2019.R1.G3 Jets Playoff Flight Plan: Maurice Scrambles To Find Answers And First Win

5 years ago

If game two wasn’t a must-win, then game three certainly is.

There is a fine line the Jets need to walk tonight as they haven’t been grossly out-played in the first two games of the series, but they also haven’t won anything so changing up things would be ideal. Paul Maurice hinted at such tinkering after game two on Friday night, but as the Sunday morning skate played out, it didn’t seem like any changes would happen outside of Mathieu Perreault being back in the lineup for Par Lindholm.

Winnipeg Jets
@
St. Louis Blues

Round One \ Blues Lead Series 2-0 / Game Three
April 14, 2019 – Puck drop: 6:30 PM CST
Enterprise Center – St. Louis, MO
TV: CBC – Sportsnet – TVA Sports – CNBC (US)
Radio: TSN 1290

Last Time Between These Two Teams…

The Jets were more active in game two than they were in game one and found ways to get the puck past Jordan Binnington, but there is no way to sugar coat that the goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck let them down in this one as the Blues were gifted some softies, including a game winning fourth Blues goal in the third period to take a 2-0 stranglehold on the series.

Failed to load video.

Fun fact…

There have been a handful of times players on both sides of the puck have teamed up in international play. Josh Morrissey and Robby Fabbri of the Blues won a gold medal together playing for Canada at the 2015 World Junior Championship. Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey won a silver medal with St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko and forward Brayden Schenn all while playing for Canada at the 2017 World Championship.

What The Jets Need To Win Game Three…

Golatending is obviously key and while many fans are down on Hellebuyck right now, do not be surprised if he comes out with a fantastic game today as that’s been his M.O. over the last two seasons.
Weather the storm in the first ten minutes. St. Louis has always been an underrated hockey crowd and they can bring the noise as good as any other well thought of hockey market. St. Louis fans and players a like should be hype with a 2-0 lead and be anxious to put the Jets in a hole early in game three and the Jets can’t let that happen.

Winnipeg Jet To Watch…

#12 – Kevin Hayes (Right Wing)

One would hope that Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Jets did their homework at the trade deadline, but while Kevin Hayes is a solid regular season performer and did well in his 20 games at the end of the regular season with Winnipeg, his playoff history is spotty at best with just two goals in 36 career playoff games. His assist totals aren’t much better which is really why the Jets brought him to the team in the first place.

The Jets will need him to fins his offensive regular season game and bring it into the playoffs for the first time in his career if they have any hopes of coming back in this series.

**His scoring in a playoff Hayes**
			Scor	Scor	Scor			Shot	Shot	Shot	Ice
Season	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TSA	ATOI	FOW	FOL	FO%	BLK	HIT	TK	GV
2014-15	NYR	19	2	5	7	-3	2	25	8.0	44	14:13	45	71	38.8	2	19	9	12
2015-16	NYR	3	0	0	0	-1	4	3	0.0	7	10:49	1	3	25.0	2	6	2	0
2016-17	NYR	12	0	3	3	0	4	21	0.0	45	17:44	102	95	51.8	8	17	6	11
2018-19	WPG	2	0	0	0	-2	0	0		0	11:56	5	7	41.7	0	4	2	0
Career	4 yrs	36	2	8	10	-6	10	49	4.1	96	14:58	153	176	46.5	12	46	19	23

Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table

What The Blues Need To Win Game Three…

As mentioned before, emotions should be high both in the stands and with the team itself, the Blues can’t afford to get carried away however. Attack, but don’t be reckless. Play physical and get the Jets on their heels, but don’t go overboard.
Tighten up defensively. Binnington has been outstanding but the defense in front of him has allowed a lot more in front of the Blues net than they should be comfortable with. Keep the Jets shooters to the outside parts of the zone and watch Binnington shine.
Keep throwing pucks on net from all directions at every opportunity. Make Hellebuyck prove he can make every single routine stop.

St. Louis Blue To Watch…

#70 – Oskar Sundqvist (Center)

Oskar has had a breakout season with the Blues after splitting the first three seasons of his career between the AHL and NHL. He had 14 goals and 31 assists in 74 games played and even overcame a vicious dirty hit from Tom Wilson earlier in the season.

