The Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues head into Game 3 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series on April 24, 2025, with the Jets holding a commanding 2-0 lead after taking care of business at home with two composed and complete victories. Game 1 saw Winnipeg assert its physical dominance and convert on timely scoring chances, while Game 2 was a tighter affair where defensive structure and goaltending were the difference-makers. The Jets have proven through the first two contests that their playoff readiness is no fluke; they’ve rolled four effective lines, clogged up the neutral zone, and made life difficult for St. Louis with suffocating defensive shifts and smart puck movement in transition. Connor Hellebuyck has been at the heart of Winnipeg’s success, standing tall between the pipes and showcasing the elite form that has made him a perennial Vezina candidate. Offensively, Winnipeg has leaned on veterans like Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor to create offense, while players like Nikolaj Ehlers and Nino Niederreiter have chipped in with secondary scoring that’s often the key to playoff longevity. The Jets’ special teams have also been on point—converting when given the man advantage and staying disciplined enough to keep the Blues’ own power play off the ice. Their physical game has kept St. Louis to the perimeter and disrupted the flow of their top lines, giving Winnipeg the clear upper hand in puck possession and zone time. Game 3, however, shifts to the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, where the Blues have traditionally been a tough out and where they posted a 27-11-3 regular-season home record.

The Blues now face the steep task of defending home ice in a must-win game, needing to rediscover their rhythm, ignite their offensive spark, and find answers for a Jets team that’s firing on all cylinders. For the Blues, Game 3 will have to be a gut-check performance, a full-team response anchored in tighter defensive execution, more assertive forechecking, and stronger goaltending from Jordan Binnington. While Binnington has shown flashes of the poise that carried him through a Stanley Cup run years ago, the pressure is now mounting as Winnipeg has managed to find holes in his coverage and outwork the defensemen in front of him on second-chance opportunities. St. Louis’s top offensive threats, namely Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas, have struggled to find clean looks against Winnipeg’s compact defensive schemes, and that has put more pressure on the Blues’ depth scorers to rise to the occasion—something that has yet to materialize. Head coach Drew Bannister will need to consider strategic adjustments, whether it’s shuffling the lines, getting more physical in the corners, or altering special teams strategy to create momentum shifts when power plays do come. With their backs against the wall, the Blues must make a statement in Game 3, reestablishing their identity as a team that thrives off structure, relentless puck pursuit, and feeding off the energy of their home crowd. If they allow Winnipeg to set the pace early again, the Blues could quickly find themselves in a nearly insurmountable 0-3 hole. But if they can tighten their gaps, win puck battles, and find timely offense, the door remains open for them to claw back into the series. This game will serve as the series’ true turning point—either it breathes new life into the Blues’ playoff hopes or cements Winnipeg’s grip on a round they’ve looked primed to dominate.