51黑料

WINNIPEG, Manitoba 鈥� The Blues came about as close as you can possibly come but couldn鈥檛 find a way to beat the Winnipeg Jets on the road, so they鈥檒l be at home for the rest of the season.

The Blues pushed the NHL鈥檚 best team in the regular season to the limit but lost to the Jets 4-3 in the second overtime Sunday night in Game 7 at Canada Life Centre on a goal by Adam Lowry on a tip at 16:10 of the fifth period, losing their best-of-seven series four games to three. It鈥檚 just the 11th time in NHL history the home team won every game in a postseason series.

The Blues led almost the whole game, with goals from Jordan Kyrou, Mathieu Joseph and Radek Faksa 鈥� the first goal of the series from the latter two 鈥� and it looked like they would win in regulation, but Winnipeg scored twice in the final two minutes of the third period, first on a puck that went in off Brayden Schenn with 1:56 go and then tying the game on a goal by Cole Perfetti with 2.2 seconds to go that left Binnington lying face down on the ice while the arena erupted around him. It was the latest game-tying goal in a Game 7 in NHL history.

Just getting this far was impressive for the Blues, who were supposed to be retooling their roster this season in preparation for better things to come, but the way it ended, just one clearance or an empty-net goal away from reaching the second round will sting. But the late-season 12-game win streak thrust the Blues back into playoff contention and almost took them into the final eight of the Stanley Cup tournament

Fourth line to the rescue

The Blues鈥� fourth line got another goal, this time by Faksa, to give the Blues a two-goal lead after two periods after the Jets had cut the lead to 2-1.

Nikolaj Ehlers let the puck get away and go straight to Nathan Walker, who fed Faksa on the opposite wing and he shot over a sliding Jets defender and beat Hellebuyck to score with 34.1 seconds to go in the period.

It was the sixth goal for the fourth line, which has scored in four of the past five games. Walker has three goals, Alexey Toropchenko has two goals and Faksa came into the game with no goals but four assists.

鈥淭o me, they鈥檙e the momentum line,鈥� Blues coach Jim Montgomery said before the game. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e the ones that are difference makers for us in the sense of they understand when they get us back into our identity and change the momentum of the game, tilt the ice back towards the offensive end.鈥�

It was a badly needed momentum boost for the Blues after Winnipeg had cut the lead to 2-1 on a power-play goal by Perfetti, who neatly tipped a ass from Kyle Connor over the shoulder of a helpless Binnington just seven seconds after Oskar Sundqvist had gone off for slashing. It was a busy period for Binnington, who faced 11 shots as Winnipeg generated more offense. The Jets almost scored 2 1/2 minutes into the period when Vladislav Namestnikov got a puck in front of the net and looked to have an open net to shoot at but lost control of the puck, scuttling the chance.

Quick start for Blues

The Blues have wanted quick starts to the game throughout the series, and they have done it mostly with hitting, but in Game 7, they got goals too.

Montgomery made one switch for Game 7 and didn鈥檛 make another, and both decisions paid off. He moved Kyrou from Schenn鈥檚 line to Robert Thomas鈥�, flipping spots with Jimmy Snuggerud. Kyrou, the team鈥檚 leading scorer in the regular season, had just two goals in the first six games, both on the power play, and no other points. Montgomery felt Kyrou was getting good scoring chances and it would be a matter of time before one went in. The other decision was in the rotating spot on the third line, which Alexandre Texier and Joseph have taken turns at in the series; Montgomery stuck with Joseph for Game 7.

Just 70 seconds in to the game, the Kyrou and Colton Parayko found themselves in an impromptu two-on-one in front of Hellebuyck. Parayko waited an awful long time before sliding the puck back to Kyrou. It hit Kyrou鈥檚 skate and started trickling toward the open net with Hellebuyck having moved out of position to confront Parayko. Whether the puck would have beaten Winnipeg鈥檚 defense won鈥檛 be known because Kyrou was able to reach out his stick with his left hand and give it an extra push to get in the net.

With 12:44 to go in the period, Joseph made it 2-0. He stole the puck near center ice with only the Jets鈥� top defender Josh Morrissey ahead of him. Morrissey gave Joseph too much room and his shot from between the circles may have been tipped and went past Hellebuyck, giving the Blues two goals on just four shots. That was also the last play of the game for Morrissey, who left the ice in pain and didn鈥檛 return.

The Blues controlled the puck throughout the half, and Winnipeg managed just seven shot attempts. Every time the Jets got the puck out of their zone, it was soon back in the possession of the Blues, The Blues, looking to get more pucks on Hellebuyck, who had been pulled from three games in the series, did that, with 16 shot attempts and seven on goal.

Winnipeg was once again without their top center, Mark Scheifele, who was racked by two hard hits by the Blues in Game 5.