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After two games of near misses and errors at just the wrong time, the Blues parlayed a quick start, particularly from Pavel Buchnevich, who had a hat trick, and a strong finish into an effective 1-2 punch to beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-2 on Thursday night at Enterprise Center.

The best-of-seven series now stands with Winnipeg up 2-1 as home teams have won each of the first three games. Game 4 is at Enterprise on Sunday at noon and the teams will then head back to Winnipeg for Game 5 on Wednesday.

Buchnevich had the Blues’ first postseason hat trick since Vladimir Tarasenko in Game 5 of the 2022 first-round series with Minnesota, and also had an assist. Defenseman Cam Fowler had a goal and four assists and Robert Thomas had three assists as the Blues chased Winnipeg’s likely Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Connor Hellebuyck from the game.

The Blues scored three goals in the first period, two by Buchnevich in the first 3:11, and then four goals in the third period, where they had been outscored by Winnipeg 4-0 in the first two games.

In addition to Buchnevich, whose hat trick was the first by a Blue at home in the playoffs since Jaden Schwartz against Winnipeg in the Stanley Cup run of 2019, and Fowler, the Blues got goals from Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Colton Parayko.

The Blues took a 3-0 lead into the third period, which has been their stumbling point in Games 1 and 2, and there looked to be a crack in the armor when David Gustafsson moved untouched through the slot to score with 15:29 to go in the period.

But 53 seconds later, Buchnevich completed his hat trick. Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck went behind the net to play the puck but as he tried to clear it, Robert Thomas arrived on the scene and blocked the pass, sending it behind Hellebuyck to Buchnevich, who was able to grab the puck, which was below the goal line, bring it in front of the net and tuck into the open goal for his first career playoff hat trick.

Hellebuyck came out in favor of Eric Comrie after Toropchenko’s goal made it 6-1 with 9:28 to go in the third.

Let’s go to the tape

Cole Perfetti may have scored a power-play goal with 9:55 to go in the second period, but his shot, caught by Binnington on the goal line, was ruled no-goal on the ice and then again after a marathon replay review.

Binnington snagged Perfetti’s shot right above the line, and the shot’s momentum may or may not have carried Binnington’s glove and the puck over the goal line. The NHL’s situation room in Toronto initiated a review and referee’s Trevor Hanson and Kyle Rahman spent several minutes in the visitor’s penalty box, doing a frame by frame scrutiny of the overhead shot of the goal line, but while the puck seemed to be likely over the line, there was never conclusive evidence of space between the puck and the goal line to show that it was in fact in the net, so the on-ice call was upheld.

Fire on the ice

The Blues have wanted to come out quick to start games in this series and their first period hit totals have been massive, but this time they backed it up with goals.

Buchnevich scored 48 seconds into the game, Cam Fowler passed a puck from along the boards into the crease, where Jimmy Snuggerud got his stick on it and the puck came to Buchnevich, alone on the back post, to put it in. Buchnevich came into the game with two assists but with just one shot in the first two games of the series.

“I think he needs to, very similar to the team, possess pucks more when he’s in the offensive zone,� Blues coach Jim Montgomery said on Wednesday. “The puck’s on his stick, usually good things happen. And it hasn’t been there enough.�

Buchnevich’s second came 2:23 later when he redirected a pass by Robert Thomas in the slot. That came on a power play after Luke Schenn was called for tripping. Buchnevich’s two goals in the first 3:11 were the seventh quickest goals to start a a game in NHL playoff history. (The record is two in the first 1:08 by Toronto’s Dick Duff in Game 1 of the 1963 Stanley Cup Final; Wayne Gretzky had two in the first 1:25 with Edmonton in 1985.) It’s the quickest anyone has done it in the past 29 years.

The Blues almost got a third goal a minute or so later in a flurry of shots on Hellebuyck, including one that hit the post and skittered along the goal line and away, and finally got it with 4:09 to go in the period. Fowler was holding the puck behind Binnington’s net, waiting for a way to get it out. Eventually he found Colton Parayko along the left boards, who both the puck to Buchnevich at center ice, who got it to Thomas to bring into the Winnipeg zone. All this time, Fowler was racing up the ice and he got behind the Winnipeg defense entering the zone and beat Hellebuyck to make it 3-0.

Suter sits for first time this season

The Blues opted to go with the standard configuration of 12 forwards and six defensemen, The Blues had gone with 11 and seven in Game 2, so that move took Ryan Suter, who played in all 82 regular-season games and the first two playoff games, out of the lineup and put in Alexandre Texier, who last played a month ago. (Though, in classic hockey misdirection, Texier and Mathieu Joseph both went out for pregame warmups.)

Suter not playing is a rare event. He hasn’t missed a regular-season game since the 2017 season and the last game he missed was Game 4 of the 2020 bubble playoffs when he was with Minnesota. With him coming out, the Blues were without one of their most dependable penalty killers. Suter led the team in total minutes played on the penalty kill and was second to Colton Parayko in shorthanded minutes per game. But the Blues didn’t have a penalty to kill until midway through the second period, after they were up 3-0.