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 The Winnipeg-born pair played big roles in the Blues' 2-1
shootout triumph over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night at
sold-out MTS Centre.
Steen, the visitors' third shooter in the tiebreaker, beat goalie
Michael Hutchinson on a nifty deke to secure two points for St.
Louis (39-18-4). Blues right winger Vladimir Tarasenko and Jets left
winger Andrew Ladd traded goals earlier in the shootout.
Center Mark Scheifele tied the game early in the third period with
his 10th goal of the season for Winnipeg (31-20-12).
St. Louis center Patrik Berglund's eighth goal of the season late in
the second period opened the scoring. Reaves drew the second assist
on the play.
"I guess we like coming home once in a while," Reaves said with a
smile.
Reaves scored the game-winning goal the last time the clubs met, a
4-2 road victory for St. Louis on Nov. 23. Steen chipped in a pair
of assists that night.
Reaves, 28, was raised in Winnipeg and played his junior hockey just
two hours down the road with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western
Hockey League. His father, Willard Reaves, was an all-star running
back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League
from 1983-87.
At 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, Ryan Reaves is built like his dad. And he
savored every second of the hard-hitting battle with the Blues'
Central Division rivals.
"It was a hard game. I always say (the Jets) play a real similar
style to us," Reaves said. "They play real physical. It's tough to
get in on them. We kind of took their game to them in the third
period and came away with two (points).
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock wisely moved Reaves from the fourth line
to the third alongside Berglund and center Paul Stastny early in the
game.
"We needed way more weight against who they were defending against.
I thought Ryan really, really helped that line," Hitchcock said. "He
gave those guys some room and some space. They scored a big goal for
us. I thought he was a real good player in the game. We really
needed him."
Steen, whose father is former Jets star Thomas Steen, a center who
scored 817 points in 950 NHL games from 1981-95, had several chances
to score but couldn't solve Hutchinson.
Hutchinson, who stopped 28 shots, is 4-0-3 in his past seven starts.
St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott made 30 saves for his 19th victory of
the season.
Ladd said his club did a solid job matching the Blues' speed and
physical play.
"Teams in our division, they play that strong, physical, defensive
style, and you have to be ready for it from the puck drop, to be on
the puck and to win battles," he said.
Late in the second period, Reaves chipped the puck up the boards,
and Stastny and Berglund slipped away on a two-on-one break. The
26-year-old product of Vasteras, Sweden, took the pass from Stastny
and converted on a shot that eluded Hutchinson on the glove side at
18:11.
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Scheifele knotted the game 1-1 on a heady play just 3:14 into the
third period. Wingers Michael Frolik and Ladd worked the puck down
low, while Jets center Bryan Little went off on a change. Scheifele
jumped over the boards and drove straight for the Blues net, called
for the puck from Ladd and deposited it behind Elliott.
Blues right winger David Backes said the game had a playoff feel to
it.
"Everybody was getting hit. It felt like any little play could be
the difference in the game, and everything was magnified," he said.
Jets coach Paul Maurice was pleased with his team's effort,
particularly considering Winnipeg was missing major contributors
such as Blake Wheeler and Mathieu Perreault, who are out due to
injuries.
"It was well-played game, a hard-fought game," Maurice said. "(It
had) good pace, good intensity, disciplined but hard
penalty-killing, had good saves, had good chances. I don't have a
lot of complaints here.
"All the games that we play against St. Louis going back to last
year have all looked like that. They're very structured in the way
they play, and they're going to try to beat you that way, and that
way only. And that's where we're trying to get to."
NOTES: The Blues and Jets still have three more meetings remaining
this season. ... The Blues began a five-game road trip in Winnipeg,
and they play 10 of their next 13 away from St. Louis. ... The
newest Jet, LW Jiri Tlusty, acquired Wednesday in a trade with
Carolina, is no stranger to Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice. He played
his rookie season (2007-08) in Toronto under Maurice, and the two
reunited with the Hurricanes for parts of three seasons (2009-11).
... Jets C Bryan Little scored his 24th goal of the season, and the
146th of his career, Tuesday against Dallas to move past former
Atlanta LW Slava Kozlov for second on the Thrashers/Jets franchise
goal-scoring list. LW Ilya Kovalchuk, now playing in Russia, tops
the list with 328. ... Blues D Jay Bouwmeester will play his 900th
career game Saturday night in Edmonton, his hometown.
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