Another puzzling Jets turnover in the neutral zone led to a three-on-two. The Blues found Radek Faksa on the left wing and he sent a bullet wrister over the glove shoulder to make it 3-1 going into the intermission.
St. Louis couldn't take advantage of a late second period penalty on the Jets, only mustering two shots with fresh ice in the third. Nevertheless, it was a controlled start to the third period.
Jordan Binnington made a quality stop while off balance, stopping Gabriel Vilardi from the left circle as the period was close to three minutes in. Winnipeg kept pushing and nearly had a goal six and a half in. Ehlers was denied by Binnington, who swatted the puck back out front and the Jets shot got knocked down by Jake Neighbours, preserving the two-goal lead.
Midway through the period, the Jets continued to just send pucks at the net and crash into Binnington. The Blues would push just enough, especially when the fourth line was out there, but they were doing a good amount of puck chasing too.
Binnington continued to be sharp. He made a shoulder save with about six minutes left and then a glove save on a left to right shot with about five minutes left.
The Jets pulled their goalie with 3:14 left and the time to sweat had begun with the Blues regular season struggles in these scenarios. The nerves got even higher with 1:55 to go as the Jets banked one in off a Blues player to make it 3-2.
Binnington made a huge save with 1:06 left. It was reviewed and was incredibly close, but it remained 3-2 for the moment.
It was right there for the Blues, but they couldn't get it done. After failing to clear the puck out, the Jets cycled it around and Kyle Connor deflected one in from the slot and tied it with 1.6 seconds to go.
Overtime favored the Jets early on. The Blues had to weather a storm, including a delay of game call on Brayden Schenn, but the game continued thanks to some shot blocks and saves by Binnington.
The Blues weren't playing poorly, but they were a little apprehensive. Robert Thomas had an open shot from the slot and tried a tough pass to the right wing instead and no shot was gained.
Binnington bailed everyone out by stopping Ehlers on a partial breakaway with a big glove save. Then the Blues transitioned and Philip Broberg had an open look and the blasted stick broke.
St. Louis was outshot 11-4 in overtime. Still, the game went to a second extra period.
The Blues just couldn't get enough offense going. They were simply worn out by the end of the game and a sustained Jets offensive shift led to an Adam Lowry goal just under four minutes from a third OT. The Jets won 4-3 in both the game and the series.
Pro: Binnington
We can argue back and forth about what happened with the team in front throughout the nearly 100 minutes, but the one thing that cannot be argued is that Jordan Binnington continued to show he's a playoff star. He deserved the win in this game, but it wasn't to be.
The Blues allowed 47 shots on goal. 43 saves in one game is a ton of work for the Blues netminder.
These weren't just random shots toward the net either. As the game went on, the Jets chances got more and more dangerous.
Con: 6 on 5
For all the positives this team has given us in 2024-25, the one thing that has been the most frustrating is their failures when the opposite team pulls the goalie. It's astounding how poorly they play when there's a net empty on the other end.
I honestly don't have a count at how many last minute goals the Blues gave up during the season, but we knew it could be costly in the playoffs. It proved to be just that against the Jets.
You have the game in hand. You've rattled the Vezina winner and then allow two goals when there's a 4x6 gaping hole at the other end of the ice.
Con: Buckling under pressure
The Blues have heart and they have talent. Unfortunately, they also had a penchant for buckling under the pressure, especially late in games.
I don't know if they attempted to hold the lead too much or what, but they allowed too much pressure and then struggled to turn it back on themselves. They only had four shots in the third and another four in overtime while they allowed 15 and 11 respectively.
By the time the second overtime began, the Jets had nearly twice as many hits and the Blues had almost 30 giveaways. When you don't have the puck as much as your opponent, those should have been hard numbers to come by, but St. Louis just didn't look the same in the third and first OT.
Overview:
Take nothing away from the Jets. They won the series.
When you boil it all down, to borrow a football term, Winnipeg just made more plays than the Blues. I truly do not believe they were the better team, but they had more in the tank when it mattered most.
We can sit back once everything has cooled off and realize that St. Louis wasn't even supposed to get this far. They weren't supposed to be a playoff team and they weren't supposed to even be a challenge for the best regular season team.
However, that doesn't sit well enough right now. It was right there on a silver platter for the Blues to take and they didn't have enough down the stretch.
Hellebuyck was bailed out. The Blues had his number and just couldn't get it done on the road.
The better goaltender did not win. St. Louis let him off the hook.
What really stings is that the Blues could have, perhaps should have, won any of the games in Winnipeg. The Jets simply wore them down in each and every game in Canada and you could literally see the energy being drained out.
If we focus only on this game, it honestly boils down to that icing against Pavel Buchnevich. I don't blame him for the loss, but that play cost them the game. If he finds Thomas breaking up the ice or simply lofts it to center, the Blues kill it off. Instead, the Jets come back down and score because the Blues lose their cool when most teams score empty net goals.
Eventually, this will pass and we will all be able to put it in proper perspective. In time we can say that an inexperienced team that had struggles all year found a way to take the Presidents Trophy winner to the brink and, frankly, should have found a way to go to the second round.
On the night the game was played, that's no consolation. You had a two-goal lead and just needed to keep your cool and you'd have pulled off the win. Instead, they choked, plain and simple.
We all love this franchise and like the players, but they choked down the stretch. It's a learning experience and hopefully they're better for it the next couple years, but this one stings.