Kyle Connor has a goal, 2 assists to lead Jets to 5-3 win over Blues for 3-2 series lead

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Kyle Connor had a goal and two assists and the Winnipeg Jets overcame the loss of star center Mark Scheifele to beat the St. Louis Blues 5-3 on Wednesday night and take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

The Jets lost Scheifele after he was crushed into the boards by Brayden Schenn early in the opening period.

Vladislav Namestnikov, who replaced Scheifele on the top line, had a goal and an assist.

“When things don’t go your way, we lost (Scheifele), people have to step up. So I think as a team we stepped up today and got the win,” Namestnikov said.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel had no postgame updates on Scheifele and couldn’t say if he would make the trip to St. Louis for Game 6 on Friday.

Nino Niederreiter also had a goal and assist. Dylan DeMelo and Adam Lowry had goals while Mason Appleton had three assists.

Connor Hellebuyck made 16 saves for Winnipeg, which had top-line winger Gabriel Vilardi back in action after missing 15 games with an upper-body injury.

“Really proud of the effort,” said Lowry, who scored an empty-netter. “Sometimes when you lose your No. 1 center, you lose a key piece to your lineup there can be a bit of a sag, an emotional letdown. But you know, I thought the guys really rallied around it.”

Nathan Walker scored twice and rookie Jimmy Snuggerud also had a goal for the Blues. Jordan Binnington stopped 21 shots.

“They’re a good team, but we’ve played some good hockey at home for a couple of months now, so we’re comfortable there and fans (are) behind us,” Schenn said.

After being outscored 12-3 in two losses in St. Louis, the Jets jumped to a 1-0 lead 1:23 into the first period.

Scheifele sent the puck from behind the net out to Connor, who snapped it past Binnington.

The Blues responded when Walker stayed in front of Hellebuyck and tipped in a point shot from Colton Parayko at 3:42.

St. Louis defenseman Cam Fowler also picked up an assist, extending his point streak to five games with one goal and eight assists.

Winnipeg got the game’s first power play after Schenn crushed Scheifele. He was called for interference and then roughing after Jets forward Brandon Tanev defended his teammate.

Twenty-seven seconds after Schenn’s extra penalty expired, Niederreiter tipped in Dylan Samberg's shot at 8:39.

Both teams took four penalties, and had 17 hits each.

After the Jets only got one shot on goal in their second power play, Snuggerud scored his second goal of the playoffs with a low shot that went between Hellebuyck’s left pad and the post at 6:06.

DeMelo scored Winnipeg’s first second-period goal of the series when his point shot went off the back of Parayko and into the net at 11:05.

Connor sent a backhand pass across the front of the net to a rushing Namestnikov, who made it 4-2 with 1:09 remaining in the second.

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Winnipeg Jets' Neal Pionk (4) defends against St. Louis Blues' Oskar Sundqvist (70) in front of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) during the third period of an NHL playoff game in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues' Nathan Walker (26) tips the puck past Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) for the goal as Nino Niederreiter (62) defends during first period NHL playoff action in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' Dylan DeMelo (2), Vladislav Namestnikov (7), Gabriel Vilardi (13) and Kyle Connor (81) celebrate DeMelo's goal against the St. Louis Blues during second period NHL playoff action in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' Nino Niederreiter (62) celebrates his goal against the St. Louis Blues during first period NHL playoff action in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' Morgan Barron (36) and St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas (18) collide during first period NHL playoff action in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' Nino Niederreiter (62) attempts to tip the puck past St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) as Justin Faulk (72) defends during second period NHL playoff action in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues' Nathan Walker (26) celebrates his goal against Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) during first period NHL playoff action in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues' Nathan Walker (26) tips the puck past Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) for the goal as Nino Niederreiter (62) defends during first period NHL playoff action in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to own Greenland. He has repeatedly said the United States must take control of the strategically located and mineral-rich island, which is a semiautonomous region that's part of NATO ally Denmark.

Officials from Denmark, Greenland and the United States met Thursday in Washington and will meet again next week to discuss a renewed push by the White House, which is considering a range of options, including using military force, to acquire the island.

Trump said Friday he is going to do “something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.”

If it's not done “the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way," he said without elaborating what that could entail. In an interview Thursday, he told The New York Times that he wants to own Greenland because “ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO, and Greenlanders say they don't want to become part of the U.S.

This is a look at some of the ways the U.S. could take control of Greenland and the potential challenges.

Trump and his officials have indicated they want to control Greenland to enhance American security and explore business and mining deals. But Imran Bayoumi, an associate director at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, said the sudden focus on Greenland is also the result of decades of neglect by several U.S. presidents towards Washington's position in the Arctic.

