Matthew DeFranks

2 weeks ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Matthew DeFranks

Entering the first-round series between Winnipeg and St. Louis, the advantage appeared clear on paper. The Jets had the top power play in the league. The Blues penalty kill was 28th. The Jets were second in the NHL with a plus-22 special teams goal margin. The Blues were one of just three teams to make the playoffs with a negative special teams goal margin (minus-7). Well, you know how reliable paper is in the playoffs.

2 weeks ago | stltoday.com | Matthew DeFranks

Entering the first-round series between Winnipeg and St. Louis, the advantage appeared clear on paper. The Jets had the top power play in the league. The Blues penalty kill was 28th. The Jets were second in the NHL with a plus-22 special teams goal margin. The Blues were one of just three teams to make the playoffs with a negative special teams goal margin (minus-7). Well, you know how reliable paper is in the playoffs.

2 weeks ago | stltoday.com | Matthew DeFranks

There wasn’t a conversation had, but more so a lingering thought for Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. They needed to be better than they were in the first two games of the Blues’ first-round series against Winnipeg. The Jets’ stars carried them to two wins. The Blues’ best players had yet to do so. That changed on Thursday night in a 7-2 Blues win that pulled St. Louis back into the series, trailing 2-1 going into Sunday’s Game 4 at Enterprise Center. Buchnevich had three goals and an assist.

2 weeks ago | stltoday.com | Matthew DeFranks

A semblance of solace arrived for Winnipeg at 9:06 p.m. – a fleeting flash free from the echoes inside Enterprise Center, from the three-year pent-up explosion, from the Blues blitz that was unfolding on the ice. The evening’s first television timeout was the only salvation for the Jets, the only temporary reprieve to quell a Blues rebellion that ended with a 7-2 St. Louis win in Game 3 on Thursday night. From an 8:50 p.m. puck drop until 9:06 p.m., a constant cacophony filled Enterprise Center.

2 weeks ago | stltoday.com | Matthew DeFranks

The Blues and Jets could have the longest series of the first round, and that could be a good thing for Robert Thomas. If the Blues-Jets series goes the maximum seven games, the matchup will have lasted a league-high 16 days, with three separate two-day gaps sprinkled within the series. For Thomas, who has missed a pair of practices in the last week, the extra rest should be beneficial. “Yeah, you just take advantage of the time you have,” Thomas said.