Jets set to face Blues in opening round matchup

The Winnipeg Jets will face the St. Louis Blues in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This 2019 rematch was set following a series of events Tuesday night which included the Blues downing Utah 6-1 to lock down one of the two Western Conference wildcard spots, and then the Minnesota Wild rallying from down a goal with 20 seconds left in regulation to force overtime against the Anaheim Ducks, ultimately winning 3-2 and grabbing the other berth.

Those results eliminated the Calgary Flames, who needed to win their two remaining games while also getting some help on the out-of-town scoreboard.

As a result, the Blues and Jets will meet again, while the Wild will take on the Vegas Golden Knights. The other two West matchups — Colorado vs Dallas and Los Angeles vs Edmonton — were already set.

Winnipeg (55-22-4) won both the Central Division and the West this year, along with the Presidents’ Trophy as top team in the NHL. That gives them home ice advantage through every round of the playoffs. They’ll wrap up their regular-season on Wednesday at Canada Life Centre against the Ducks.

St. Louis (44-30-8) finished in the second wildcard spot after a late season surge up the standings which also included replacing head coach Drew Bannister with Jim Montgomery — just as Mike Yeo was given the pink slip in 2019 and replaced by Craig Berube, who ultimately led the Blues to their first Stanley Cup championship.

The NHL has not yet released its playoff schedule with the last wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference still to be decided in the next day or two between the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets, with whoever prevails facing the Washington Capitals.

The other three series – Toronto vs Ottawa, Tampa Bay vs Florida and Carolina vs New Jersey – are set.

Expect Game One between the Jets and Blues to be either Saturday or Sunday. It’s unlikely teams finishing the regular-season on Thursday would be forced to begin playoffs 48 hours later, which eliminates all but three series – Winnipeg vs St. Louis, Vegas vs Minnesota and Dallas vs Colorado.

No doubt Sportsnet would love to have some Canadian content in their prime Saturday slot, but there’s also a Bachman Turner Overdrive concert set for Saturday at the downtown Winnipeg rink which would have to be moved to make that possible. There’s other scheduling challenges when it comes to the Blues home rink, with concerts set for Apr. 25 and 26.

In other words, it’s clear as mud right now.

There’s no shortage of juicy story lines between the Jets and Blues. St. Louis took their previous first-round playoff meeting in six games back in 2019, and a fierce rivalry has resulted ever since.

The two starting goaltenders, Connor Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington, went head-to-head in February at the 4 Nations Face-Off, with Hellebuyck’s American squad losing in the final to Binnington’s Canadian side.

There’s also a familial connection, with Jets defenceman Luke Schenn facing his younger brother, Brayden, for the first time ever in the playoffs.

Winnipeg went 3-1-0 in their head-to-head games this season, with St. Louis going 1-2-1.

Both teams also have some injury issues. Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers is considered week-to-week with a lower-body ailment and unlikely to be ready for the start of the series. The status of Gabe Vilardi is also unknown, having missed 14 straight games but joining the Jets for practice on Tuesday for the first time since his injury. He’s considered day-to-day.

St. Louis is without forward Dylan Holloway, while leading scorer Robert Thomas left Tuesday’s game against Utah with a lower-body issue. His status is not clear.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg