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WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Despite 20 points and four spots in the Central Division standings separating the Blues and Winnipeg Jets in the final NHL standings, not much as separated them in the first two games of their first round series.

But it’s enough that two games in, the Jets lead the series 2-0.

The Blues took a lead into the third period of Game 1 before losing. On Monday night in Game 2 at Canada Life Centre, the teams were even going into the third but Winnipeg got an early goal and made it count in a 2-1 victory.

Kyle Connor got the go-ahead goal for the second game in a row, scoring 1:43 into the third period to break a 1-1 tie. Connor got fed the puck from behind the goal by Cole Perfetti in the low slot, and Blues goalie Jordan Binnington got his stick caught on teammate Colton Parayko’s leg and lost it, leaving him at a disadvantage to stop Connor’s close-range shot.

The Blues got their goal from really, really rookie Jimmy Snuggerud, who got his first playoff goal in his just his ninth game in the NHL, scoring in the closing seconds of the second period on a power play. The adaptation time for Snuggerud in the NHL appears to be minimal.

“Skill, smart, a pretty mature game for only playing however many games he’s played,� Blues captain Brayden Schenn said before the game. “He’s just calm with the puck. Game management is good. Putting the puck in at the right times and making plays when they’re there. He’s fun to be around. He asks a lot of questions, he wants to learn and that’s great when you have a young guy who wants to ask everyone around the room different questions, whatever is on his mind. That’s what it takes. You have to learn when you come into this league and there’s obviously a lot of adjustments from playing 30-40 games to 82 and plus playoffs, where you’re playing every second day. He’s been awesome and he’s obviously brought a great element to our group.�

The Blues had a chance to tie with a power play mid-period, but didn’t get many opportunities off it as they had zone time but not shots. The Blues pulled Binnington with about two minutes to play but didn’t get much out of the man advantage.

Game 3 will be Thursday at Enterprise Center.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery moved Snuggerud from Brayden Schenn’s line to Robert Thomas’ line, with Jake Neighbours moving the other way.

Beat the clock

With the clock running out in the first period, the Blues got off one last chance at Pavel Buchnevich got the puck to Snuggerud in the faceoff circle to Connor Hellebuyck’s right and he settled it in and whistled it in with 0.8 seconds left on the clock (though it was later reset to 2 seconds left). After Winnipeg got the first two power plays of the game, the Blues got theirs with 1:54 to go when Dylan DeMelo was called for tripping Buchnevich. The Blues had some good chances on the power play but it looked like they would run out of time after a Winnipeg clearance but they got the puck back up the ice and tied the game.

At 20 years and 324 days), Snuggerud is the third Blues player in the past 15 years to get his first playoff goal at age 20 and younger, joining Robert Thomas (19 years, 303 days in 2019) and Robby Fabbri (20, 90) in 2016.

Snuggerud had a hand in Winnipeg’s goal, colliding with Binnington after he made a save on Mark Scheifele and knocking the puck, and Binnington, into the net. It was the second goal of the playoffs for Scheifele, who got around Nick Leddy, at the end of his shift, who slipped, allowing Scheifele to get to the net.

It was another physical first period, and while the hit counts weren’t as high as in Game 1, there were some memorable ones, including one by Logan Stanley, who sent Jordan Kyrou into the air with a crunching blow along the boards. Kyrou was slow going to the bench but got a good breather, not intentionally, thanks to a cross-checking penalty on Tyler Tucker.

Tucker was a surprising presence in the game as Montgomery went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the first time since he took over the Blues. Mathieu Joseph, who had the lowest time of any Blues forward in Game 1, came out as the Blues opted for adding a stay-at-home defenseman into their mix. It was Tucker’s first NHL playoff game, giving the Blues four players – Tucker, Snuggerud, Neighbours and Zack Bolduc – making their NHL postseason debuts. He’s also the third of that group to have committed a penalty in first four periods.

Chances, but no scoring

The Blues had two power plays but couldn’t much of anything going on either of them as neither team scored in the second period. Winnipeg had some promising looking plays but missed the target on many of them and Binnington made a couple nice saves to keep the game tied.