ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Class was in session for the Blues on Saturday, and they find themselves in a time of year where the final exams come pretty quick.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series with the Winnipeg Jets is Monday night in Canada Life Centre, with the Blues looking to bounce back after a 5-3 loss in Game 1. The Blues led after two periods, then came apart in the third, giving up three goals (one an empty netter) while managing only two shots on goal.

The biggest lessons were for the Blues’ youngsters, Jake Neighbours, Zack Bolduc and Jimmy Snuggerud, who had never been in an NHL playoff game before. And like a lot of jobs, nothing teaches you faster than some hands-on exposure.

“I don’t think it’s anything different than when your child doesn’t do their homework and they don’t hand in their book report on time,� Blues coach Jim Montgomery said Sunday. “It’s like preparation, right? You have to go through it and understand the lack of preparation needed mentally to think about everything. Everyone is excited to play, and after the excitement is over, it comes down to controlling your emotions and staying in the moment. That’s something new for everybody when you go through it.�

Neighbours acknowledged he learned a lot in Game 1.

“I think you have a decent idea about what to expect,� he said, “but when you get in the moment there are a lot of emotions and the crowd’s that loud and the game’s being played at such a high rate and so physical, it’s tiring but it’s a lot of fun. I think just throughout the course of the game, staying calm, staying present and continuing to focus on the task at hand was the biggest thing I learned. Obviously emotions can get high with the atmosphere and how the game’s being played, so I think learning those are important.�

What did he learn?

“I think offensively learning ways to break them down,� he said, “seeing their habits, things like that. Obviously the video side of it, you can learn a lot and adjust that way and then I think just as players, a lot of young guys including myself who have never played in the playoffs, getting that experience last night, getting one game under our belts is going to make us more comfortable for Game 2. I think that’s only going to give more confidence, feel better about themselves and grow.�

Neighbours played 16:11, just slightly more than Snuggerud, and had an assist on Jordan Kyrou’s go-ahead goal in the third period. He had 12 penalty minutes, two for slashing in the first period that created the power play that got Winnipeg its first goal, and then a 10-minute misconduct in the slugfest that was the final minute after Winnipeg went up two goals.

That improvement is one of the things Montgomery and his team are trying to take from the game. If you take away the penalties on Neighbours and Bolduc, which abruptly ended a Blues power play and shifted the game’s momentum to the Jets, maybe the result comes out differently. And it seems unlikely that Bolduc will make the same mistake twice, cross checking Alex Iafallo after the whistle in the third period.

“I think you’ve just got to let them learn,� Montgomery said. “Listen, a lot of them made a lot of real good plays, too. It’s that balance. It’s the balance of learning the needed desperation that you need. We had it I thought in the beginning of the game and I don’t think we had it at the end of the game. That’s just the learning curve of staying with your game plan, and being on the road in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“But there’s nothing like the emotion of a Stanley Cup playoff game. It was fantastic yesterday.�

The Blues are experienced on the blue line, where five of the six players Saturday were 31 or over (and one is 40) but of the 12 forwards in the lineup, five are 25 or younger. Four of the five youngest players in Game 1 were Blues.

“Some of our players are young,� Montgomery said. “We have 20- and 21-year olds. I don’t think Winnipeg has that in their lineup. Even a guy like Jake Neighbours, he’s 23 going through it for the first time, even though it’s his third year in the league. The exponential growth that they can have from game to game is really valuable to us. Besides that, our team is pretty veteran. We’ve got five guys that have won Cups. So, we’ve got to balance that experience with the youth and we’ve got to become the regular-season team we were in the last 26 games. We need to have that intent and purpose and the confidence starting tomorrow.�’

Experience alone won’t be the difference in the rest of series with the team that finished the season with the most points. The Blues have to get better in other ways, like getting the puck out of their own end, which befuddled them in the third period.

“I think there’s certain tactical things that we can look at that can help us for the next game,� defenseman Cam Fowler said, “and then just understanding that in order to have success in the playoffs, you have to sustain that momentum for 60 minutes, especially when you’re on the road and you’re playing against a really good team and in a difficult environment. So I was proud of our guys. I thought we fought hard. And it’s something that we can learn from and build off of that we were right there in a competitive hockey game. And next time we’re in that situation, hopefully we can get the job done.