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WINNIPEG, Manitoba — ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and Winnipeg are both known as the Gateway to the West in their respective nations, but other than the geography that earned the cities those nicknames and landed both in the NHL’s Central Division, the cities don’t have a whole lot in common.

But for the Blues in Game 5, they have to treat the cities as identical. If the Blues can channel the dominant ways they Games 3 and 4 in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ into Game 5 in Winnipeg, that will put them in a good position as the best-of-seven series abandons its leisurely pace and shifts into high gear as it goes from two games in eight days to potentially three in five days.

The Blues are coming off two resounding wins in Games 3 and 4 at Enterprise Center and now return to Winnipeg and the whiteout known as Canada Life Centre for Game 5 in another very late start on Wednesday with the series tied at 2-2. The winner will need just one more victory to advance to the second round, and if that winner is the Blues, it would mean a chance to do it in Game 6 at home on Friday, where the Blues just beat the Jets by a combined score of 12-3 in two games, something that may a bit to the pressure on the Jets, who saw their world-class goalie Connor Hellebuyck get pulled from Games 3 and 4 as the Blues’ goals piled up.

“I think we were playing to our strength,� said defenseman Philip Broberg of their successes. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I think just a lot of hard work. I think that’s where it starts. I think we’ve just got to bring that effort to the next one.�

“I think it’s more about focusing on us and the things we do that make us successful throughout the game,� said forward Jake Neighbours. “Get to that goal line, play in the O-zone, being hard to play against and controlling the middle of the ice. When we do that, we keep them to the outside and it creates a lot of success for us. Don’t give any great looks through the middle, no Grade A’s, things like that, helps us stay in the O-zone and generate offense.�

The Blues did that very well in Games 3 and 4 — extremely well in Game 3 — but heading back to Winnipeg also means giving up the home-ice advantage that looms larger than anything the fan base can provide — the ability to make the last line change, allowing the home team to get the matchups it wants.

“It’s advantageous,� Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “Every time there’s a whistle, you can get your matchup. Even between whistles, if they’re coming every three minutes, the matchups are set by the home team. It’s obviously hard, and you’ve got to ask your players to dig in and win whatever battle they have in front of them.�

“It helps, obviously, that’s the advantage you get of being the home team,� Neighbours said. “Against their top line, their top players, getting (Robert Thomas) out there against them, (Cam Fowler), (Colton) Parayko, obviously, that’s hard on a top line. Those guys take away a lot of time and space and they’re also very good offensively, so you have to worry about that as well. For the most part, Thommer is playing against (Mark) Scheifele a lot and in Winnipeg as well and the matchups are going to be pretty similar, so we feel pretty good about where we’re at.�

But without controlling the matchups, can the play of Games 3 and 4 be transferred to Game 5?

“If Scott Arniel (the Winnipeg coach) wants those same matchups, then it’s easily transferable,� Montgomery said. “If he doesn’t, no.�

Montgomery was actually able to get his top defensive pairing of Parayko and Fowler against Vancouver’s top line with Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Alex Iafallo (who will be replaced by Gabriel Vilardi, returning from injury, in Game 5) about as much in Games 1 and 2 as he did in Games 3 and 4. Thomas’ line saw a lot of that line in Game 1, but after that, it was more evenly split between the Thomas line and Brayden Schenn’s line.

“We feel even though we’re the second line, we can play against the other team’s top line,� said Neighbours, who along with Jordan Kyrou, are the wings on the Schenn line. “Me and Schenner play hard and physical and play tight, we’re all very connected. The three of us, I think we’ve grown chemistry over the last little bit this season playing together, and it’s fun. (Kyrou) has that threat with his speed ... so we love that challenge. We feel we can stack up well against them as well.�

Scheifele and Connor were a major factor in the first two games, with each scoring a goal in each game, but quieter, like the rest of Winnipeg, in the second two, with Connor scoring once and Scheifele not at all.

Even though the Blues lost Games 1 and 2, they can take some things from them, definitely more positives than the Jets can take from Games 3 and 4. The Blues took a 3-2 lead into the third period of Game 1 but couldn’t hold it and lost 5-3 (with the last goal in to an empty net). Game 2 was a 2-1 loss.

“We felt we were in both games right until the bitter end in Winnipeg,� Montgomery said, “and that we did not play to our identity for 60 minutes. We feel that if we do that, we’re going to give ourselves a real good opportunity to have success.