Kyle Connor had a goal and two assists for the Winnipeg Jets in a 5-3 win against the visiting St. Louis Blues in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round series Wednesday night.
The Jets own a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series heading to Game 6 on Friday in St. Louis.
Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter each had a goal and an assist, Mason Appleton had three assists and Connor Hellebuyck made 16 saves for the Jets, who bounced back from one-sided losses in Games 3 and 4 in St. Louis.
Nathan Walker scored two goals, Jimmy Snuggerud also scored in his 12th NHL game and Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for the Blues, the second wild-card team from the Western Conference.
The Jets scored three straight goals after Snuggerud tied it at 2 with a wrist shot from the right circle off the rush, slipping the puck between Hellebuyck and the near post at 6:06 of the second period.
A point shot by Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo deflected off St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko and into his own net to move the Jets back in front 3-2 at 11:05.
The Blues extended the lead to 4-2 at 18:59 of the second when Namestnikov scored off a backhand feed from Connor to finish off another rush.
Adam Lowry scored into an empty net with 3:13 remaining to make it 5-2.
Walker answered with a goal to cut it to 5-3 with 53 seconds left.
Winnipeg forward Gabriel Vilardi returned after missing 15 games with an upper-body injury and he took the first shot on goal before Connor scored on the second for a 1-0 lead at 1:23.
Appleton kicked the puck to teammate Mark Scheifele behind the St. Louis net and Scheifele passed it out front to Connor for a one-timer from the left hash marks.
The Blues quickly tied it at 1 at 3:42.
Walker was stationed in front of Hellebuyck when he tipped in a wrist shot by Parayko from above the right circle.
Niederreiter then pulled up in front of Binnington and tipped in a shot to move Winnipeg back ahead 2-1 at 8:39 of the first.
Scheifele did not return after the first period because of the effects of a hit by Brayden Schenn earlier in the period, resulting in an interference penalty on Schenn.
Scheifele was second on the Jets in goals (37) and points (87) during the regular season.
