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WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Considering how much Jimmy Snuggerud’s life has changed in the past month, being moved from the second line to the first line for the Blues ahead of Game 2 of their playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets is nothing.

On March 27, Snuggerud played his last collegiate game, a 5-4 overtime loss by Minnesota to Massachusetts in Fargo, North Dakota, and there he was on April 19, just three weeks later, suiting up for a game in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“Honestly, it's kind of flying by,” he said Monday morning, “and I'm just trying to enjoy every single moment. It's buzzing by pretty quick, and I'm just trying to stay in the moment and have fun with it.”

For a hockey guy who grew up in a hockey family, how can this not be fun?

“This is what you want as a hockey player,” he said. “This is what you dream of. These are situations you want to be in, and you have to make the most of them as a player for sure. Being able to possibly clinch a playoff spot and going through that, and now playing in one of the loudest rinks in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s kind of a moment that you have to step back to take in. But these are important games for the franchise itself and the guys in this locker room. So it’s a fun moment.”

Snuggerud played in seven regular-season games with the Blues after his college season ended, with a goal and three assists. In Game 1, he played 15:49 with one shot on goal and another shot that was blocked.

Plus, he got an eye-opening look at the NHL playoffs.

“It’s different from even the regular season,” he said. “Watching the first shift and the physicality — (Brayden) Schenn had, what, seven hits in the first period? When your captain’s doing that, you want to follow that as a younger guy. It was cool to jump over the boards, hear the crowd, but at the end of the day it’s just another hockey game that you want to win. ... I mean maybe the (NCAA) national championship is the closest to it, but I wouldn’t say it’s close. It’s something I've never seen before.”

Blues coach Jim Montgomery made one switch to his lineup for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series on Monday, moving Snuggerud up to the top line alongside Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich while moving Jake Neighbours down to a line with Schenn and Jordan Kyrou.

“Hopefully (it will) create a little more offense,” Montgomery said. “That's what we're looking at, and give us better defensive positioning with our top two lines.”

Montgomery has yet to find a spot he can’t put Snuggerud in.

“Snuggerud as a player,” Montgomery said, “ever since he got here, since his first practice, his first game and as he gets more accustomed, he just gets better and better, and he's looked like he belongs in the league from his first practice, and he's never done anything to show that he doesn't belong in the league. That's why he plays a lot.”

“You always try to envision good things in your mind,” Snuggerud said. “It's something you dream about, and something that I've dreamed about for a while is being here and doing this. I’d say, the players I've been able to play with, it's been really fortunate enough for me. It's obviously surprising, like just being in this atmosphere, but I feel like you dream of these moments, and now you're in them. So it's fun to be in this moment.”

So the line change was no big deal for him.

“I think it’s just kind of knowing who I’m playing with going into the game,” he said. “Play hard, play physical, try and make plays during the game and try and get shots off. I’m playing with really good hockey players, so I need to know my role and move on with it.”

Tucker gets in

Defenseman Tyler Tucker got in his first NHL playoff game Monday as Montgomery chose to go with seven defensemen and 11 forwards. It's the first time this season Montgomery has gone with that configuration.

Mathieu Joseph, who was on the third line in warmups, came out of the lineup. He had the least time of any forward in Game 1, 11:50. 

Tucker played 35 games in the regular season, with three goals, four assists and 55 penalty minutes. Except for a brief stretch in February and March, Tucker was in the lineup almost every game since his call-up in mid-December, but with everyone healthy, he came out of the lineup.

With two off days before the next game, there's less of a risk of overworking forwards in Game 2. 

Family affair

Brayden Schenn played 14:43 in Game 1 and his brother Luke played 16:21, but they both were on the ice at the same time for just 3:01.

“A lot harder (on their parents) than what it was on me and Luke, put it that way,” Brayden said. “One team scores and they don’t know whether to cheer or not to cheer. Like I said, it’s not about me and Luke, it’s about Blues vs. Jets and that’s the way we’re going to keep it.”

The brothers aren’t talking for the duration of the series.

“Yeah, we’re not,” Brayden said. “Like I said, I don’t really want to talk about me and Luke anymore. I want to talk about the series. We’re competitors, and we’re going to leave it at that.”