ST. LOUIS – Judging by the thunderous, boisterous St. Louis Blues crowd in attendance for Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, one could hardly tell the home side was down two games in the series.

The Jets took Games 1 and 2 at home and held serve. The Blues knew they had to do the same.

Boy, did they ever get off to the start they wanted and did so in convincing fashion.

And they were led by their best players.

Pavel Buchnevich scored his first NHL playoff hat trick and had an assist, Cam Fowler set a Blues franchise record for most points by a defenseman with five (one goal, four assists) and Robert Thomas had four assists, who chased likely Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck in a 7-2 romp over the Jets before 18,096 at Enterprise Center to get themselves back in the series, now trailing the best-of-7 series 2-1.

This was a juggernaut performance that the Blues needed and sent a message to the Presidents’ Trophy winners that they won’t go down without a fight and in fact, they have every intention of winning the series despite losing the first two games on the road.

Colton Parayko, Jordan Kyrou and Alexey Toropchenko all scored goals, and Jordan Binnington made 16 saves, including what amounted to be a 10-bell save on Cole Perfetti midway through the second period of a 3-0 game that needed video review.

HOLY $%#& JORDAN BINNINGTON pic.twitter.com/oJgRaGEiLB

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 25, 2025

The Blues, who will host Game 4 on Sunday at noon (FDSNMW, MAX, truTV, SN, TVAS, CBC, ESPN 101.1-FM) looking to even the series, scored three more power-play goals to give them six in the series, but they scored four times at even-strength, which netted them just one goal by Oskar Sundqvist in the first two games.

And on top of it, the Blues have now won 13 straight games on home ice dating back to the regular season. They’ve made this a place that visiting teams don’t want to play in.

Without wasting any more time, let’s get into Thursday’s Three Takeaways:

* A thunderous start – The Blues came into the game wanting and needing to implement a few adjustments to the game.

They wanted to get to the net more with purpose and make life difficult in front of Connor Hellebuyck (check); they wanted to play north hockey (check); they wanted to get sustained zone time (check); and they wanted to incorporate their defensemen into the offensive zone (check).

And in the first 10 minutes of that hockey game, the Blues fed off the emotion of the crowd and for the third straight game, they came out with with fire and played really well in the first period.

But this was different. This was put a hammerlock down on a game and not make it a chess match over the final 40 minutes, like it was at Canada Life Centre.

“I think it was just trying to get away from 1-and-done hockey,” Fowler said. “Hellebuyck was seeing a lot of shots there in Winnipeg, he can control the rebound and the way that they play, they have five guys in front of the net, they’re able to clear the rebounds and come out the other end there. We just wanted to make life a little bit harder with traffic and more pucks directed at the net and our guys did a great job of establishing the forecheck and letting us play a little more time in the offensive zone that helped us out quite a bit.”

Blues coach Jim Montgomery noticed this, Thursday, wasn’t just setting the tone for 20 minutes, but the way they did things, carried forward through the rest of the game, despite the Jets elevating their game in the second period and needing an incredible Binnington save on Cole Perfetti at the 10:05 mark of the period that preserved a 3-0 lead.

“I just thought that the attitude we had … we started the other two games really well, and what I liked was the fierce, competitive nature in our attitude for 60 minutes,” Montgomery said. “The start was incredible. We were aggressive, we did the things we wanted to do to make sure that we were going to get more scoring chances, and we did get more scoring chances.”

There was no East-West hockey, not against this team. This was a North mindset with a purpose.

“They've been playing well at 5-on-5 defense and not giving us much,” Thomas said of the Jets. “And we changed a couple things, and were able to find success early, and we just got to look to keep on going with that, as well as keep looking for adjustments to try and keep on finding success.”

* Blues best players rose to the occasion – In Games 1 and 2, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, Winnipeg’s best players, were the best players when it mattered most in helping their team win the first two games.

The Blues needed their top-end guys to be not only their best players, but the best players in the game itself.

They didn’t waste time when Buchnevich, who came into the game with one playoff goal in 22 career games, went to the net 48 seconds into the game and made it 1-0. He tried making a play with a puck through the slot area that Fowler corralled and in turn, he makes a quick play off the wall to the net where Jimmy Snuggerud is. He got a piece of it but Buchnevich collects the loose puck, kicks the puck to his stick before poking it past Hellebuyck in a sign of things to come.

St. Louis goal!

Scored by Pavel Buchnevich with 19:12 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Jimmy Snuggerud and Cam Fowler.

