Jaden Schwartz scores natural hat trick as Blues eliminate Jets

From last overall to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With a chance to eliminate the Winnipeg Jets and buck the trend of road teams dominating in the series so far, Jaden Schwartz took care of all the scoring for the St. Louis Blues in a 3-2 victory in Game 6.

Schwartz chained together a natural hat trick with goals in the first, second, and the third period before Dustin Byfuglien and Bryan Little scored late for Winnipeg.

The hat trick marked Schwartz’s first-ever multi-goal performance in his 55 career games in the postseason, and it was sealed with a beauty:

Schwartz’s first goal came just 23 seconds into the contest, but his scoring binge actually began two nights earlier. Re-directing a hard pass at his knees by Connor Hellebuyck with 15 seconds remaining, Schwartz set the table for himself to shine in Saturday’s elimination contest by shocking the Jets with his late winner in Game 5.

He’s the third player to score four goals in succession for the Blues in the franchise’s playoff history.

More importantly, the Blues join the Colorado Avalanche as the only advancing parties so far in the Western Conference, which is becoming seemingly more winnable by the minute.

With the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars each one win away from advancing as well, it’s possible that the three teams with the worst records in the playoffs will be all that stands in St. Louis’s way of returning to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 49 years.

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