Blues vs. Jets: Philip Broberg's Third-Period Power-Play Blast Lifts St. Louis Past Winnipeg

Jim Montgomery has apparently run out of hockey comparisons for Philip Broberg. By Tuesday night the Blues coach was reaching for exotic sports cars and an NFL running back, and nobody in St. Louis was going to argue with him.

Broberg wound up from the high slot on the Blues' fifth power play of the night and buried a Robert Thomas feed at 8:47 of the third period, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 at Enterprise Center. He also started the play that produced the opening goal, finished with a game-high six shots on goal according to NHL.com, and Joel Hofer handled the rest with 32 saves as St. Louis opened a five-game homestand by snapping a two-game slide.

Snuggerud's Skate Opens the Scoring

For most of the first period this looked like a game that would belong to whoever made the first clean play. St. Louis made it at 12:30. Broberg threaded a seam pass to Dylan Holloway, Holloway sent the puck toward the middle, and it caromed off Jimmy Snuggerud's skate in the low slot and past Stuart Skinner. It will not be the prettiest goal Snuggerud scores this season, but it was his fifth of the year and his second straight game with one, per NHL.com.

Then the middle frame turned into a revolving door at the penalty box. Both teams took turns killing penalties, nobody cashed in, and whatever rhythm the game had built simply evaporated. "Second period, four penalties, whatever, it just kind of took the flow away, you kind of lose your bench a little bit," Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said.

Perfetti Answers, Then the Jets Blink

Snuggerud took a high-sticking minor late in the second, so Winnipeg opened the third with a few seconds of power-play time left. The Jets did not score on it, but they scored one second after it expired, which is a decent consolation prize. Cole Perfetti curled out from behind the net, collected a Gabriel Vilardi feed in the slot and beat Hofer low on the backhand, 32 seconds into the period. It was his sixth goal in nine games.

Then Dylan Samberg went to the box for tripping Otto Stenberg at 8:25, and the Blues needed just 22 seconds to make the Jets pay.

The Turning Point: Thomas Draws a Crowd, Broberg Lets It Rip

The winner was a lesson in gravity. Thomas had the puck, the Winnipeg penalty killers collapsed toward him, and Broberg drifted into the open ice above the faceoff circles. Thomas found him, and Broberg's slapper from the middle of the ice did the rest.

"Good pass and I just shot it," Broberg said. He also walked through why the lane opened, and it is basically the scouting report for every penalty kill that faces St. Louis from here on out. "You try to read where the PKers are and where it's open space and I think 'Tommer' takes a lot of attention to him there, so they drive to him, good pass and I just tried to hit the net there."

Montgomery's review was considerably more colorful. "I think he's gone from neutral to overdrive to Lamborghini style here in the last two games if you're comparing him to a race car," the coach said, before adding that Broberg's skating "reminds me of Adrian Peterson." That is what happens when a defenseman logs 23:41, scores the winner and sets up the opener: the normal adjectives stop working.

Hofer Holds the Fort

Winnipeg outshot St. Louis 33-28 and outhit the Blues 24-16, so this was not a night where the home team coasted. Hofer was the reason the Jets never found a second goal. He made four saves late after Winnipeg pulled Skinner for the extra attacker, according to NHL.com, and finished with a .970 save percentage.

NHL.com also noted it was Hofer's fourth win against his hometown team, and that he and Skinner were teammates with Swift Current of the Western Hockey League in 2017-18. "Any game in our division, especially hometown team, it obviously adds a little bit more," Hofer said.

Skinner stopped 26 of 28 shots. One goal went in off a skate and the other was a power-play bomb from a wide-open defenseman, so it is hard to pin this loss on the crease.

Star Watch

Philip Broberg: A goal, an assist, six shots and 23:41 of ice time. In a game where both offenses spent long stretches stuck in neutral, he kept finding fifth gear.

Robert Thomas: The primary assist on the winner, plus 12 faceoff wins. The AP noted Thomas now has 332 career assists, one shy of Brian Sutter for fourth on the Blues' list, and NHL.com added that he has 14 points in his past 11 games against Winnipeg.

Dylan Holloway: His assist on the opener stretched his point streak to five games, with seven points in that run, per NHL.com.

Cole Perfetti: Winnipeg's lone scorer, and not in a celebrating mood. "It would have been a lot better to come through (with) two points," he said.

Stats That Matter

• 1 for 5: The Blues' power-play line on the night. Four misses, one game-winner.
• 0 for 3: Winnipeg's power play, including the carryover chance to open the third.
• 33-28: The Jets' edge in shots on goal. Hofer erased all but one of theirs.
• 31-26: St. Louis' advantage in faceoff wins, with Thomas taking 12 of them.

What It Means

The Blues move to 4-4-1 with nine points and remain unbeaten in regulation at home at 2-0-1. St. Louis played six of its first eight games on the road and arrived on a two-game skid, so opening a five-game homestand with two points is exactly the reset a .500 team needed. Vegas visits on Thursday.

Winnipeg is in a rut. The Jets fall to 4-3-2 and have gone 0-2-1 over their past three games after a 4-1-1 start, and all three were one-goal results: a 4-3 loss at Chicago that still earned a point, a 3-2 home loss to Carolina, and now this. "Certainly we need to find a way to keep that game tied or get it tied back up again," Arniel said. Next up is a trip to Dallas on Thursday.

Closing Take

Montgomery compared Broberg to a Lamborghini and Adrian Peterson in the same breath, the kind of postgame riff that usually earns a laugh and a shrug. Watch the winner again, though. The Jets' penalty killers did exactly what they were taught against Thomas, and Broberg punished them anyway. When a defenseman starts skating "like he's mad," as his coach put it, the opponents usually end up the angry ones.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.