St. Louis: 1
Winnipeg: 0#WPGvsSTL#stlblues#GoJetsGopic.twitter.com/A4aDyrSlct

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 25, 2025

“I know Faksy, Walks and Torpo [Radek Faksa, Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko] had a great (first) shift, physical, the crowd got going, really loud and we just followed them,” Buchnevich said. “On second shift we got (a) turnover, I shot, missed the net and you know, ‘CF’ hit the net and I got the rebound and the crowd got nuts and the emotions get even more and we keep going.”

They did keep going, and Buchnevich got going again, making it 2-0 at 3:11 when he scored the first of three power-play goals on the night, redirecting a high-slot pass by Thomas past Hellebuyck.

It’s another example of being at or near the net, something that was visibly absent in the first two games.

If you're trying to talk to us, we assure you we can't hear you. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/Rs6SnTlXCd

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 25, 2025

“I don’t really know how to describe it,” Buchnevich said. ‘Just a crazy, emotional start. We throw the puck at the net, we got the rebound and when you score the first goal the game opens up and we got the second one right away. It’s a little bit easier to play with the lead, so we’ve got to score first and it’ll be easier to play.”

Fowler made it 3-0 at 15:51 on a play that was a perfect example of what the defensemen were looking to do: filter into the offensive zone and be a force there.

Fowler was able to do that with the puck behind his whole net, starting the play moving it to the left to Colton Parayko, who found Buchnevich in the neutral zone. He in turn found Thomas, all the while Fowler was skating with a purpose in the middle of the ice down the slot before Thomas found him, and he quickly snapped a shot high glove (sound familiar?) on Hellebuyck.

St. Louis goal!

Scored by Cam Fowler with 04:09 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich.

St. Louis: 3
Winnipeg: 0#WPGvsSTL#stlblues#GoJetsGopic.twitter.com/Dqy5b3AhlM

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 25, 2025

“We had talked a little bit about our ‘D’ trying to use our skating ability to our advantage,” Fowler said. “The play kind of developed there and I kind of saw that we had full control on the wall and I just felt like I could jump in and try and contribute to the rush a little bit and ‘Tommer’ made a great play and I just tried to get it off as quick as I could and happy to see it go in. It was more about just the mindset of our ‘D’ trying to use our legs and skate. I saw the opportunity and just tried to jump in, but like I said, ‘Tommer’ made that whole thing possible. It was a heck of a play by him.

“It wasn’t a set play or anything, no. I wanted to try and be more of a factor with my legs and push them back a little bit. I just saw that we had full control and it was nothing more than just seeing a lane to the net and trying to jump through it as fast as I could.”

Leading 4-1, Jordan Kyrou, who scored in Game 1, got into the scoring again with his second power-play goal of the series, again using Brayden Schenn as a screen and beating Hellebuyck high glove at 7:56 of the third period and put the game out of reach – if it wasn’t already – at 5-1.

Power play goal for St. Louis!

Scored by Jordan Kyrou with 12:04 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Cam Fowler.

St. Louis: 5
Winnipeg: 1#WPGvsSTL#stlblues#GoJetsGopic.twitter.com/EXLoulJcjp

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 25, 2025

And then Toropchenko, following the blueprint of what the Blues wanted to go driving the net, did just that and redirecting a Jake Neighbours pass from the slot at 10:32 of the third to make it 6-1 that chased Hellebuyck from the game in favor of Eric Comrie.

the beautiful game pic.twitter.com/W46v6VxBHL

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 25, 2025

And Parayko, getting some power-play time, bombed away a power-play goal at 16:17 for the 7-2 final.

So as far as best players being best players, the Blues received 15 points (six goals, nine assists) from Fowler, Thomas, Buchnevich, Kyrou and Parayko.

* Blues checked with purpose – The first 10 minutes was also a perfect example of not only playing North hockey but having a checking aspect.

The Blues had 63 hits in the game, a franchise record in a playoff game, and some might look at that and say they were chasing hits.

That’s farthest from the truth.

Jake Neighbours became the second Blue (Brayden Schenn in Game 1) with nine hits in a game, and Nathan Walker had seven.

There are those that say when you’re hitting, it means you don’t have the puck. The Blues were hitting and winning the puck, so they were timing their hits that helped them get the puck.

Take Buchnevich’s hat trick goal for example. When the puck is played behind the net, Thomas recognizes that there’s a goalie there that doesn’t handle the puck like theirs and there’s a chance to disrupt zone exits with a forecheck. Thomas was able to take advantage of a nonchalant Hellebuyck, stripping it from the goalie, and Buchnevich was the F2 in and took advantage of the pressure and curled to backhand the puck in the net at 5:24 of the third period that made it 4-1. It came 52 seconds after Winnipeg got some life on a David Gustafsson goal at 4:32 to make it 3-1.

