It all comes down to this. A pivotal Game 7 of a series in the NHL Playoffs.
We head to Canada as this game is between the #1-seeded Winnipeg Jets and the #8-seeded St. Louis Blues. To add more energy, this is the first Game 7 to ever be hosted in Winnipeg. In what has been an extremely physical series, we expect this to be escalated tonight, starting at 7 pm Eastern time on TBS and Max.
We will take some shots at dissecting the game, players to watch, and what is at stake for the winner?
Game 7 Has All The Feels
It gets no larger of a scene in sports than a ‘Game 7’ situation. Tonight, in Winnipeg, fans will witness the 200th NHL game 7 and the first between the Blues and Jets. With this, we have now seen multiple Game 7s in the playoffs, in 5 consecutive seasons, as we had a Dallas Stars win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. This streak is the second-longest stretch in NHL history behind the 9-year run from 2008 to 2016.
In these games, the team that scores first holds an advantage as they are 150-49 all-time, and these teams are 3-1 in the 2024 Playoffs. The Blues are tasked with defeating the President’s Cup winners, with opposing teams having a 7-3 record over the league’s top team in Game 7’s for the last 20 seasons. In addition, this is the 5th time the league’s number one team has taken a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series and then was forced to a Game 7. In these contests, the teams have split the series.
Can the Blues win the game on Sunday evening? We dissect three ways St Louis can have a great opportunity.
How Does St Louis Win?
Play Blues Hockey
To close the season, the Blues were the hottest team as they entered the postseason. In the games for the Cup, the Blues have continued this pace as they have netted 24 goals entering Game 7. This is good for a share of 2nd in the NHL this postseason and trails only the leader, the Edmonton Oilers, who have scored 27 goals. With this, the Blues score an average of 2.83 goals against, which ranks 5th in the league this postseason. To put this into further perspective, St. Louis trails the leader, the Carolina Hurricanes, who have a 2.20 average.
In game 3 of this series, St Louis won 7-2 inside the Enterprise Center, which marked the 5th time in franchise history to score 7 or more goals in a playoff game. This was the first time the team had done this since the 1998 season, against the Los Angeles Kings, when they scored 8 goals in the win.
With an average of 4 goals per game for St Louis in this series, we expect another high-scoring contest from these teams.
Turn Defense To Offense
We mentioned the onset of the physicality of the series, and St. Louis has been the aggressor. This has been a trend for the postseason as the team has 252 total hits, which ranks 3rd in the NHL. This defensive trend started swiftly as the Jets were landed with 53 hits in the 5-3 opening win for Winnipeg. This number would increase in game 3, from St. Louis, as the Blues landed 54 hits in the win, which matches the franchise best in a postseason game. The last time this occurred was in the 2014 first-round matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks. With this physical play, the talented roster has shone bright with key plays.
We all recall the old phrase used in sports of “Defense wins championships,” stated by the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant. In the case of the Blues, this defense has turned into an explosive offense. The defense of the Blues has scored 23 points this postseason, which is the most in the NHL. Additionally, the 6 goals and 17 assists are both the most in the league.
They are 1 of 3 defensive units that have posted at least 2 game-winning goals this postseason. For context, the Florida Panthers lead this statistical category with 3, while Ottawa joins the Blues with 2.
Bennington In Pipes
Your hockey team is only as good as the man in the pipes. For the Blues, having a stable of goalies is a blessing, with Jordan Binnington as the ace, this becomes a gift. In the regular season, we saw Binnington finish with a 28-25 record while allowing 2.69 goals per game. This, along with a .900 save percentage, and the Blues fans have to enter the Sunday game with confidence. The 28 wins for Binnington is the 2nd most in his career behind the 2019-2020 season when he won 30 games.
The veteran’s play has been beneficial in his career and especially in this series. We witnessed Binnington make 30 saves in the 5-1 Game 4 win, which marked the 12th time he recorded at least 30 saves in a postseason game in his career. The stellar play continued in Game 6 as Binnington stopped 21 of 23 shots, which earned him his 3rd win this postseason and 23rd of his career.
The Sunday contest will be the 3rd career Game 7 for Jordan. Entering the game, Binnington is 2-0-0, with a .082 goals against average powered by a .968 save percentage through 2 games. This postseason, he has a 3-3 record, with a 2.53 goals against average and a .897 save percentage. Thus far, we have not seen Binnington slam a team for a shutout. Binnington is the franchise leader in both games played/started, with 47, and with the above-mentioned 23 wins in postseason.
Players To Watch
The energy inside Canada Life Centre will be intense, yet not as what we will see on the ice. For the Blues’ head coach, Jim Montgomery, he has a great problem, which is a talented roster. We will focus on a duo of Blues fans who may want to watch.
We start with Defenseman Colton Parayko, who has been a force this season and has skated on with this in the postseason. Despite missing 17 games due to injury, Parayko from December 23rd to the end of the season, Parayko scored 11 goals, which shared 4th among all defenseman in the league. This season, Parayko has recorded 14 even-strength goals, which is 5th among all NHL defenseman and was 2nd in franchise history by a Blues defenseman.
To bring even more context to the above statement of his impressive play, Parayko has set career-highs in both goals, with 16, and points, with 36, this season. His goal totals net him 6th best among all defenseman in the NHL. To top it all off, he ranks 2nd on the Blues’ all-time franchise list with 11 career postseason goals and trails Al Macinnis by three, who had 14 in his career in St. Louis.
The goals started in Game 3 as he scored a power play goal, which was his 3rd of his career. The assists have been pretty and plenty from Parayko. In Game 4, he had a 2-assist game, which was his 2nd career game with multiple assists. In addition, this was also his 3rd career multi-point postseason game. Entering the Sunday contest, Parayko is skating on a 4-game point streak and is one to watch for the Blues.
Next for the Blues, we look to Jordan Kyrou. The right winger has been incredible this season as he has, again, netted 30 or more goals. With this, Kyrou is now the 2nd Blue since 2003-04 to record 3 straight seasons on this goal mark. With two more seasons of this mark, he would tie leader Vladimir Tarasenko, who has 5 straight, from the 2014 to 2019 seasons with St. Louis. In this postseason, Kyrou has scored 2 goals, with both coming on the power-play. With this, he is 1 of 16 players this postseason with at least 2 goals in power-play situations.
In Game 3, with his 2nd goal of the postseason, 10th career in postseason, in his 24th career playoff game, Kyrou became the 4th fastest player in franchise history to reach 10 career playoff goals. Kyrou can put the puck in the net for the Blues and will be another Blue to watch on Sunday evening.
Not So Brotherly Love
As we witnessed in Game 6, the Schenn brothers turn the competition level up to another level when facing each other. Both Brayden, from St. Louis, and Luke, from the Jets, will make history on Sunday as the first brothers to oppose each other in Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2003 season. We saw Scott and Rob Niedermayer tangle in that season as the Devils and Ducks met. Overall, this will be the ninth Game with brothers going head to head. This is the first in the Jets franchise and third for the Blues. Lastly, this will have even more intensity as the Schenn brothers have been here before, yet not as opponents. The duo were teammates with the Flyers as they faced off with the Rangers in the 2014 First Round.
Brayden Schenn has brought the hits this offseason. Schenn landed 7 hits in game one, which is tied for the most in a single postseason period by a Blue. Schenn is also listed with 7 as having in 2020.
What Is At Stake?
The winner of the series will face the Dallas Stars in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
