St. Louis Blues forwards Pavel Buchnevich (89) and Robert Thomas (18) watch as the hats come down at Enterprise Center Thursday after Buchnevich scored three times in a 7-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets. (Jeff Curry-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/dae24ddc-7454-46fc-a8e6-8e818cfb2693.jpeg] St. Louis Blues forwards Pavel Buchnevich (89) and Robert Thomas (18) watch as the hats come down at Enterprise Center Thursday after Buchnevich scored three times in a 7-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets. (Jeff Curry-Imagn Images) ST. LOUIS -- Brett Hull is known as the greatest goal scorer in St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] history. But even 'The Golden Brett' was never able to accomplish a feat that Pavel Buchnevich pulled off for the Blues on Thursday in a 7-2 win [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/three-takeaways-from-blues-7-2-win-against-jets-in-game-3-of-western-conference-first-round] against the Winnipeg Jets [http://thn.com/winnipeg] in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round. Hull had 27 hat tricks in his Blues career, but shockingly, none of them came in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Buchnevich became the first Blue since Vladimir Tarasenko on May 5, 2022 in a 5-2 win against the Minnesota Wild [http://thn.com/minnesota] to record a hat trick. It was the franchise's 18th all-time. Buchnevich, who had only one playoff goal for the Blues in 22 previous playoff games, scored his first two goals in the first 3:11 of the game, then completed the hat trick to give the Blues a 4-1 lead in the third period, helping them get back into the series, which Winnipeg leads 2-1. When Buchnevich curled in a backhand into am empty cage, the hats reigned down. "I didn’t really look at it," Buchnevich said. "'Tommer' kind of tried to calm me down and we just stand and watch and be ready for the next shift. I don’t really pay attention." It was the first Blues home hat trick since Jaden Schwartz did it, also against the Jets in a 3-2 win in Game 6 of the first round on April 20, 2019. "It’s amazing. 'Buchy' is a heart-and-soul guy," Blues defenseman Cam Fowler said. "He’s a huge part of our team, a huge part of our locker room, a huge part of why we were able to get a win tonight. A special night for him. It’s not something that comes around very often to get the chance to score three goals in a playoff game. I know he’ll tell you the team getting the win means more to him as well and that’s the mindset that we have to have, but it was a special night for him and he should enjoy it." Blues center Robert Thomas, who assisted on the hat trick goal, said, "We had to step up. Their top players were contributing, and they were a big reason for us going down 2-0 and 'Buchy' stepped up right away, came out flying, and made some great plays and got us off to a great start. So he deserves a lot of credit. "He provides a lot for our team, and he was the spark tonight that really got us going. So he was awesome all night. "We were frustrated with the way we played the first two games, and wanted to respond and he did a great job." Prior to Game 3, Buchnevich had just one shot on goal through the first two games and Blues fans were quick to jump out and complain about his lack of offensive production. "I thought 'Buchy' has been good in the first two games, especially defensively," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "But offensively, I thought there was more in his game, and I thought he brought that tonight." When the Blues talked about getting more opportunities at the net front, Buchnevich was front and center. "I don’t really know how to describe it," Buchnevich said. "Just a crazy, emotional start. We throw the puck at the net, we got the rebound and when you score the first goal, the game opens up and we got the second one right away. It’s a little bit easier to play with the lead, so we’ve got to score first and it’ll be easier to play."
