Jets depth must continue to shine heading into Game 6 matchup vs Blues

If one theme could be attributed to the Winnipeg Jets’ Game 5 victory Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre, it would be depth.

Following Wednesday night’s head-to-head matchup against the St. Louis Blues, the Jets command a 3-2 series lead after a thrilling 5-3 victory. The catch? Winnipeg managed to pull out the win without their number one centre, Mark Scheifele, for 40 minutes of play.

Winnipeg’s Vladislav Namestnikov was one of the driving forces in the team’s offence after Scheifele left the game after being on the receiving end of two big hits from Blues forwards Brayden Schenn and Radek Faksa in the first stanza. 

Namestnikov is usually slotted into the 2C position but was bumped up to the first-line centre role with Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi in Scheifele’s absence. And even with the pressure of having some pretty big shoes to fill, he answered the bell. 

“When things don’t go your way, people have to step up,” Vladislav Namestnikov told reporters post-game. “As a team, we stepped up today and got the win.”

Namestnikov finished off a beautiful feed from Connor in the second period, beating Blues netminder Jordan Binnington in what would turn out to be the eventual game-winning tally. He also assisted on Winnipeg’s third goal of the game, which came off the stick of defenceman Dylan Demelo, and off the rear end of St. Louis’ Colton Parayko, who was parked right in front of Jordan Binnington along the side of the net.

Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)

“You’d like to contribute and I put a lot of pressure on myself to do that,” Namestnikov said. “We’ve dealt with this all year with injuries, it’s the next man mentality…guys stepped up today.”

Another guy that stepped up in a huge way was depth winger Mason Appleton, who racked up three assists in the game, with one in each period. The Wisconsin product was on the receiving end of an uncalled high-stick less than two minutes into the game but still managed to kick the puck out from behind the net to Mark Scheifele, who fed it to Kyle Connor for a quick release from the slot to launch the Jets into an early 1-0 lead. 

Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)

Appleton also made a great defensive play when the Blues pulled their goalie for the extra attacker at the end of the third when he chipped the puck out of the zone to Nino Niederreiter, who eventually gave it to Jets captain Adam Lowry to ice the game with a three-goal cushion.

“We did what we needed to do to win that game,” Appleton said. “You lose your best player and everyone’s gotta, you know, tug a little more and step up a bit, and I thought we did that.” 

Appleton’s linemate Niederreiter also had his best game of the series, notching one goal and one assist. He was formerly playing on the second line with Cole Perfetti and Namestnikov through the first four games, but dropped back down to his regular position after Vilardi made his long-awaited return to the lineup.

Along with some great individual performances, the Jets as a team were able to dominate the Blues for a full 60 minutes. 

After being outscored by the Blues 12-3 in Games 3 and 4, Winnipeg responded on home ice by limiting their opponent to nine shots on goal through the first two periods. 

“Throughout the lineup, it was outstanding,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “I thought everybody stepped up… Real proud of the way the guys stuck together and just played our game. We got to Jets hockey.”

Jets hockey indeed — a stifling defensive style of game we saw for most of the 82 games of the regular season. Winnipeg’s exits out of their end were quick and clean, their neutral zone control was efficient, and they once again regained a stronghold in front of the net — something they struggled to do in the last two games in Missouri. 

With the series once again shifting away from home, the Jets will be looking to carry the momentum into Game 6 to put an end to the series. Demelo knows spoiling the Blues’ record of 14 straight wins at home will be a tough task.

“It was great that we got that result yesterday… But, you know, the last one’s the hardest one to get,” he said.

Arniel ruled out Scheifele for Game 6 which is a heavy subtraction for the Jets. Winnipeg will once again be leaning on their depth and defensive structure, which has given them so much success this year, to put a stamp on what has been an all-world first-round matchup.