His first true action in the playoffs has seen him pick up an assist in game one and his two goals in game two were a huge reason the Blues are now up in the series. The Jets will continue to have their hands full with the 25 year old center who has done well centering the Blues second line.

Failed to load video.

What They’re Saying…

CBC News: This Manitoba couple has a good reason to cheer for the St. Louis Blues — their son

Donning a St. Louis Blues jersey in Winnipeg right now is likely to draw the ire of all around you. But Brandon, Man., couple Bob and Lois Edmundson have a pretty good excuse to do that. Their son is St. Louis defenceman Joel Edmundson.

ESPN.com: How Blues rookie Jordan Binnington refused to take a career defeat

So what kind of person is Jordan Binnington? He’s somehow both a study in humility and extreme self-assurance, a 25-year-old goalie that’s put together a masterful (if truncated) rookie campaign to lead the Blues from the Western Conference basement to a spot in the playoffs. A player who waited years for his number to be called, and is now doing everything he can to keep the crease, because he believes he should.

Player ratings courtesy Corsica.Hockey

Be sure to check out our Twitter feed for any late mid-day updates to the game lineups!
You can also get up to the minute lineup combos for the Jets
including power play and penalty kill lines by checking out our line combo page.

St. Louis Blues Lines

LW	C	RW	Forwards
BRAYDEN SCHENN Rating: 76.8#38 LW	RYAN O’REILLY Rating: 80.9#14 C	VLADIMIR TARASENKO Rating: 83.8#3 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 80.50#4 FL1
JADEN SCHWARTZ Rating: 77.3#23 LW	OSKAR SUNDQVIST Rating: 71.8#116 C	DAVID PERRON Rating: 75.7#33 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 74.91#16 FL2
PATRICK MAROON Rating: 73.3#58 LW	TYLER BOZAK Rating: 74.3#60 C	ROBERT THOMAS Rating: 72.6#66 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 73.37#10 FL3
ZACH SANFORD Rating: 72.4#73 LW	IVAN BARBASHEV Rating: 72.7#93 C	ALEX STEEN Rating: 74.3#45 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 73.12#3 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
VINCE DUNN Rating: 76.4#20 LD	ALEX PIETRANGELO Rating: 81.0#6 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 78.70#8 DL1
JAY BOUWMEESTER Rating: 72.2#75 LD	COLTON PARAYKO Rating: 77.7#19 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 74.94#12 DL2
JOEL EDMUNDSON Rating: 73.6#48 LD	ROBERT BORTUZZO Rating: 72.7#62 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 73.15#5 DL3

GOALIES
JORDAN BINNINGTON Rating: 72.3#36 G1	JAKE ALLEN Rating: 68.6#57 G2

Winnipeg Jets Lines

LW	C	RW	Forwards
KYLE CONNOR Rating: 76.9#26 LW	MARK SCHEIFELE Rating: 81.6#12 C	BLAKE WHEELER Rating: 78.7#15 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 79.05#10 FL1
NIKOLAJ EHLERS Rating: 76.2#32 LW	KEVIN HAYES Rating: 75.0#52 C	MATHIEU PERREAULT Rating: 73.8#48 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 75.03#15 FL2
ANDREW COPP Rating: 72.3#75 LW	BRYAN LITTLE Rating: 72.5#96 C	PATRIK LAINE Rating: 76.5#26 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 73.76#8 FL3
PAR LINDHOLM Rating: 68.9#130 LW	ADAM LOWRY Rating: 73.8#69 C	JACK ROSLOVIC Rating: 72.9#60 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 71.84#6 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
JOSH MORRISSEY Rating: 74.2#42 LD	JACOB TROUBA Rating: 77.3#21 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 75.76#16 DL1
BEN CHIAROT Rating: 71.2#95 LD	DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN Rating: 79.7#12 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 75.43#11 DL2
DMITRY KULIKOV Rating: 69.9#119 LD	TYLER MYERS Rating: 73.9#42 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 71.87#13 DL3