Blues were not great through 40. In the 3rd they improved, but I think that period was more so lost by the Jets than it was won by the Blues. The Jets were making a significant amount of mistakes in their own end, and the Blues began to capitalize. The Blues weren't playing like they normally do even in the 3rd, except for the Bozak line (and even then, Thomas had a pretty rough game (probably nerves)). Hopefully all 4 of the Blues lines start playing at the level they normally do in game 2. I guess it's encouraging that we got a win out of game 1 despite not playing our best. Binnington and Bozak/Maroon really saved us. Parayko was pretty good too. It's important that we continue to stay out of the box. I don't want the Jets' powerplay to burn us. The Jets PK also completely shut our PP down. They did a great job of denying zone entries. Hellebuyck and the Jets' defense was very good as well.
Before the series, I predicted defense and special teams would be the big deciding factors, with goaltending being a wild card. I think the offense of both teams will continue to be fairly even like it was in game 1. If the games become defensive and smothering, it benefits the Blues. If the game opens up and becomes high-flying offense vs. offense, that benefits the Jets. I think game 1 was more of the former. Both teams were playing pretty solid defense, until the Jets started slipping up in the third.