Blues' Montgomery: Jets 'were better than us' in Game 5
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St. Louis Blues head coach Jim Montgomery is ready to move on after his team’s 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 Wednesday night.
The Blues tied the game 2-2 early in the second period on a goal from rookie Jimmy Snuggerud but the Jets took over from there, scoring three straight goals. After mustering just nine shots through the first two periods, the Blues had 10 shots in the third period and other than a last-minute goal from forward Nathan Walker, St. Louis couldn’t make a comeback.
“They were better than us,” Montgomery said after the game. “There’s a lot of facets but we’re onto the next one. It’s a playoff series — I thought that was their best game, thought it was our worst game, we’re onto the next one. We can analyze every part of it — they were better. So, we’re onto the next one.”
The win gave the Jets a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6 as the action shifts back to St. Louis on Friday night.
In this series, the home team has won every game. The Jets jumped out to a 2-0 series lead with Games 1 and 2 in Winnipeg. In Games 3 and 4 in St. Louis, the Blues dominated with a pair of 7-2 and 5-1 wins respectively. St. Louis is hoping to break the pattern to stay alive in the series.
“They’re a good team but we’ve played some good hockey at home for a couple of months now, so we’re comfortable there and the fans are behind us,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “We played well in Games 3 and 4. You knew it was going to be a tough series. They’re a good team, a lot of back-and-forth and momentum swings. So far, the road team hasn’t been able to get the job done. It’s our turn to get one at home now.”
Montgomery says his team has to be better in all facets heading into Game 6.
“We’ve got to be more connected. I didn’t think our puck support was good enough, I didn’t think we got back quick enough, I didn’t think we won our forecheck, we didn’t establish it. Like I said, it’s every facet,” Montgomery said. “But you know what, it’s a series. It’s going to happen. Unfortunately, we’re not happy about it but we’re onto the next one. It’s as simple as that. We’ve got to forget about it. We’re in a series.”