ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko wasn’t expecting the puck at the point, but when teammate Cam Fowler’s shot was blocked by the Winnipeg Jets’ Haydn Fleury, it ricocheted right to him.
With less than 30 seconds left in the first period of Game 4 Sunday, Parayko put an innocent shot on net with Jake Neighbours parked just to the left of Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
“I didn’t actually see (Neighbours) there,” Parayko said.
Neighbours saw Parayko, however, and the puck rotating as it elevated toward him.
“Honestly, the puck came in so slow, I had time to line it up and make sure I got a stick on it,” Neighbours said.
Neighbours had his first NHL playoff goal and the Blues were on their way to another rout of Winnipeg, a 5-1 win that evened the Western Conference first-round series at two games apiece.
That goal was pivotal because it came late in the period and provided the Blues with some much-needed momentum. But there was added significance because of the way it was scored — Neighbours at the front of the net.
“To get that deflection goal, being at the net-front, something we’re trying to do offensively, and get rewarded for it, it gave us the confidence to keep standing at the net-front and our defense to keep pounding pucks,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.
Jake Neighbours picked the perfect time for his first career #StanleyCup Playoff goal. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/YqjHb1nvcM
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 27, 2025
It was the beginning of another barrage on Hellebuyck, who gave up five goals on 18 shots. He was pulled from a second straight game, after allowing six goals on 25 shots in the Blues’ 7-2 win in Game 3 Thursday.
In the storyline of the series so far, the goalie who’s expected to win his third Vezina Trophy this week and could take home the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP has been shelled by St. Louis. Hellebuyck already had an underperforming reputation in the postseason and he’ll see that take another hit with an .817 save percentage in this series so far.
If Blues players feel like they’ve solved Hellebuyck, however, they weren’t willing to say so Sunday.
“It’s playoffs,” captain Brayden Schenn said. “Not just our series, but look league-wide right now how pucks and goals are going in. It’s such a cliché answer, but you get people and traffic to the net, shoot the puck and hopefully good things happen.”
Four of the Blues’ five goals in Game 4 were scored either at the net or from the point with traffic in front of the net.
“It’s a simple recipe,” defenseman Justin Faulk said. “It’s nothing crazy.”
After dropping two close games in Winnipeg, the Blues outscored the Jets 12-3 in St. Louis, which was rocking Sunday with 2019 Stanley Cup champion and hometown hero Pat Maroon working as the pre-game hype man, waving a rally towel and chugging a Bud Light.
A few hours later, Winnipeg was waving the white towel; however, the Jets do have home-ice advantage with Games 5 and 7 (if necessary) at Canada Life Centre, and the visiting team has yet to win in this series.
“We held a majority of the lead of both games in Winnipeg,” Montgomery said. “We felt we played well but we didn’t feel we played to our identity for 60 minutes. So it gave us confidence that if we were able to play for 60 minutes, then we’d have success. It’s a two-out-of-three now.”
If the Blues continue a trend that developed in Games 3-4 in St. Louis, it will bode well for them in the remainder of the series. It was another element of the Neighbours’ goal: defensemen being involved in the offense.
In the first two games, the Blues directed a total of 90 shots at the net, which includes ones blocked by the Jets and ones that missed. Of those 90, 65 were from forwards and 25 were from defensemen. The defensemen had no goals and combined for four assists.
In the next two games, they directed a total of 107 shots at the net. Of those 107, 56 were from forwards and 51 were from defensemen. The defensemen had four goals, nine assists and factored in on nine of the 12 goals.
“We’ve got a lot of D that can skate, shoot pucks, make passes, whatever,” Faulk said. “Guys that have played in the league a long time. It’s an emphasis of ours to make sure we’re skating and doing our part to help out, and create offense as much as we can. If we can skate and make plays and put them on their heels a little bit, it just makes it a little bit tougher on them.”
During the regular season, the Blues defense ranked No. 3 in the NHL in goals (46) and No. 11 in points (171), according to Stat Muse.
Early in this playoff series, they weren’t generating the chances that led to production from the back end, but they are now.
“Yeah, I think by them moving their feet, they get more into a rhythm of the game, and they end up getting open looks, especially in the offensive zone,” Montgomery said. “I thought we were standing still a lot in Winnipeg, and as a team, if we’re moving our feet and getting to goal lines, then we’re getting numbers on the puck and we’re able to go low-to-high. Our defensemen have a little more time if they’re moving their feet to get to middle ice.”
On the Blues’ second and fourth goals Sunday, they worked the puck low-to-high to set up one-timers from Tyler Tucker and Faulk. On Faulk’s goal, Neighbours made the play to the point.
“That’s when we’re at our best, when we’re connected as five-man units,” Neighbours said. “The last two games our D have been phenomenal in the O-zone, shooting a lot of pucks. That’s something we were missing in the first couple of games, just that shot mentality from up top and getting people there. The D-men have done a great job of being shot-ready and putting themselves in positions to get those shots off and get them through.”
FAULK’N RIGHT! pic.twitter.com/DmFm3GaxF4
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 27, 2025
The fact that Blues defensemen are clicking well made it tough to see Tucker being helped off the ice later in the game not putting much weight on his right leg.
“I don’t have an update,” Montgomery said afterwards. “His goal was huge for us getting a lead and being able to play with the lead. I thought he was really aggressive tonight. I thought that was his best game of the three games.
“His ability, I’ve said it many times, but he’s a really good offensive defenseman and it shows with how he gets shots off. They don’t get blocked because he puts himself in a shot-ready mindset.”
Parayko added: “He’s been a big part of this team for a long time. He’s a great player, a great defender, and we’re lucky to have him. Just hope everything is OK.”
Just a few days ago, Blues fans were hoping they would be OK after falling behind two games to none in the series, and they responded with their 13th and 14th straight wins on home ice.
Interestingly, the players likened the situation coming home earlier this week to when they were coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off eight points back of a playoff spot.
“We were down and out a long time ago, and our mentality was to keep playing hard, keep playing for one another and just worry about the little details and habits that are going to win you hockey games,” Schenn said. “That’s kind of what we did after Game 2, just rely on one another to do your job, and that’s been getting us results for a couple months now.”
“We knew where we were,” Faulk said. “We had a job to do when we came back. Obviously, the first one went pretty well, and we knew we had to try and recreate that again today. We wanted to get back even in the series and that’s where we are. It’s three games now — series tied up — and we’ve got to keep playing well.”
As the Blues came off the ice Sunday, they were met by a former teammate and friend who’s now their hype man.
“Obviously a little emotion, taking you back to 2019, being from St. Louis, being a huge Blues fan my whole life, and just being part of this — to do it in the playoffs, it’s so much fun,” Maroon said. “Just putting the jersey back on again and supporting them is the most important thing. To wear the Blue Note again, that was really special. I had to (chug the beer). It was too early, but I figured I’ve got to get the crowd going.”
LET’S GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! #WeAllBleedBlue pic.twitter.com/DyBVQ8WTcW
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 27, 2025
Schenn didn’t see Maroon chug the beer, but said he’d go find the video somewhere.
“That’s what St. Louis is all about,” he said. “Guys care that they played for this team. They show up and just embrace fun moments around the hockey rink.”
(Photo of Jake Neighbours’ goal: Jeff Le / Imagn Images)