First career postseason hat tricks are #EasyToCelebrate@budlight | #stlbluespic.twitter.com/pdI8akFNQX

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 25, 2025

“I thought ‘Buchy’ has been good in the first two games, especially defensively,” Montgomery said. “But offensively, I thought there was more in his game, and I thought he brought that tonight. Not only him, but that line and our power play.”

“It’s amazing,” Fowler said. “’Buchy’ is a heart-and-soul guy. He’s a huge part of our team, a huge part of our locker room, a huge part of why we were able to get a win tonight. A special night for him. It’s not something that comes around very often to get the chance to score three goals in a playoff game. I know he’ll tell you the team getting the win means more to him as well and that’s the mindset that we have to have, but it was a special night for him and he should enjoy it.”

Now the Blues have to carry this momentum into Sunday’s game. The Jets will make their adjustments, the Blues will have to counter. But if they can keep this blueprint moving forward, there will be more success throughout the series.

ST. PAUL - It was just a matter of time before the highly touted defensive Wild prospect got his first NHL point. 

The Wild entered Game 3 with only two power play chances in the series. There was a thought that they may take Zeev Buium out of the lineup for Game 3 so they could have a more defensive guy in like Jon Merrill. 

But, Wild head coach John Hynes stuck with the same lineup and Buium produced. 

On the Wild's first power play chace in the opening period, Buium walked the line before dropping a pass off to Kirill Kaprizov.

Kirill Kaprizov powerplay goal. Zeev Buium first NHL assist #mnwildpic.twitter.com/tfM5stSb6T

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) April 25, 2025

Buium, 19, played 4:55 in the opening period and 1:47 of it was on the power play. His primary assist to Kaprizov was his first NHL point in his third NHL game. 

The Florida Panthers may have just surprised much of the hockey world.

Starting their first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road, the Panthers picked up a pair of big victories following Thursday’s 2-0 win in Game 2.

Similarly to Game 1 on Tuesday, it didn't take long for the Panthers to open the scoring.

Shortly after killing off an early Tampa Bay power play, Nate Schmidt hammered a one-timer from Sam Reinhart right off an offensive zone draw that gave the Cats a 1-0 lead.

That’s how the score would remain through the first two periods due to some strong goaltending on both ends.

Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves through 40 minutes, including stops on all three of Tampa’s high danger shots.

Midway through the third period, with Tampa Bay on the power play, Branden Hagel laid a high hit on Sasha Barkov that was called a five-minute major for interference.

Barkov skated off the ice on his own but went straight to the Panthers dressing room.

Led by Bobrovsky, who finished with 19 saves, the Panthers held strong on the defensive end and shut out the Bolts on their own ice.

Sam Bennett added an empty-net goal with 2.9 seconds left for good measure as the Cats took a 2-0 series lead heading back to Sunrise. 

On to Game 3.

QUICK THOUGHTS

Schmidt has already tied his career high for playoff goals in a single postseason with three.

Sasha Barkov is up to three assists in the series after getting a helper on Schmidt's goal.

Florida finished 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

Sam Reinhart has three points in the series. He had the primary assist on Schmidt’s goal.

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LAS VEGAS -- "And now, the end is near. And so I'll face the final curtain. ... I've lived, a life that's full ... I've traveled each and every highway. And more, much more than this, I did it My Way."

The lyrics Paul Anka wrote for Frank Sinatra when he was set to retire from entertainment roughly 55 years ago couldn't fit any better for Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-André Fleury, who's certainly done things his way during a 21-year career that undoubtedly will usher him into the Hall of Fame one day.

The former Golden Knight will retire when Minnesota's playoff run comes to an end - either with a loss or by hoisting Lord's Stanley Cup in June - and he'll do so as one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history.

The 40-year-old won three Stanley Cup championships in 2009, 2016, and 2017, all with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He also received the William M. Jennings Trophy and the Vezina Trophy in 2021, while playing for Vegas. And over the final three seasons of his career, with Chicago and Minnesota, he's continued to make his mark on all-time statistical leaderboards for goaltenders. He'll retire with 575 regular-season wins, the second-most in history.

It didn't come as a surprise that Minnesota's chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association nominated him for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which recognizes the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. It's the third time he's been nominated for the award.

"He just loves the game," Minnesota GM Bill Guerin said during Minnesota's April 16 episode of Beyond Our Ice. "That's allowed him to play as long as he has, his passion and love for the game."

Added Wild rinkside reporter Kevin Gorg: "This is a first-ballot lock Hall of Famer, this is one of the best at his position all-time." 

FAREWELL TOUR

As his emotional final season winds down, Fluery shared some thoughts with The Hockey News during Minnesota's stop in Vegas for Games 1 and 2 of the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs.

