Sundqvist scores twice, Blues edge Jets 4-3 to take 2-0 lead

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Oskar Sundqvist scored twice to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night in Game 2 of their Western Conference opening-round playoff series.

Pat Maroon and Ryan O’Reilly also scored for the Blues, who lead the best-of-seven matchup 2-0 and host Game 3 on Sunday. Rookie Jordan Binnington made 26 saves.

Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and one assist for the Jets, Patrik Laine also scored and Dustin Byfuglien had a pair of assists. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots.

O’Reilly gave the Blues the 4-3 lead at 3:46 of the third when he used Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot as a screen to beat Hellebuyck on the blocker side. It was his first playoff goal since 2014, when he was with Colorado.

The teams were tied at 1 after the first period, and at 3 following the second.

The Jets went on the power play 3:58 into the first period after O’Reilly was called for tripping, but Scheifele took an interference penalty 1:03 into the man advantage. After Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey bobbled the puck in the neutral zone, Sundqvist and Jay Bouwmeester capitalized on a 2-on-1 as Sundqvist beat Hellebuyck at 5:23.

Scheifele was dinged for another interference penalty two minutes later. Then, with 17 seconds remaining in the penalty kill, Jets forward Andrew Copp was sent to the box for cross-checking. The Jets killed the penalties and Scheifele made up for it when he sent a pass from behind the net out to Wheeler for the captain’s goal at 12:01 to tie it at 1.

With Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo off for interference, Laine blasted a shot past Binnington to give Winnipeg a 2-1 lead at 2:49 that sparked chants of “Go Jets Go!”

But, St. Louis quieted the crowd by responding with goals by Maroon and Sundqvist to give St. Louis a 3-2 edge halfway through the second period.

Scheifele tied it again with a power-play goal with 1:05 left in the second.

NOTES: The Blues held a 23-14 margin in shots on goal after two periods. … Bortuzzo went to the dressing with a bleeding wrist midway through the third period, but returned. … Jets forward Mathieu Perreault left the morning skate early with an undisclosed injury and didn’t play, but winger Brandon Tanev returned after missing three games with a hand injury.

UP NEXT

The Blues look to take a 3-0 series lead when they host the Jets on Sunday night.