Cam Fowler is happy to be back in the playoffs and he’s a big reason the St. Louis Blues are on the board in their Western Conference first-round series against the Winnipeg Jets.
Fowler, who spent his entire 15-season career with the Anaheim Ducks until he was traded to the Blues on Dec. 14, had a goal and four assists in St. Louis’ 7-2 Game 3 win Thursday night at home.
The five points set a franchise record for a playoff game by a defenseman – erasing the mark by Brian Benning, who had four assists in a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 11, 1987.
The 33-year-old Fowler also enabled the Blues to cut their series deficit to 2-1 entering Sunday’s Game 4 in St. Louis.
“I’m thankful, I’m happy that I was able to contribute and help our team get a win,” Fowler 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.”
Fowler last made the playoffs with the Ducks in 2017-18, when Anaheim was eliminated in the first round.
Fowler had a hand in all three of the Blues’ goals in the first period on Thursday night. That included an end-to-end dash when he raced from deep in the defensive zone into the slot to accept a pass from Robert Thomas (four assists) and beat goalie Connor Hellebuyck high on the glove side.
“His patience, he’s finding a lot of plays,” Thomas said of Fowler. “He’s been a great player for us. We’re so excited to have him. And he plays tough minutes against top lines and finds a way to be patient with the puck and really quarterbacks our power play and makes it click. So he’s been awesome.”
Pavel Buchnevich had his first Stanley Cup playoff hat trick and an assist and Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Colton Parayko — Fowler’s defense partner — also scored for St. Louis in the win. Jordan Binnington made 17 saves.
David Gustafsson and Neal Pionk scored for the Jets and Hellebuyck allowed six goals on 25 shots before being lifted in favor of Eric Comrie, who gave up a goal on three shots.
“It’s one game,” said Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel. “We lost one game. Whether it’s 7-2 or 1-0, we lost one game in this series. We lost the game in the first period. They scored two goals in the first three minutes, got on our heels, crowd got behind them. We were terrible in the first period. Game was over in the first.”
Winnipeg won the Presidents’ Trophy as the team with the best record in the NHL and are the top seed in the Western Conference. The Blues are the second wild-card team in the Western Conference.
