By Canadian Press

Connor scores in OT as Jets beat Blues 2-1 to even series

Apr 16, 2019 | 11:08 PM

ST. LOUIS — Kyle Connor scored 6:02 into overtime and the Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Tuesday night to tie their best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series at two games apiece.

Mark Scheifele also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the Jets, who arrived in St. Louis down 2-0. It is the only first-round series in which the home team has failed to win a game.

Game 5 is Thursday night back in Winnipeg.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored and Jordan Binnington made 36 saves for the Blues.

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Connor ended it when he banged home a feed from Scheifele for his third goal in two games.

Tarasenko beat Hellebuyck with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle 35 seconds into the third period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. The power-play goal, Tarasenko’s eighth career in the post-season, moved him into a tie with Brian Sutter and Al MacInnis for fourth in franchise history.

Scheifele tied it at the 7:33 mark, tipping in a feed from Connor. It was Scheifele’s second goal of the series.

After a slow start in Game 3, the Blues came out strong in the first period. They built an 8-0 advantage in shots on goal as it took the Jets almost 11 minutes to test Binnington, who came up with a couple of saves on a Winnipeg power play to keep the game scoreless.

Pat Maroon had a pair of chances to give the Blues the lead in the second period, hitting the post off a pass from Tyler Bozak and getting stopped by Hellebuyck on a partial break.

Binnington came up big on a point-blank chance from Scheifele early in the second, and Brandon Tanev hit the crossbar on a breakaway midway through the period.

FACE IN THE CROWD

Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky took in the game. Gretzky played in 18 regular-season games for the Blues in 1996.

NOTES: Blues LW Robby Fabbri saw his first post-season action on a line with RW Alexander Steen and C Ivan Barbashev. . Jets D Dustin Byfuglien had his eight-game playoff point streak snapped. . Binnington, who got an assist on David Perron’s first-period goal in Game 3, became the sixth Blues goaltender to record an assist in a playoff game and the first since Chris Osgood on April 12, 2004, vs. San Jose. . Jets RW Patrik Laine has scored in seven of nine career games at Enterprise Center.

UP NEXT

The series shifts back to Winnipeg for Game 5 on Thursday night.

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Joe Harris, The Associated Press