JETS at BLUES
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS2, FW-MW
Blues lead best-of-7 series 3-2
The St. Louis Blues can advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by defeating the Winnipeg Jets in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at Enterprise Center on Saturday.
The road team has won each game of the series. If the Jets win Game 6, this would be the first best-of-7 series in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to have the road team win each of the first six games.
Teams winning Game 5 in a best-of-7 series that was tied 2-2 are 205-55 (78.8 percent).
Here are 5 keys for Game 6:
1. Third periods the difference
Each team has led at some point in all five games of the series. Only once has a team taken a lead into the third period and gone on to win, when the Jets led 3-1 entering the third period of Game 3 and won 6-3.
The other four games have had either a tie or a lead change in the third period. That includes Game 5, when the Blues scored three goals in the third period to win 3-2. Forward Jaden Schwartz scored the game-winning goal with 15 seconds left.
"It's tough to say why," Blues center Ryan O'Reilly said of the third-period lead changes. "It just shows [that] if you can be super aggressive, things seem to go your way. But every series is different. So many things have gone on in the playoffs that you don't expect."
2. Impact of special teams
Special teams are especially important in a tight series, and that proved to be true in Game 5 for the Blues.
St. Louis went 1-for-1 on the power play and is 4-for-8 in its past three games. Game 5 was the first game in the series when the team that won the power-play battle won the game. The Blues are 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) in the series.
The Jets were 0-for-3 in Game 5, don't have a power-play goal in the past two games and are 3-for-13 (23.1 percent).
3. In-game adjustments
Tweaks and adjustments during the game can be the small edge that leads to victory.
The Blues made such an adjustment in Game 5 when they moved Brayden Schenn to center between Oskar Sundqvist and Schwartz in the second period. Schenn scored the tying goal and Schwartz got the game-winner. It was the first goal of the series for each.
David Perron moved onto the top line with O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko. He assisted on O'Reilly's power-play goal early in the third period that made it 2-1.
4. Binnington remaining calm
Blues rookie goalie Jordan Binnington had a rough start in Game 5, allowing two goals in the first 13:35. But he was flawless after that, making 20 saves and giving St. Louis a chance to rally. That included key third-period saves on Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine.
If Binnington (3-2, 2.75 goals-against average, .908 save percentage) can maintain that kind of calm sharpness in Game 6, the Blues will have a good chance to advance.
5. Jets checking line needs to maintain pressure
The Jets need another good performance from the line of center Adam Lowry between left wing Andrew Copp and right wing Brandon Tanev.
That line has spent a lot of time matched against O'Reilly's line, which has scored one even-strength goal in the series (Tarasenko has two power-play goals, O'Reilly has one). It has created offensive-zone time and momentum for the Jets with a strong forecheck, creating pressure and cycling sequences. Lowry's goal in the first period of Game 5 was his first point of the series, Copp has four assists in five games, and Tanev has a goal and an assist in four games.
Lowry is even in the series, Tanev is plus-1 and Copp is plus-3.
Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Bryan Little -- Patrik Laine
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Mathieu Perreault -- Kevin Hayes -- Jack Roslovic
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot -- Dustin Byfuglien
Scratched: Matt Hendricks, Nathan Beaulieu, Par Lindholm, Joe Morrow, Bogdan Kiselevich, Sami Niku, Eric Comrie
Injured: None
Blues projected lineup
David Perron -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Oskar Sundqvist
Pat Maroon -- Tyler Bozak -- Robert Thomas
Robby Fabbri -- Ivan Barbashev -- Alexander Steen
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester -- Colton Parayko
Jordan Binnington
Scratched: Robert Bortuzzo, Michael Del Zotto, Sammy Blais, Zach Sanford, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Jared Coreau
Injured: None
Status report
Ehlers did not take part in the morning skate after blocking a shot in the third period of Game 5 and is a game-time decision. If he can't play, Lindholm is expected to take his place. ... Laine and Byfuglien also did not skate but are expected to play. ... Bortuzzo did not participate in an optional skate and isn't likely to play. He was replaced by Gunnarsson in Game 5. ... Sundqvist skated and is expected to play. He was injured in Game 5 after being shoved into the net by Byfuglien and did not return following Schenn's tying goal in the third period.
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