Tyler Bozak, who had several scoring chances that he couldn't put in, finally got one to go his way, scoring with 2:05 to play to give the Blues a 2-1 win over Winnipeg on Wednesday at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg in Game 1 of their playoff series.
Pat Maroon fought for and held the puck behind the goal and then passed the puck out front to Bozak, who blasted it in. It was the sixth shot on goal for Bozak in the game.
The Blues trailed 1-0 going into the third period but got even 4:05 into the period on a goal by David Perron after a backhand pass from Colton Parayko after Oskar Sundqvist won a faceoff in the Winnipeg end.
After they tied the game, the Blues had several good chances that they couldn't finish until Bozak got his. Meanwhile, Binnington, in his first postseason game, was making brilliant saves at the other end.
Winnipeg pulled its goalie with 1:40 to play, and had a few chances, but Binnington denied them, including a great pad save on Mark Scheifele with 12.4 seconds to play. Earlier in the play, Alexander Steen blocked a shot by Patrick Laine but broke his stick in the process.
Laine, who had five goals in one game against the Blues earlier this season, put Winnipeg up 1-0 in the first period.
The Blues had three power plays in the game but weren't able to score.
The Blues had a couple close chances at 5 on 5 in the second period. Vladimir Tarasenko used his speed to create a breakaway but goalie Connor Hellebuyck made the same and after the puck got through Hellebuyck and trickled into the crease and died, Winnipeg cleared it. About four minutes later, Ryan O'Reilly had a shot that hit the post.
Binnington made some good saves, including a good one on a two-on-one short-handed break for Winnipeg in the second period. Winnipeg had a power play late in the second but the Blues killed it
In the first period, the Blues couldn't finish a scoring chance at the other end and Winnipeg quickly got the puck up ice. Alex Pietrangelo blocked a shot but Winnipeg got the puck back, with Bryan Little taking it from Pietrangelo and passing to Laine, who scored from the slot with a picture perfect shot that found a small hole between Binnington and the post in the top corner.
In the first period, the Blues outshot Winnipeg 8-7, but Winnipeg is outhitting the Blues 15-8, and only one of those hits isn't by Brayden Schenn or Ivan Barbashev. The Blues had an early power play when Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele crashed into Binnington and was called for goalie interference. But the Blues didn't manage much in the power play, with just one shot on goal.
After two periods, the Blues were being outhit 24-13, so it was a little closer on the contact side of things, but Winnipeg still has a significant edge. Winnipeg is outshooting St. Louis 18-16 after two periods.
Winnipeg fans, all wearing white, are booing Binnington every time he touches the puck.
