ST. LOUIS — One.

The Winnipeg Jets have allowed a single, solitary goal at even strength through the first two games of the best-of-seven opening round matchup with the St. Louis Blues.

Three of the four goals scored by the Blues have come on the power play, with Oskar Sundqvist delivering the lone marker at five-on-five.

First and foremost, that’s a testament to the way the Jets have stuck to their defensive structure.

There’s no better example than the fact that the Jets have surrendered only seven shots on goal in the third period of both games combined.

FRED GREENSLADE / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Connor celebrates his goal against the St. Louis Blues with Mark Scheifele during third period Monday in Winnipeg. Of the Jets' five goals at five-on-five, Connor has two of them

“We pride ourselves on being a good defensive team, not giving up a lot of volume of opportunities and big scoring chances against,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey.

“There’s always going to be some every night, and we’re trying to clean that up, trying to not give up anything, but we’ve done a good job of limiting too many high-danger chances.

“And, obviously, committing to doing the tough things, blocking shots and tracking back and not giving up those type of situations. So, we’re going to have to continue to improve. There’s areas we can get better at that from the first two games, but it’s a commitment to playing hard D that we’ve tried to make a staple of ours all season.”

That commitment has been on full display in this series, with the Jets staying committed to the core values that helped them finish first overall in the NHL this season.

For the sake of comparison, the Jets have scored seven goals, with one of them coming on the man-advantage and one going into an empty net in Game 1.

FRED GREENSLADE / THE CANADIAN PRESS Winnipeg Jets Neal Pionk (left) defends as goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (right) makes a save on St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn (centre) during Game 2 at Canada Life Centre on Monday.

Of the Jets’ five goals at five-on-five, Kyle Connor has two of them, with Mark Scheifele, Alex Iafallo and Jaret Anderson-Dolan supplying the others.

Although the Jets’ second line of Vladislav Namestnikov, Cole Perfetti and Nino Niederreiter haven’t combined for a goal yet, they’ve been generating plenty of chances and Perfetti was on the ice to set up Connor for the game-winning goal in Game 2.

“He’s been great, he really has,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel.

“I think everybody has, both sides. You look at their side, too, they’re getting hit, we’re getting hit. But the big thing is, that everybody’s getting back up and going right back into the battle. These type of games, the hits are sometimes you can anticipate, it’s those battles in the corners and around the net front.

“For me, that’s where Cole, throughout the whole season, he’s done a really good job of getting himself into the piles and coming out with pucks. The game-winning goal the other night, he’s the one that pulled it out of the pile, sent it back to (Morrissey) and it kind of re-set itself back behind the net. That’s kind of him doing those little things that I ask of everybody else to do, too.”

The Blues have identified an area they believe can help them improve their offensive totals.

“And then besides that, we need to play faster, not only offensively, but defensively.”–Blues head coach Jim Montgomery

“We’ve got to get to their blue paint better. We’ve got to sustain more O-zone time. Those are two things that we definitely have to do better,” said Blues head coach Jim Montgomery.

“And then besides that, we need to play faster, not only offensively, but defensively.”

Montgomery wasn’t about to tip his hand when asked about the matchup game as the series shifts to Missouri.

But making life more difficult on Jets forwards Mark Scheifele (two goals, five points) and Kyle Connor (two game-winning goals, four points) is a priority.

“They’ve scored winning goals both nights. They’re making plays on us down low. So, yes, we have to be harder on them,” said Montgomery.

“I’m not a hard match guy, but it all depends on how well our team’s playing. If we’re playing, I kind of roll the lines. If not, then I match. But it is an advantage. You get home ice, you get the last change, you’re able to set your rotation again after whistles.”

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The Blues, who went with 11 forwards and seven defencemen in Game 2, may be considering a lineup change (re-inserting Mathieu Joseph or bringing in Alexandre Texier up front).

The Jets are expected to go with the same lineup, since Gabe Vilardi remained in a non-contact jersey during Wednesday’s skate before the Jets departed for St. Louis.

“Did you see the colour of his jersey? We will talk about it when it changes,” said Arniel.

Arniel said that defenceman Dylan DeMelo took a maintenance day, while forward Nikolaj Ehlers won’t be on the trip and hasn’t resumed skating yet after suffering a lower-body injury.

The standoff

After trying to get under the skin of Scheifele and trying to mess up his routine of being the last player off the ice after the pre-game warmup in Games 1 and 2, will Winnipegger and Blues backup goalie Joel Hofer change his tactics at Enterprise Center for Game 3?

Scheifele was asked if Hofer’s antics were irritating as he spoke with reporters on Wednesday.

“Not very, to be honest,” said Scheifele.

“I like to be off last, it’s not a thing that really comes into my brain. I know the league and the Zamboni guys and the guys that take care of the ice, it’s more about them to get the ice ready for the game. Obviously it’s something I’ve done for my whole career so I just kind of want to get off the ice for the Zamboni guys to get out there and do their job properly. I think it was more funny than anything.”

How did the routine start anyway?

“I don’t even know. Honestly, I don’t even have an answer for you,” said Scheifele.

“It’s just something I did. I did rock, paper, scissors with (Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin) a couple years ago. Honestly, some weird quirk about me, but all in good fun.”

The taxi squad

With the Manitoba Moose wrapping up exit meetings on Tuesday, the Jets will have seven players that join the team as extra skaters.

Those players are defencemen Dylan Coghlan, Elias Salomonsson and Isaak Phillips and forwards Brad Lambert, Parker Ford, Mason Shaw and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.

Lambert is working his way back from a sprained ankle, but is close to getting back on the ice.

“When we are away nobody is coming on the road trip, we have our extra bodies if we need them and we can fly somebody in, especially with the extra day in between,” said Arniel.

“But, they will be a part of (it), we will mix them in to some of the practices and use them as a scout team, at times, when we can use them as PP or penalty kill or maybe set up and look like the opposition and what they are doing. But we will have them, they are going to be a part of it. If we plan on making a long run here, it has already been important and it will continue to be important.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld

Ken Wiebe Reporter

Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.

Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.