Jets End Blues' Historic Streak in Potential Playoff Preview

The Winnipeg Jets managed to cool down the hottest team in hockey.

Jon Alfano | Apr 8, 2025

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck blocks a shot from St. Louis Blues center Radek Faksa. / James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images

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The St. Louis Blues were the hottest team in hockey, winning a franchise-record 12 games in a row to vault themselves into the Western Conference playoff picture.

Then they ran into the Winnipeg Jets.

Winnipeg ended its Central Division rival's historic winning streak on Monday night, picking up a 3-1 victory at Canada Life Centre. Alex Iafallo scored the go-ahead goal at the 7:05 mark of the third period, and the Jets limited the Blues to just 15 shots on superstar goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

The Jets also denied the Blues a chance to clinch a playoff berth with the win.

“That was a really solid 60 minutes of going out in five-man units, outbattling them, and getting zone time on the opposition,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said, per NHL.com. "I thought all four lines won their matchups, along with the D-men, obviously. But yeah, you do that, you have 20 guys doing that, that's a tough team to beat."

With the win, the Jets strengthened their position atop the league standings, but they're not in the clear yet. They're still only five points ahead of the Dallas Stars, who are 7-1-2 in their past 10 games, for first place in the Central Division and the Western Conference as a whole. They're also just three points ahead of the Washington Capitals in the race for the President's Trophy.

“We’re still after something here, we’re still trying to get that division, and this was another step towards it,” Arniel said. "It’s amazing that we’re at [win] 53 and we still haven’t clinched the division. That’s how good our division is.”

On the other side, the Blues remain two points ahead of the Minnesota Wild for the first wild card spot, though they have one fewer game remaining. They have just three games remaining, two of which come against teams outside the playoff picture.

If the Blues do end up slipping to the second Wild Card and the Jets win the Central, then they would meet each other in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 2019, St. Louis, riding a similar second-half surge, opened the playoffs with a six-game series win over Winnipeg, so if they do meet again, it should be a highly-entertaining matchup.

“They’re very committed defensively, one of the best teams, and then they have one of the best, if not, well, [Hellebuyck is] going to win the Vezina this year,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “So, [it] speaks for itself. They've done a great job all year. They're the measuring stick in the West.”

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Published Apr 8, 2025

JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.