Jets bounce back with 6-3 win over Blues

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kyle Connor scored twice, Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues 6-3 on Sunday night to climb back into their first-round playoff series.

Winnipeg dropped the first two games by one goal, but got back on track in St. Louis. Kevin Hayes, Brandon Tanev and Dustin Byfuglien also scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night in St. Louis.

David Perron, Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen scored for the Blues, and Jordan Binnington made 23 stops.

Perron put St. Louis in front with a power-play goal late in the first period. He whipped a shot past Hellebuyck from the slot.

But the Jets grabbed the lead for good when they scored three times in a span of 4:01 in the second.

Hayes started the blitz with a shot from the point that went through traffic before slipping past Binnington. Laine then scored his third goal of the series, converting a pass from Jacob Trouba.

Connor capped the blitz with a power-play wrist shot from the faceoff dot at 8:58. He added an insurance goal 14:44 into the final period.

St. Louis had a chance in the third, pulling within one when Tarasenko scored a power-play goal just 1:51 into the period. But Tanev and Byfuglien responded for Winnipeg, running its lead back out to 5-2 with 11:54 left.

Laine, who had 30 goals and 20 assists in the regular season, has scored in all three playoff games. He had just one goal in his last 19 regular-season games.

Laine scored five goals in an 8-4 win in St. Louis on Nov. 24, 2018.

Hellebuyck made a big stop on Pat Maroon just seconds before Tanev’s goal.

Binnington made a trio of saves in the opening 5:45 to keep the game scoreless. He denied Bryan Little, Hayes, and Mathieu Perrault. Binnington stopped 50 of 54 shots over the first two games.

NOTES: Blues D Robert Bortuzzo suffered a cut on his hand that required seven stitches in the third period of Game 2, but played on Sunday. … Winnipeg is 1-10 in playoff games decided by one goal, including a 1-4 mark last season. … The Blues failed on their first seven power-play attempts in the series prior to Perron’s first-period goal. … The Jets were the last team in the playoffs to record a third-period goal.

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Game 4 of the series is set for Tuesday night in St. Louis.