From video tributes, to quick postgame visits with friends and former teammates, to sold-out arenas filled with fans of opposing teams chanting his name, it's certainly not what he expected.

"Maybe a little more than I was asking for," he said, flashing his trademark grin. "Last year I got asked every day if I was retiring after the season, so that's why early in the season, I just said, 'Yeah, (this is) my last one', so people would stop asking me.

"But I didn't expect all the cheers and tributes and TVs on the jumbotrons and guys lining up for handshakes and stuff. Just a lot of emotions going through that stuff. So many good memories playing in this league. Yeah, it was definitely a special year."

While Fleury still has one more trip to Vegas, albeit backing up Minnesota starter Filip Gustavsson for Game 5, he admitted his farewell tour has had plenty of emotional stops. Most notably, his final start in Pittsburgh, a 5-3 win on Oct. 29, 2025, and the final trip to his hometown of Montreal, a 4-0 victory on Jan. 30.

"Obviously (in Vegas), being part of the first team to start (the franchise), and the love that people have shown me since day one, for me and my family," Fleury said. "And Pittsburgh, I was there for a long time, 14 years. And Montreal, it was very special, going back home.

"The way people react, the guys on the ice, also. It's a little crazy, a little surreal. I still get butterflies thinking about it."

As the final seconds ticked off the clock in Pittsburgh and Montreal, both arenas could do nothing but cheer for one of the most beloved players in league history, chanting his name as opposing players lined up to shake his hand one last time.

Fleury said he's had his collection of confidants to turn to this season whenever he's needed to bend an ear about his decision, or simply to get advice on what to expect during retirement. Whether it's been his sister or a cousin who plays goalie, or people around the league, he's had people he can count on.

"I feel like I always see guys that I played with, or coaching, scouting, or GMs or doing TV, doing radio," said Fleury, who finished his last-ever regular season 13-9-1 with a 2.97 goals-against average, .897 save percentage and one shutout. "So it's always good to pick their brains a bit on how things are after hockey, and how they do. It's good to catch up with guys, obviously, to learn a bit from their experience."

THE END IS NEAR

Fleury said while there are mornings he wakes up feeling younger than ever, which isn't shocking considering the regimen he keeps to maintain his physique, he's ready to enjoy life with his wife Veronique and their three children Estelle, Scarlett and James.

"I think she's worried for having me ever day at the house," Fleury said with a chuckle. "But I think I'm there. There's some mornings I feel good, still feel young and energetic. I think time catches up, age catches up.

"(Besides), after this season I can't come back. You know, I can't be saying all these goodbyes (and come back)."

Fleury, who still owns his house in Las Vegas, said he and Veronique have scrapped plans of returning to Southern Nevada for retirement and will stay in Minnesota.

"We've been in Minnesota for three years now, and the kids have moved schools, from Pittsburgh to Vegas to Chicago to Minnesota, and now they finally have a little bit of stability," he said. "So until I figure out what I want to do and where I'm going or whatever, I think it was the right thing, just to keep them in school, keep them with their friends."

Now, it's only a matter of time before ol' Flower walks through a tunnel and takes the ice one final time.

So, it seemed only fitting that the Wild meet the Knights in the postseason, as it means Fleury will experience the vibes he helped create from the first time the Golden Knights stepped foot on the ice.

It's one thing he said that will never get old: feeling the energy inside T-Mobile Arena.

"We know it's gonna be a battle to the end," he said. "It's always good to come back in the city, right? I've met a lot of great people around the team and outside the rink also, and good to see (media members). So that's a good part about it, coming back a little bit more and catching up with people.

"I had so many good times being here in this building. A little different, being on the opposing team, but still good memories to be in the building, being so loud. Seeing Golden Pipes (Carnell Johnson) sing (the National Anthem), and people cheering too. I think it's good to be back and have those memories back again.

"People have been so good to me, my family, and always be thankful for that."

It has been a rough year injury-wise for several Pittsburgh Penguins' prospects.

And it appears that they have been dealt another blow - and a pretty big one.

Top forward prospect Tanner Howe - selected in the second round (46th overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft - underwent successful reconsructive surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee, it was announced Thursday by Penguins' POHO and GM Kyle Dubas.

Howe is expected to be in recovery from the surgery for nine months, which would keep him out until at least January of 2026. He was injured during a WHL playoff game for the Calgary Hitmen.

The 19-year-old forward from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan registered 18 goals and 46 points in 47 games between the Regina Pats and Hitmen, as he was traded to Calgary midseason. In six WHL playoff games, he tallied two goals and nine points.

Howe also played for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship and scored one goal in his five WJC games. He signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins after being drafted last summer. 

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