Scheifele, Connor lead Jets to 2-1 win over Blues for 2-0 series lead

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mark Scheifele had a goal and assist, Kyle Connor scored his second consecutive game-winner in the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Monday night for a 2-0 lead in their opening-round playoff series.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 21 shots to help the Jets take a 2-0 playoff series lead for the first time in three seasons. The past two years, Winnipeg won the first game and then lost the next four to be eliminated.

“I don’t know if it’s a mental boost, but we’re aware of it coming into it,” Connor said. “I think over the past couple of years, this group is motivated.

“We talked about it over the offseason, we preached about it all year, it’s in this room. Everybody needs to be better, bear down, it’s dragging everybody into the fight. Yeah it’s a second win, but we’re not resting here. We’ve got a long ways to go.”

Taking a 2-0 lead in the series wasn’t cause for celebration by Jets coach Scott Arniel.

“This is all (about) Game 3 now,” Arniel said. “We’ll do our postgame work tomorrow or over the next couple of days here. The guys know how hard it is, now.”

Rookie Jimmy Snuggerud scored his first playoff goal and Jordan Binnington had 20 saves for the eighth-seeded Blues.

“Winnipeg has made one more play than us. Both games,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “Shots are dead even, so they’re just making one more play, and their best players are making them.”

St. Louis hosts Game 3 on Thursday.

Connor made it 2-1 at 1:43 of the third period after getting a feed out front by Cole Perfetti at the side of the net.

Scheifele escaped Blues defenseman Cam Fowler behind the St. Louis net and sent the puck to Perfetti to feed Connor.

“Scheif is so smart when it comes to that, body positioning, getting inside a guy or just making a little poke on the puck,” Perfetti said. “And he was able to get the guy’s stick and then make just a little poke. That was all that he needed for the puck to come to me and create that little bit of space.”

The Blues got their fourth straight power play six minutes later, but Winnipeg’s defenders killed it.

The Blues continued their hitting ways from the first game’s 5-3 loss and the Jets didn’t back down.

Within the first minute of Game 2, St. Louis skaters delivered five hits. Winnipeg responded with a pair of their own.

Jets 6-foot-7 defenseman Logan Stanley later crushed Jordan Kyrou into the boards. The forward carefully went to the bench with about seven minutes remaining in the period.

Blues captain Brayden Schenn, who had seven hits in the first period of Game 1, skated across the ice and flew into Jets captain Adam Lowry. He finished with four hits in the period.

“After the game you go home and you feel sore, but it’s a good sore, and a good tired,” said Jets defenseman Luke Schenn, who had seven hits. “You know, when you come away with the win, it obviously doesn’t hurt as much.”

Scheifele scored on a great effort to get around a St. Louis defender and then fired a backhand from the slot. The puck bounced off Snuggerud into the net with 3:28 left.

Winnipeg didn’t capitalize on two power plays, but the Blues cashed in on their first one.

Snuggerud made up for the earlier bad bounce by sending the puck high over Hellebuyck’s blocker side on the man advantage with 2 seconds remaining in the period to make it 1-1.

Montgomery flipped Snuggerud and left-winger Jake Neighbours for the game, moving the former University of Minnesota star from the second line to the top one with center Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. He said the motive was producing more offense.

Both teams tallied 16 hits each in the first period, and the Blues outshot the Jets 10-8.

St. Louis came up empty on two power plays in the second period and both teams fired seven shots at the goalies.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas (18) celebrates a goal on on Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) on a shot by Jimmy Snuggerud, not shown, during the first period of an NHL playoff game in Winnipeg, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues' Jimmy Snuggerud, left, celebrates after his goal against the Winnipeg Jets with Cam Fowler (17) during the first period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues' Brayden Schenn (10) checks Winnipeg Jets' Adam Lowry (17) during the first period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' David Gustafsson (19) carries the puck past St. Louis Blues' Justin Faulk (72) during the second period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues' Jake Neighbours, center, falls over Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, right, as he is checked by Winnipeg Jets' Adam Lowry (17) during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues' Jake Neighbours, center, falls over Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, right, as he is checked by Winnipeg Jets' Adam Lowry (17) during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) makes a save against Winnipeg Jets' Luke Schenn (5) as Blues' Justin Faulk (72) defends during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save against a St. Louis Blues shot during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, left, clears the puck away from Winnipeg Jets' Vladislav Namestnikov (7) during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save against St. Louis Blues' Jimmy Snuggerud (21) during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) celebrates his goal on St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) with teammates during the first period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' Kyle Connor (81) celebrates after his goal against the St. Louis Blues with Mark Scheifele (55) during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

MADRID (AP) — Coco Gauff overpowered defending champion Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-1 to reach the Madrid Open singles final for the first time Thursday.

Gauff broke Swiatek's serve three times in the first set and twice in the second to cruise to a 64-minute semifinal victory over the second-ranked Swiatek at the clay-court tournament.

Gauff will face top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-5 to reach the Madrid final for the fourth time in her career.

It was Gauff's first win over Swiatek on clay.

“The mentality that I had in the whole match was aggressive,” the fourth-ranked Gauff said. “Maybe it wasn't her best level today, but I think I forced her into some awkward positions.”

Swiatek had recovered from losing the first set 0-6 to Madison Keys on Wednesday.

“I couldn’t really get my level up,” the four-time French Open champion said. “Coco played good, but I think it’s on me that I didn’t really move well, I wasn’t ready to play back the shots with heaviness, and with that kind of game. It was pretty bad.”

The last time Swiatek won only two or fewer games in a match — on any surface — was a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham in 2019.

“For me," Gauff added, “it was just making sure my level stayed the same. In the second, I raised it.”

Sabalenka returned to the final after ending Svitolina's unbeaten run on clay this year — she was 9-0 on the surface in 2025, without losing a set.

Sabalenka won the title in Madrid in 2021 and 2023, and was runner-up to Swiatek last year.

Gauff is 5-4 against Sabalenka and won their only prior meeting on clay, in Rome in 2021. The American also won their most recent meeting, at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh.

By beating Svitolina, Sabalenka became the first player to obtain 30 main-draw wins at WTA events in 2025.

In the men's quarterfinals, Casper Ruud advanced by defeating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5 to become the first player born in 1990 or later to reach 30 tour-level semifinals on clay.

The 15th-ranked Norwegian had been 0-3 against Medvedev in his career.

“I looked at our stats last night and saw he beat me on grass, outdoor hard and indoor hard. The last surface was clay so I thought, ‘please don’t make it 4-0,’” Ruud said. “I tried to use the surface to my advantage. I thought the level was pretty good from both players, I was impressed with Daniil’s ability to produce power here on clay."

Ruud will next face Francisco Cerundolo, who rallied to defeat teenager Jakub Mensik 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Cerundolo had beaten top-seeded Alexander Zverev in the previous round.

In another quarterfinal, fifth-ranked Jack Draper defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-0, 6-4. Arnaldi had beaten Novak Djokovic in the second round. Draper will enter the top 5 in the rankings for the first time thanks to his run in Madrid. He will face 10th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, who beat Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-3.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts during her match against United States' Coco Gauff during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

United States' Coco Gauff serves against Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway, left, shakes hands after winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway celebrates after winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway returns the ball against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway returns the ball against against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Russia's Daniil Medvedev returns the ball against Casper Ruud of Norway during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Iga Swiatek of Poland leaves the court after losing against United States' Coco Gauff during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

United States' Coco Gauff returns the ball to Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

United States' Coco Gauff returns the ball against Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)