In St. Louis, Pavel Buchnevich managed to stay focused as a cascade of hats rained down onto the ice in recognition of his performance.
Buchnevich found the back of the net three times, marking his inaugural career playoff hat trick, and also recorded an assist. This offensive outburst fueled the St. Louis Blues to a commanding 7-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3 of their opening-round series on Thursday night.
`Robert Thomas helped to settle me down a bit,` Buchnevich explained. `We just stood there, took it in, and got ready for our next shift.`
Cam Fowler delivered an exceptional game, contributing a goal and four assists. This five-point effort set a new St. Louis Blues franchise record for points accumulated by a defenseman in a single playoff contest. Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko, and Colton Parayko also scored for the Blues. Thomas registered three assists, aiding the team in cutting the Jets` series lead to 2-1. Goaltender Jordan Binnington turned away 17 shots.
`Buchy made an immediate impact,` Thomas commented. `He came out firing on all cylinders, made some terrific plays, and ensured we got off to a strong start.`
David Gustafsson and Neal Pionk scored for the Jets, who had previously won the first two games played in Winnipeg. Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck allowed six goals on 25 shots before being replaced midway through the third period. His replacement, Eric Comrie, stopped two of the three shots he faced.
The series continues with Game 4 scheduled for Sunday in St. Louis. Game 5 will take place in Winnipeg on Wednesday.
Buchnevich, who had scored only one goal in 22 prior postseason appearances, quickly established an early advantage for the Blues with two goals in the opening minutes. His first came just 48 seconds in when he skillfully redirected the puck off his stick and into the net. His second, a power-play marker at 3:11, was a tip-in of a shot from Thomas.
`We just need to concentrate on ourselves, focus on one game at a time,` Buchnevich stated, `trust in our system, believe in our forecheck, and keep pressing.`
Fowler, who assisted on Buchnevich`s first two goals, extended the Blues` lead to 3-0 with 4:09 remaining in the first period.
Buchnevich and Fowler becoming the first Blues teammates since Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger in Game 3 of the 1998 Western Conference quarterfinals against the Kings to each record three points in a single playoff period.
Jets coach Scott Arniel remarked, `That was a remarkable play by Buchnevich, first kicking and then batting it out of the air to get things started just 40 seconds into the game, really electrifying the arena even more.` He continued, `But then, you know, allowing the power-play goal put us down 2-0 within four minutes, and from that point onwards, you`re stuck chasing the game.`
Midway through the second period, Binnington made a critical save on a Cole Perfetti power-play opportunity that could have reduced Winnipeg`s deficit. Perfetti and the Jets believed the puck had crossed the goal line while caught in Binnington`s glove, but after a lengthy review initiated by the league, the on-ice save call was upheld.
`I could clearly see his glove inside the net,` Perfetti said. `He obviously made a fantastic save, but I was right there on the goal line and saw his glove cross the line with the puck in the mesh. I`m really not sure what else they required to confirm it was a goal.`
Buchnevich completed his hat trick at 5:24 of the third period, scoring less than a minute after Gustafsson had briefly given the Jets some momentum with his first goal of the playoffs.
Blues coach Jim Montgomery commented, `I thought Buchy played well in the first two games, especially defensively, but I felt he had more offensive potential to unlock, and he certainly demonstrated that tonight.`
Kyrou added a power-play goal at 7:56, and Toropchenko scored with 9:28 left in the period to make it 6-1, prompting the Jets to replace Hellebuyck.
Pionk scored a power-play goal for the Jets approximately 2 1/2 minutes later, but Parayko netted the Blues` third power-play goal with 3:43 remaining, sealing the 7-2 final score.
