|
 Shattenkirk's blast from the point deflected off sliding Jets center
Bryan Little, bounced high in the air and fell behind goaltender
Ondrej Pavelec with defenseman Dustin Byfuglien in the penalty box
for hooking.
The goal was Shattenkirk's third of the year as St. Louis improved
to 20-6-3.
Winnipeg fell to 14-14-3.
"It was one of those miracle pucks that winds up going into the
net," said Shattenkirk. "We kept doing the little things right and
sometimes you get rewarded with a couple of lucky ones.
"It was a great game by both teams and those are the goals that wind
up going in, which is good for us and tough for them.
"We focus on shooting first. We're not a cute team. We're not a cute
power play. We shoot pucks and we retrieve very well. It's really
simple and we've stuck with it, and that's what makes it
successful."
Blues leading scorer Alexander Steen scored his 21st of the season
on an even more bizarre play to open the scoring at 4:44 of the
second period. The shifty left winger, a native of Winnipeg, chased
the puck into the corner below the goal line and simply threw it
toward Pavelec, and it caromed off the goalie's back and fell in.
Steen said the shot was deliberate.
"I try it every once in a while in practice and I've tried it a
couple of times in games," he said. "We had Sobie (left winger
Vladimir Sobotka) in the slot and maybe that's what (Pavelec) was
looking at. I took a shot and it went in."
Little tied the game at 1 exactly three minutes into the final
period with his 13th goal of the season, a power-play marker that
beat goalie Brian Elliott to snap an 0-for-19 skid by the Jets on
the man advantage.
St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock was impressed by his club's grit and
determination, particularly in the third period.
"I really liked the way we fought. As the game wore on, our
confidence came back to fight for pucks and to battle," he said. "We
missed two in the second period on the power play and the goalie
wasn't even in the net. We missed them both. "But the seeing-eye shot (by Shattenkirk) made up for it. If
you look at that shift, we out-fought for three pucks just to
get the opportunity, which was really what happened for the
whole third period. That was really impressive."
[to top of second column] |
Winnipeg hasn't won at home in four straight games, however,
coach Claude Noel had very little negative remarks afterward.
"I thought we played a pretty good game, except for the fact we
didn't finish the right way and they scored a seeing-eye goal on
that power play," said Noel. "I thought we played a pretty smart
game. I thought our neutral zone forecheck was good. I thought
we did the things possibly to win the game 2-1, but we ended up
on the wrong side.
"It's disappointment. It was a game that was good enough for us
to win."
Elliott finished with 20 saves, while Pavelec had 19 stops.
Jets left winger Evander Kane missed his fourth straight game
with a lower-body injury but could return Thursday when the
Colorado Avalanche visit.
The Blues host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
NOTES: The game was the first for the Jets at the MTS Centre
since Nov. 23, as the club had to vacate the rink for the
Canadian Olympic Curling Trials. The time away was productive as
Winnipeg went 4-2 on a six-game road trip against Eastern
Conference opponents. ... The Jets' penalty kill was nearly
impeccable on the road swing, successfully defending 16 of 17
short-handed situations. The strong stretch moved the club from
17th in the NHL to 12th (83.8 percent) on the penalty kill. ...
Missing from the Blues' lineup Tuesday was RW Ryan Reaves, a
Winnipeg native, out for at least six weeks after undergoing
surgery on his right hand late last month. He was injured in a
fight with Dallas Stars D Brenden Dillon on Nov. 23. ... St.
Louis LW Alexander Steen, also raised in Winnipeg, potted three
of his 20 goals in two previous matchups with the Jets this
season. ... Jets RW Blake Wheeler snapped a 14-game scoring
drought when he scored his sixth of the season, an empty-netter,
Dec. 2 in a win over the Rangers. The goal sparked a three-game
point streak for the product of Plymouth, Minn. ... G Al Montoya
has been solid in spot duty behind Winnipeg's usual starter,
Ondrej Pavelec. He won a pair of games on the recent road trip
and now has a 4-2-1 record, .922 save percentage, and 2.23
goals-against-average.
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
