WINNIPEG — The word clutch is thrown around a lot this time of year. 

Hockey is a game of inches and in the playoffs those margins narrow. Teams need their best players to deliver when their backs are against the wall. 

“Tonight was a perfect example of our stars being our stars,” Adam Lowry said.

Scheifele and Connor each finished the night with a goal and two assists, connecting on the game-winning goal. It was a vintage sequence by one of the NHL’s most dynamic duos. With 1:36 remaining in the third period and the game deadlocked 3-3, Scheifele fed Connor with a cross-ice seam pass that found the latter in his sweet spot. 

“The top players, especially offensive guys, they have a knack for finding holes,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. 

“There are guys with a ton of skill and then there are guys who are smart. They have both,” Connor Hellebuyck said. “And when you put them together, they use both. That’s what makes them so elite together.” 

It was another one of those instances that showed why the two have been inseparable since Connor broke into the league in 2016.

“They read off each other,” Lowry said. “KC’s got such a deceptive release. He gets his shot off in traffic, he’s able to get separation when it seems like there’s not a lot of space. And then Scheif’s so cerebral that he’s able to buy time.”

But that goal was all the more impressive given what the two had been fighting through all game. As the Blues clamped down on them, Winnipeg’s star forwards didn’t defer to the perimeter, attempt toe-drag dekes or overthink plays. They kept attacking off the cycle. When they didn’t have the puck, Scheifele and Connor — along with Alex Iafallo, who was terrific again — worked hard to get it back. And they did so while going toe-to-toe against St. Louis’ first line of Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich and Jake Neighbours.

“That’s part of what we have talked about all year long,” Arniel said. “No matter who you are, there’s a way to play without the puck and the buy-in we’ve gotten from our top guys has obviously helped us have success defensively. That was a good matchup. They had some looks, that line had some looks obviously. But that’s what it’s going to be. They’re going to have to do it, could be possibly six more times. When you go head-to-head against top players, you have to be at your best.”

Especially given the uncertainty surrounding injuries to Gabriel Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers. 

Winnipeg has executed a next-man mentality all year — just look at how Iafallo has fared — but the loss of two top-six pieces puts further onus on Scheifele and Connor. For a team that strives to out-edge teams 2-1 rather than 7-6, the Jets’ top two scorers are going to be the team’s x-factors down the stretch.

All year long, we’ve talked a lot about this team’s response. 

It’s something they’ve prided themselves on and Game 1 was another great example. Winnipeg started sloppy in the first period. Maybe it was a byproduct of nerves, given how intense the whiteout crowd was, but the Blues, to their credit, came out guns blazing and finished nearly every single hit they could. 

But that all changed in the second, when the Jets out-chanced the Blues 7-3 during five-on-five play.

“I really thought in the second period we got to our game,” Connor said. “That’s Winnipeg Jets hockey where you’re rolling around the O-zone, getting possession, early changes, getting the next line out there, keep doing it, hemming teams in. The rush really wasn’t there. I thought they did a great job with their F3. Obviously, we talked about that and they don’t want to give anything up. So, just getting through the neutral zone, being simple if the play’s there. If not, make those D turn and get it back on the forecheck.”

Given how he’s supported Scheifele and Connor, maybe Iafallo remains on the top line even once Vilardi returns. 

“He can do it all,” Connor said. “He’s such a big asset for our team and he comes into our line and doesn’t change a thing, plays the same exact way, wins a ton of battles. I think he’s one of the best defenders on our team, backchecks really hard, great stick. Seems like he’s knocking the puck down every chance he can get. He’s got a knack around the net and you’ve seen that the past 20 games or however long he’s been with us. It translates to play off hockey.”

Not only did Iafallo score the tying goal but he exhibited a level of bite to his game we haven’t seen before. He’s always aggressive in the hard areas but the way he was involved in extracurriculars — like going after Zachary Bolduc after the Blues forward hit him from behind —  gives the Jets’ first line a little bit of sandpaper against a tight-checking opponent.

• Safe to assume the chippiness in Game 1 — the 86 combined hits, the scrum in the final minute of the third — will foreshadow the rest of the series. The Blues won the hit battle 53-33, although that underscores how the Jets were able to impose their will in other ways. 

“We want to be a fast forechecking team, heavy, hard to play against. But we don’t need to chase hits,” Lowry said. “I think anytime a team’s chasing hits you can get them out of position.”

• Jordan Binnington skated up to the blue line while chaos ensued late in the third period. Did Connor Hellebuyck consider what looked to be an invitation for a goalie fight? 

“A goalie fight in playoffs would be dumb,” Hellebuyck said. “That would just be dumb.”

• That was a master-class performance by the Jets’ fourth line of David Gustafsson, Morgan Barron and Jarret Anderson-Dolan. The trio controlled 75.6 per cent of the expected goals share, combined for four hits and generated Winnipeg’s second goal — a double-tip from Barron and Anderson-Dolan that the latter was credited with, despite both players celebrating.

“Like it has been all year long, it’s all four lines, it’s all of our D contributing,” Arniel said. “We roll well when everybody is a part of it. That’s kind of what we got tonight.”