Kyrou, Joseph help Blues to lead over Jets after first period of Game 7
Published
Jordan Kyrou and Mathieu Joseph scored in the first period to help the St. Louis Blues to a 2-0 lead over the Winnipeg Jets after 20 minutes of play in Game 7 of their first-round series on Sunday.
Kyrou opened the scoring 1:10 into the frame, giving the Blues a 1-0 lead.
The 26-year-old forward passed the puck to a driving Colton Parayko, who passed it back to Kyrou for the goal.
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck slid to his post on the pass to Parayko before losing his balance when shifting back to the centre of the net. Pavel Buchnevich recorded the secondary assist on the play.
St. Louis doubled their lead minutes later with Joseph’s first goal of the playoffs, coming at the 7:16 mark of the first.
Kyle Connor turned the puck over before Joseph collected it and skated past multiple defenders into Winnipeg’s zone.
Joseph would then rifle a shot over Hellebuyck’s short side, beating the two-time Vezina winner for a 2-0 lead.
Blues goalie Jordan Binnington saved all three shots he faced in the opening period, while Hellebuyck allowed two goals on seven shots.
Jets blueliner Josh Morrissey headed back to the dressing room after a hard hit along the boards from Oskar Sundqvist. He returned to the ice on his shift, which resulted in Joseph's goal.
Morrissey returned to the bench in pain before heading to the Jets' dressing room.
The winner of Game 7 will advance to the second round to face the Dallas Stars, who were victorious in their own win-or-go-home game against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.