The St. Louis Blues were staggered in game five, losing to the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3. The series is now in the Jets' advantage, 3-2, returning to St. Louis for game six on Friday.
On the brink of elimination, the Blues have their backs against the wall. Luckily, they are playing in the building, which seemingly gives them superpowers. Home ice advantage seems to be the most valuable player for both teams.
Before we go into game six, let’s go over three takeaways from game five.
Blues could not build off games three and four
The story of the game was that the Blues could not build on their monstrous homestand in games three and four. They could not transition it to the Canada Life Centre and were handled 5-3. Looking at the stat sheet, there was only one area of the game that the Blues didn’t succeed at, and it ultimately cost them the game: the shot department.
One of the main reasons the Blues were able to demolish the Jets in their two series wins was because of constantly peppering Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. That pressure caused the dam to break, allowing a flood of goals and his subsequent removal from both contests. That was not the case in game five, as the Blues were held to only 19 shots on goal through 60 minutes. This included an atrocious second period, with only three shots on goal.
Stars were silent
The Blues stars were silent in this game. Nathan Walker and Jimmy Snuggerud were the goal scorers, with Walker getting a pair. Robert Thomas had an assist on the Snuggerud goal in the second period, but that was about it from the core players. Captain Brayden Schenn did not contribute much of anything worthy, as did red-hot Pavel Buchnevich. Defenseman Cam Fowler, who has shown that he is the best acquisition of the season, added another assist to his impressive performance in this series.
The “WTF” line were the Blues three stars of the game. Walker had the two goals, Radek Faksa had an assist, as well as Alexey Toropchenko. That third line shone brightly in this game and kept it as close as it was. Another third-period collapse ended this one.
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington also cooled off in this one. He faced 25 shots and allowed four goals, before being pulled with a minute and change left, giving the Jets the definitive fifth goal on an empty net. He held the Blues in there, but the Jets' star power of Kyle Connor and captain Adam Lowry showed up on the other side.
Home ice advantage cannot be beat
In this series, both teams are thriving off their home crowd. The vibes in the building correlate to the on-ice performance, and the road team cannot match it. That being said, the Blues are in deep trouble if this trend continues.
The next game, game six, will be at the Enterprise Center, but the potential game seven contest will be back in Winnipeg. If the Blues want to move on to the second round, they have to break this cycle.