The current fixation is partly down to “the realization we need to increase our presence in the Arctic, and we don’t yet have the right strategy or vision to do so,” he said.

If the U.S. took control of Greenland by force, it would plunge NATO into a crisis, possibly an existential one.

While Greenland is the largest island in the world, it has a population of around 57,000 and doesn't have its own military. Defense is provided by Denmark, whose military is dwarfed by that of the U.S.

It's unclear how the remaining members of NATO would respond if the U.S. decided to forcibly take control of the island or if they would come to Denmark's aid.

“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen has said.

Trump said he needs control of the island to guarantee American security, citing the threat from Russian and Chinese ships in the region, but “it's not true” said Lin Mortensgaard, an expert on the international politics of the Arctic at the Danish Institute for International Studies, or DIIS.

While there are probably Russian submarines — as there are across the Arctic region — there are no surface vessels, Mortensgaard said. China has research vessels in the Central Arctic Ocean, and while the Chinese and Russian militaries have done joint military exercises in the Arctic, they have taken place closer to Alaska, she said.

Bayoumi, of the Atlantic Council, said he doubted Trump would take control of Greenland by force because it’s unpopular with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and would likely “fundamentally alter” U.S. relationships with allies worldwide.

The U.S. already has access to Greenland under a 1951 defense agreement, and Denmark and Greenland would be “quite happy” to accommodate a beefed up American military presence, Mortensgaard said.

For that reason, “blowing up the NATO alliance” for something Trump has already, doesn’t make sense, said Ulrik Pram Gad, an expert on Greenland at DIIS.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a select group of U.S. lawmakers this week that it was the Republican administration’s intention to eventually purchase Greenland, as opposed to using military force. Danish and Greenlandic officials have previously said the island isn't for sale.

It's not clear how much buying the island could cost, or if the U.S. would be buying it from Denmark or Greenland.

Washington also could boost its military presence in Greenland “through cooperation and diplomacy,” without taking it over, Bayoumi said.

One option could be for the U.S. to get a veto over security decisions made by the Greenlandic government, as it has in islands in the Pacific Ocean, Gad said.

Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands have a Compact of Free Association, or COFA, with the U.S.

That would give Washington the right to operate military bases and make decisions about the islands’ security in exchange for U.S. security guarantees and around $7 billion of yearly economic assistance, according to the Congressional Research Service.

It's not clear how much that would improve upon Washington's current security strategy. The U.S. already operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, and can bring as many troops as it wants under existing agreements.

Greenlandic politician Aaja Chemnitz told The Associated Press that Greenlanders want more rights, including independence, but don't want to become part of the U.S.

Gad suggested influence operations to persuade Greenlanders to join the U.S. would likely fail. He said that is because the community on the island is small and the language is “inaccessible.”

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen summoned the top U.S. official in Denmark in August to complain that “foreign actors” were seeking to influence the country’s future. Danish media reported that at least three people with connections to Trump carried out covert influence operations in Greenland.

Even if the U.S. managed to take control of Greenland, it would likely come with a large bill, Gad said. That’s because Greenlanders currently have Danish citizenship and access to the Danish welfare system, including free health care and schooling.

To match that, “Trump would have to build a welfare state for Greenlanders that he doesn’t want for his own citizens,” Gad said.

Since 1945, the American military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers over 17 bases and installations to 200 at the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest of the island, Rasmussen said last year. The base supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News on Thursday that Denmark has neglected its missile defense obligations in Greenland, but Mortensgaard said that it makes “little sense to criticize Denmark,” because the main reason why the U.S. operates the Pituffik base in the north of the island is to provide early detection of missiles.

The best outcome for Denmark would be to update the defense agreement, which allows the U.S. to have a military presence on the island and have Trump sign it with a “gold-plated signature,” Gad said.

But he suggested that's unlikely because Greenland is “handy” to the U.S president.

When Trump wants to change the news agenda — including distracting from domestic political problems — “he can just say the word ‘Greenland' and this starts all over again," Gad said.

CORRECT THE ORDER OF SPEAKERS, FILE - Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, right, and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, left, speak on April 27, 2025, in Marienborg, Denmark. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

FILE - Danish military forces participate in an exercise with hundreds of troops from several European NATO members in the Arctic Ocean in Nuuk, Greenland, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

President Donald Trump listens as he was speaking with reporters while in flight on Air Force One, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, as returning to Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrives for a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Tuesday, Jan.6, 2026. (Yoan Valat, Pool photo via AP)

FILE - A plane carrying Donald Trump Jr. lands in Nuuk, Greenland, Jan. 7, 2025. (Emil Stach/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, file)