Never mind the 8 seed; St Louis is a different team since Jim Montgomery took over behind the bench. Montgomery's hire lent structure to the defense, and let's not forget what Jordan Binnington did in goal in the 2019 playoffs (remember?). Meanwhile, Winnipeg won the poisoned chalice of the President's Trophy, as only 8 of 39 winners since inception have gone to win the Stanley Cup, and since 2014, none have even reached the finals. Winnipeg has been a playoff underachiever, too, eliminated in five games each of the past two seasons, as Connor Hellebuyck's regular-season form in goal hasn't translated to the postseason. The pressure is on the Jets; let's see them prove this spring is different. Play Blues on Money Line

Just can't go against Connor Hellebuyck at home, where the American sure-fire Vezina winner (for the third time) was an absurd 27-3-3 with a 1.63 GAA, .938 SV and six shutouts this regular season. That's not bad. I think he'll be a bit extra fired up to beat the Blues' Jordan Binnington because it was Binnington in net for Team Canada when they beat Team USA and Hellebuyck in the 4 Nations final. There seems to be some concern that Blues leading scorer Robert Thomas might sit out after getting hurt in the RS finale. Winnipeg won the RS series 3-1, including 3-1 at home as recently as April 7. Least we don't have to worry about shootout nonsense going forward.