WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Blues have been dominating on several occasions this season, particularly in getting off to a 5-0- 0 start.
Whatever the opposite of dominating is, that’s what they were Tuesday at Canada Life Centre. On the strength of Jordan Binnington’s dogged goaltending, they came home from Canada with two points with a 3-2 shootout victory. Go figure.
They finished a nine-day road trip that began with three games in California with a record of 2-1-1 and improved their overall record to 8-2-1. Ryan O’Reilly scored the only goal for either team in four rounds of shootout play. Including his four shootout stops, Binnington stopped 43 of 45 shots sent his way by Winnipeg.
The Blues were outshot 8-0 in their only other OT game this season, a shootout loss. They outshot Winnipeg 9-1 in OT Tuesday, but it went to a shootout.
With the Jets wearing their third jerseys and red pants, they looked a little bit like the New York Rangers.
Perhaps fitting, kind of, that a former New York Ranger would score the game’s first goal late in the first period. With Evgeny Svechnikov off for tripping Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich appeared to handcuff Jets goalie Connor Helleybucyk with a low shot from left wing to the far side.
Buchnevich was moved down from the first power play unit to the second for this contest, and the move clicked this time for his third goal of the season, this one coming with 1:51 left in the opening period.
Just a minute later, the Blues had a golden chance to make it 2-0 when Hellebuyck was caught behind the net. Ryan O’Reilly basically had an open net but missed wide.
That was the third misadventure in the opening period behind the net for Hellebuyck, who was in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 30 after missing time with a non-COVID illness, and for the birth of a son.
Most of the first period was a back-and-forth affair, with the teams displaying their skating skills and with few stoppages in play. There were a lot of near-miss passes, where the tip of a stick broke up a pass, or a back-checking forward defused what had the look of a promising rush.
There weren’t a lot of shots on goal — just 14 combined in the opening period. But Winnipeg had the better chances early. A little more than a minute into the contest, Binnington made a glove save to rob Blake Wheeler from the slot.
Kyle Connor just missed his ninth goal of the season seven minutes in, when he clanged one off the post.
The Blues killed off the game’s first penalty, when they were whistled for too many men on the ice at the 8:36 mark. That specific infraction has been a Blues nemesis in recent seasons, but it was their first this season.
The Blues have been a model of consistency this season, with very few steep dips in play. But Tuesday’s second period was easily their worst of the season. They were outshot 17-5 by Winnipeg and would have been down by a couple of goals — at least — if not for the work of Binnington.
As it was, they headed into the third period tied 1-1 after a goal by Jets defenseman Neal Pionk at the 10:56 mark of the period. Pionk spun around Jordan Kyrou with a slick move into open ice and then fired a shot near the blue line — middle of the ice — that appeared to hit Blues defenseman Marco Scandella and deflect past Binnngton.
Beyond the particulars of that play, the Blues couldn’t navigate the neutral zone. Winnipeg had all the offensive zone time, with the Blues looking a step slow and even a little overwhelmed at times. So it was just a matter of time before the Jets cashed in, and Pionk was that guy.
Binnington was flat on his back after making one save with just over six minutes left in the period, trying to freeze the puck. But the Jets pried it loose, Binnington scrambled to regain his feet — and minus his stick — managed to knock Mark Scheifele’s rebound attempt away, leaving the crowd at Canada Life Centre gasping.
Even with their limited shots, O’Reilly had a couple of good-to-great chances in on Hellebuyck, but couldn’t convert.
It was more of the same to start the third period. Amazingly, the Blues looked like they had forgotten how to play defense. The Jets drove the net time and again, and the Blues didn’t do much to push them out. It was in just such a net-front scramble that Connor came away with a loose puck, and lifted a shot past Binnington. This time he got his ninth goal of the season.
Pierre-Luc Dubois was leaning on Binnington in the crease during all this, but the Blues didn’t challenge for goalie interference. So the Jets had a 2-1 lead 6:22 into the period. It only seemed like it was 6-1 Jets at the time.
Early in the third period, less than two minutes in, Klim Kostin collided with Logan Stanley in the Winnipeg end and appeared to be cut around the eye. He left the ice and headed down the tunnel for treatment. Kostin returned to the bench about 10 minutes later.
Despite being badly outplayed, it remained a one-goal game. Basically just one play away from a tie game. And that’s what it became when Buchnevich carried across the blue line, moved down left wing in tight coverage, and sent a pass net front to Kyrou.
Kyrou deadened the puck with his stick, and then flipped it past Hellebuyck – 2-2 game with 8:06 to go. It was Kyryou’s third goal of the season, but his first since scoring twice in the second game of the season, against Arizona.
Not long after that, there was more theatrics by Binnington, stopped a blast off his chest, then caught the rebound while sitting on his rump with 6:11 to play.
