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WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Jordan Kyrou, the Blues leading scorer in the regular season with 36 goals, has been quiet in the playoffs with just two goals in six games, one less than Nathan Walker and as many as Alexey Toropchenko.

Looking to get him going in a game where the Blues need him the most, Blues coach Jim Montgomery flipped him with Jimmy Snuggerud in practice Saturday before the team flew to Winnipeg for Game 7, putting him on the top line with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich and putting Snuggerud, who also has two goals in the series, with Brayden Schenn and Jake Neighbours. Montgomery said the switch isn’t definite, but it’s something he’s done on occasion in games but the group hasn’t practiced that way and he wanted to get some familiarity going.

Both of Kyrou’s goals this series came on the power play. His expected goals total at is third-best on the team, behind Schenn and Neighbours.

“He leads our team in 5-on-5 scoring chances as we track them, so he is getting his opportunities or he is setting people up,” Montgomery said. “The puck hasn’t gone into the net.

“I thought last game he skated really well. You can tell that he’s really close to just separating. He’s getting a lot of edge rushes, he’s making plays. He skated really well last night. With his talent, it’s just a matter of time.”

Scheifele skates

Jets center Mark Scheifele, who missed Game 6 after taking two solid hits in Game 5, skated in a track suit on Saturday.

“Yeah, that’s a great sign,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “Obviously, a great sign. Feels a lot better today than he did yesterday. He wanted to go out and see how he felt and we’ll move forward. He’ll be a game-time decision.”

With Scheifele out in Game 6, Vladislav Namestnikov centered the top line with Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi and the trio combined for just seven shot attempts.

“When you lose your No. 1 centerman, that’s tough to replace,” Arniel said. “I thought Game 5 those guys all, everybody, stepped up. There were 30 minutes there was a lot of things I liked that we did. We came unglued there for stretches in that second part. But at the end of the day, there’s nothing we can do about it. We’ll see how Mark is. Progression today. Might be in there tomorrow. We’ll wait and see. But at the end of the day that’s just part of what happens in playoff hockey. If you want to move on you’ve got to step up. Everybody needs to step up and do a little bit more. And sometimes you’ve got to come outside of your skin a little bit and do something that maybe you’re not necessarily known to do. But hopefully that helps us have the winning result.”

History lessons

The Blues have won four consecutive Game 7s, and can become the fifth NHL team to win five in a row. Four teams have won six in a row: Carolina (2006-22), New York Rangers (2012-15), Boston (1983-94) and Detroit (1949-64). The Jets have played in one Game 7, in the second round of 2018, and won 5-1 at Nashville.

The past four teams to take a Presidents’ Trophy winning team to seven games have won: Florida in the first round in 2023 at Boston; Winnipeg in the series against Nashville; Pittsburgh in the second round in 2017 at Washington and Tampa Bay in the 2015 conference final at the Rangers. Presidents’ Trophy winners have lost seven of the past 10 over the past 20 years, though overall, Presidents’ Trophy winners are 14-11 in Game 7s, with a 4-3 record in the opening round.

Coach talk

Montgomery got to meet with ex-NFL coach and TV commentator Jon Gruden, who was on hand for Game 6, prior to the game.

“I was a big fan because of the HBO ‘Hard Knocks’ that I’ve seen him be on,” Montgomery said. “His championship team in Tampa Bay, how he interacts with his players. I think it’s honest communication that up front, whether it’s good or bad. That’s just something I appreciate and learn from.

“I did get to talk to him. I asked him some questions. I didn’t get to talk to him one-on-one enough ... there are things we can always learn from other sports. For them, game management, clock management, is at another level than we’re at. We’ve got one timeout and they’ve got all those things going on, they’ve got the two-minute drill, stuff you can learn from.

“I didn’t get to ask those questions, but he had some great Al Davis stories.”

Those are the rules

Even though the Blues’ challenge wiped out Winnipeg’s goal early in the second period, Justin Faulk’s hooking penalty, which occurred after the offside, still counted, giving the Jets a power play even though, by logic, the play was dead at the point of the offside.

“It’s in the rule book,” Montgomery said. “Not only does the penalty still count, which common sense tells you it shouldn’t count, but the faceoff’s still on the offside goes into the offensive zone. It’s in the rule book. Dickie Dunn wrote it.”

Dickie Dunn is a fictional sportswriter in the movie “Slap Shot” played by M. Emmet Walsh.