Blues’ statement win: Pavel Buchnevich’s hat trick, Cam Fowler’s 5-point night and more

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ST. LOUIS — Pavel Buchnevich will talk with a reporter longer than most players, discussing the X’s and O’ with passion, not to mention a few curse words.

That was the scene at his locker Wednesday at the St. Louis Blues’ practice facility. The team had just come off the ice, and there were plenty of questions about being down two games to none in its Western Conference quarterfinal series against the Winnipeg Jets. Buchnevich once again was offering details about how the Blues could crack through on offense and finally get their first win.

It wasn’t lip service. It was a player wanting to be part of the solution.

A little over 24 hours later, St. Louis not only got on the scoreboard and back in the series, but Buchnevich had his first-career NHL playoff hat trick. He scored the two fastest goals by one player from the start of a game in Blues’ playoff history, and finished it off with his third goal early in the third period.

Yet, as hundreds of hats landed on the ice at Enterprise Center to celebrate the moment, Buchnevich wasn’t satisfied.

“We just watch and be ready for the next shift,” he said.

Neither were the Blues, who added three more goals Thursday in a 7-2 rout of Winnipeg, which saw its lead in the best-of-seven series cut to two games to one. Game 4 is in St. Louis on Sunday.

It may go down as just one win for the Blues, but it was a statement; they’re not going along with the foregone conclusion that the favorite Jets will win the series.

In winning their 13th straight game on home ice, they chased goalie Connor Hellebuyck from the crease with six goals on 25 shots, their power play went three for eight and they had a playoff-record 63 hits in another physical battle.

“People are going to say what they want,” Blues goalie Jordan Binnington said. “We’ve had our backs against the wall for the last quarter of the season, so it’s a place where we’re comfortable being.”

To make those comments following Game 3, however, their top line of Buchnevich, Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud had to start matching the production of Winnipeg’s top trio of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Alex Iafallo. And with Thomas nursing an injury and Snuggerud suiting up in just his 10th NHL game, the pressure was building on Buchnevich.

It’s been a trying season for the 30-year-old, who signed a six-year, $48 million contract ($8 million AAV) in July. He started the year at center, and while it wasn’t his fault that the experiment failed, fans began to panic about his long-term deal when he had just 13 goals through the first 65 games of the regular season. He scored seven goals in the final 11 games to reach the 20-goal plateau, but when the Blues’ offense went silent again in the first two games of this series, his late-season production was forgotten.

“Offensively, I thought there was more in his game, and I thought he brought that tonight,” Montgomery said.

First career postseason hat tricks are #EasyToCelebrate@budlight | #stlblues pic.twitter.com/pdI8akFNQX

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 25, 2025

Just 48 seconds into Game 3, Buchnevich got the Blues on the board, and a few minutes later, at 3:11 of the first period, he had goals on his first two shifts for a 2-0 lead.

On the first goal, Buchnevich credited the Blues’ starting lineup of Radek Faksa, Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko for a physical first shift that got the crowd going.

“We just followed them,” Buchnevich said.

On the second goal, Buchnevich buried a rebound off a Cam Fowler shot on the power play.

“The crowd got nuts, and we kept going,” Buchnevich said.

That set the tone and the way the Blues would play in Game 3.

“That start was incredible,” Montgomery said. “What I liked was the fierce, competitive nature in our attitude for 60 minutes. We were aggressive, we did the things we wanted to do to make sure that we were going to get more scoring chances, and we did get more scoring chances.”

In the first two games, Winnipeg had a 20-7 advantage in high-danger scoring chances, but in Game 3, the Blues had a 9-4 edge.

Fowler, who would finish with five points, scored for a 3-0 lead in the first period.

“We had to step up,” Thomas, who notched four assists on the evening, said. “Their top players were contributing, and were a big reason for us going down 2-0 (in the series). But Buchy stepped up right away, came out flying, and made some great plays and got us off to a great start. He deserves a lot of credit.”

A lot of the credit, but not all of it.

The Blues kept Scheifele and Connor quiet all night with a group effort. Scheifele was -3 with just one shot on goal, while Connor was -4 with two shots. And after being hit by the Blues just once in Game 2, Scheifele was on the receiving end of seven hits in Game 3.

Jake Neighbours had nine of the Blues’ 63 hits.

“I thought we finished a lot of heavy checks,” Montgomery said. “I kind of wish we were playing in two nights (because) that’s where the benefit comes.”

In addition to his five-point night, Fowler and defensive partner Colton Parayko got the assignment of defending Scheifele’s line. They played more than eight minutes at five-on-five against the line and allowed just two shots.

“I told (Fowler) after the game, ‘Thank God you’re not in Anaheim anymore,’” Montgomery said.

Fowler downplayed the performance and just focused on the win.

“I’m happy that I was able to contribute and help our team,” he said. “It’s a special thing for me and having my family here and being back in the playoffs, but it’s over now. It was a special night, but all it really is is one game. It helped us get back in the series and now our attention has to shift to Sunday.”

That’s how the rest of the Blues were looking at Thursday’s win, too.

“It’s what we needed,” Thomas said. “It’s a long series, and we climbed back into it. But we’ve got to focus on Sunday and making sure we’re coming out the same way.”

As well as Buchnevich started the game, he finished that way, too, with four points, five shots on goal and six hits.

“Obviously, a special moment (with the hat trick),” Binnington said. “The crowd was loving Buchy. There are a lot of hats out there and it was just such a great atmosphere. You see the true fans we have in times like these. They understand the game, understand we’re putting in the effort, and when you have success like that, it’s great to appreciate that. But like he said, it’s just get back to work after that.”

These two guys looking for their favorite hat that they tossed on the ice celebrating Pavel Buchnevich’s hat trick. Hope you find it! #stlblues #Buchsession pic.twitter.com/tHIj7Ydeqk

— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) April 25, 2025

“The reason we’re in the playoffs is because those guys responded and took their game to another level,” Montgomery said. “We felt that we had to take our game to another level after losing the first two games and we did that. Now we’ve got to keep going. We know how good Winnipeg is.”

The question is, ‘Does the NHL know how good the Blues are?’ After losses in the first two games in the series, it seems like many had the Jets moving on.

“Both games were pretty close, one-goal games,” Buchnevich said. “We just got to focus on ourselves, and believe in our system, believe in our forecheck and keep going. We’re at home two games, we should win at home both, too. We’ll see what happens.”

(Photo: Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)

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