Philip Broberg and Alexey Toropchenko each had a goal and an assist to help the St. Louis Blues stay alive in their Western Conference first-round series with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Jets in Game 6 on Friday night.
Game 7 is on Sunday evening in Winnipeg.
Nathan Walker, Brayden Schenn and Cam Fowler also scored and Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for the Blues, who scored four straight goals in a 5:23 span of the second period to pull away.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Fowler said of Game 7. “We understand the challenge we’re walking into in Winnipeg, but we’ve given ourselves a chance. That’s all we can ask for.”
Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck, the front-runner for the Vezina Trophy this season, did not finish his third straight game in St. Louis. He stopped just 18 of 23 shots before he was replaced at the start of the third period by Eric Comrie, who stopped all four shots he faced.
Cole Perfetti and Nino Niederreiter scored power-play goals for the Jets, who were outscored 17-5 in three losses at St. Louis in the series.
“It’s two really good teams going at it,” Perfetti said. “There’s not a lot of room for error and when there is a mistake, both ways, teams are making plays. It’s a great series. This is two really good teams going at it, and that’s why it’s going seven games.”
The Blues scored on their first shot of the game, a one-timer by Broberg from the high slot for a 1-0 lead at 6:05 of the first period.
After getting outshot 8-2 in the opening period, the Jets appeared to score 26 seconds into the second during a delayed penalty, but the Blues successfully challenged for offside.
St. Louis killed the penalty, but the Jets went back on a power play and Perfetti chipped in a loose puck in the crease 12 seconds into the man advantage to tie it 1-1 at 5:43.
Walker started the Blues’ scoring barrage off a feed from below the goal line by Broberg to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead at 11:34.
Schenn scored 53 seconds later with a wrist shot from just above the right circle.
Fowler notched his 10th point of the series when the defenseman scored on a wrist shot through traffic from above the circles for a 4-1 lead at 13:40.
“I’m happy to have this opportunity,” said Fowler, who was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 14 and already owns the franchise record for points by a defenseman in a playoff game. “It’s been a long time for me to experience this, so I’m happy to be contributing as best as I can helping this team win. Job’s not done. We have a crucial Game 7 we’ve got to get ready for.”
Toropchenko stretched it to 5-1 at 16:57 with a wrist shot from just above the right hashmarks.
Niederreiter scored a rebound on Winnipeg’s fourth power play to cut it to 5-2 at 8:54 of the third period.
Blues forward Robert Thomas was called for high sticking with four minutes left and the Jets pulled Comrie for a six-on-four, but they were turned away.
“We had a loss like that in Game 4 and we went home and got the job done in Game 5,” Perfetti said. “(On Saturday), the sun’s going to come up and it’s going to be a new day and we’re going to have to focus on Game 7. It’s a one-gamer. Winner moves on and we’ve got the home ice and we’ve got the fans behind us and our barn rocking.”
Winnipeg played without center Mark Scheifele, who was injured in the first period of Game 5. Scheifele was second on the Jets in goals (39) and points (87) during the regular season.
–Field Level Media
