Jets respond with full roster contributions after losing Scheifele in Game 5 against Blues

WINNIPEG – When Mark Scheifele didn’t come out to start the second period of Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round, the Winnipeg Jets could’ve let the loss of their top center affect their game negatively.

Instead, they responded with a strong period and arguably their best game of the series. They got the shots on St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington. They got the secondary scoring that eluded them the first four games. And now they’ve got the chance to advance to the second round for the first time since 2022.

“Sometimes when you lose your No. 1 center, you lose a key piece to your lineup there can be a bit of a sag, an emotional letdown. But you know, I thought the guys really rallied around it,” Jets captain Adam Lowry said after their 5-3 win against the Blues at Canada Life Centre on Wednesday.

Jets coach Scott Arniel said they’ll see how Scheifele is on Thursday. He did not know if Scheifele could make the trip to St. Louis, where the Jets can eliminate the Blues with a win in Game 6 at Enterprise Center on Friday (8 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, MAX, truTV, SN, TVAS, CBC).

The Jets lead the best-of-7 series 3-2. The home team has won every game of this series.

Scheifele has taken a couple of big hits in the series, including one from Blues captain Brayden Schenn along the boards at 6:12 of the first period on Wednesday. Scheifele remained in the game but took another big hit at 17:02 of the first from Blues forward Radek Faksa.

Scheifele has six points (two goals, four assists) in five games, second on the Jets in the playoffs behind Kyle Connor with eight points (four goals, four assists).

The Jets responded to Scheifele’s loss with two second-period goals – their first goals in any second period of this series – and outshot the Blues 14-3.

"I thought throughout the lineup, it was outstanding. I thought that everybody stepped up, obviously finding out that 'Scheif' wasn’t coming back,” Arniel said.

“But even prior to that, we had a great first. We were physical. We were battling. Competing. Doing all the things we have to do to get ourselves going. Just real proud of the way the guys stuck together and just played our game. We got to Jet hockey. We got to Jet hockey early and we played it for 60 minutes.”

Part of that was getting much-needed scoring from those who had been quiet thus far in the series. Vladislav Namestnikov, who took Scheifele’s place on the top line, scored what proved to be the game-winner at 18:51 of the second period. It was his first goal since March 11 against the New York Rangers.

“We need it from everybody, and I thought he rose to the occasion,” Connor said of Namestnikov.

“Obviously I agree with ‘Lows’ (Lowry), it's not one guy that needs to fill the shoes of Mark. It needs to be everybody and the way he plays, Vladdy, he's been great for the whole series and a couple chances here or there he could have some better results. You see it tonight. He drives hard to the net, plays all hard areas very well, defends well and obviously a key contributor on two of those goals.”

Dylan DeMelo had his first goal of the postseason, and the second by a Jets defenseman in this series, at 11:05 of the second period to give the Jets a 3-2 lead. Nino Niederreiter got his first goal and assist of the series.

The Blues, meanwhile, were frustrated with their game. After outscoring the Jets 12-3 in two wins at home, they couldn’t swing the momentum gained there onto the road.

“We’ve got to be more connected. I didn’t think our puck support was good enough, I didn’t think we got back quick enough, I didn’t think we won our forecheck, we didn’t establish it. Like I said, it’s every facet,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “But you know what, it’s a series. It’s going to happen. Unfortunately, we’re not happy about it but we’re onto the next one. It’s as simple as that. We’ve got to forget about it. We’re in a series.”

The Jets and Blues are most definitely in a series. The best regular-season team in Winnipeg against the hottest team down the stretch in St. Louis and the two have had quite the battles. The Jets will be trying to finish it on Friday, whether or not Scheifele is with them.

“Obviously, now we put ourselves in the driver’s seat to go to St. Louis,” Jets forward Mason Appleton said. “Hopefully we close this series out, but we know how good they are at home and what we have to do. That was our best game of the series, and we’ve got to duplicate that.”