|
 Stastny scored the game-winning goal late in the third period to cap
the Blues' 4-3, come-from-behind victory over the Winnipeg Jets at
the MTS Centre.
Stastny beat Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck for just his third
goal of the season, firing a wrist shot off the post and in after
taking a pass on a two-on-one break from right winger Vladimir
Tarasenko at 16:22 of the third period. Moments earlier, Winnipeg
center Mark Scheifele hit the goal post beside Blues goalie Jake
Allen.
Tarasenko pumped in his team-leading 19th goal of the season on a
St. Louis power play less than a minute into the third period to tie
the game 3-3.
St Louis improved to 18-10-4, while the Jets fell to 14-15-2.
Winnipeg owns a dismal 3-10-0 against Central Division opponents.
The Blues have owned the Jets at MTS Centre since the 2011-12
season, earning at least a point in all eight visits (6-0-2) prior
to Tuesday's matchup.
"It's a divisional game. This is a tough building to play in every
time. It's a big win for us," said Stastny, whose club played the
last five games at home, then went north to Manitoba for just one
game before returning home for two more.
St. Louis hosts the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Right winger Troy Brouwer netted his sixth for St. Louis, while left
winger Alex Steen notched his 11th on a late second-period power
play. Tarasenko and Steen both had three-point nights, and
defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk had two assists.
Scheifele deflected in his 12th goal, while right winger Chris
Thorburn scored his fifth and right winger Drew Stafford added his
11th for Winnipeg.
Stastny said the two-on-one with Tarasenko went exactly as scripted.
"From this morning (during the morning skate), we were finding each
other on two-on-ones. I just had a gut feeling, for some reason I
thought he was going to pass to me there," he said. "He waited for
(Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom) to make a move and then he made a
good saucer pass. For me, it's more I make sure I handle it and get
it off as soon as I can."
Allen stopped 33 shots, while Hellebuyck made 22 saves.
The Jets, the league's most penalized squad, found themselves
short-handed twice in the last two minutes of the second period as
they led 3-1.
The Blues capitalized on their first opportunity as Steen's rocket
from the blue line eluded Hellebuyck at 18:25 to cut the deficit to
one. St. Louis carried a power play into the third period and the
ever-dangerous Tarasenko, left alone to the left of Hellebuyck, took
a pass from Steen and netted the tying goal just 51 seconds in.
Steen said there's simply no panic mode in their game.
"We've been here before this year. We don't give up. I think it's
been one of our strong points this year... keep playing, keep
pushing forward," said Steen, a Winnipeg native whose father,
Thomas, was a longtime member of the Jets in the 1980s and '90s.
[to top of second column] |
"We know those power plays were important. To be able to capitalize
on both of them was huge. And then a huge (game winner) from Stas
late in the game, and (Allen) was outstanding, just doing his thing
in the net. It's a confidence booster for the whole team."
St. Louis held Winnipeg scoreless on a pair of power-play chances
and hasn't surrendered a goal while a man short in nine consecutive
games.
The goal that gave the Jets a 2-1 lead early in the second period
was an odd one, indeed. Streaking down on a breakaway, right winger
Blake Wheeler's shot hit Allen and bounced several feet wide but the
red light flashed on. Wheeler fell down, got back up, picked up the
loose puck in the corner and fed Thorburn, who lit the lamp with a
wicked slap shot.
Allen said the goal judge's mistake threw him off his game.
"I got distracted on that one. I don't know if the (goal judge) was
asleep or what," said Allen. "I should have kept playing but as soon
as I felt it hit me and then I see the light, so I'm like 'oh, no'
and then I saw him get up and get the puck and I was late to get
over there."
Left winger Mathieu Perreault, who picked up two assists for the
hosts, said Stastny's late goal was a backbreaker.
"It is frustrating because (Scheifele) hit the post on one end and
that could potentially make the game 4-3 for us, and then they come
down the other way two-on-one and then they hit the post, but it
goes post and in," he said.
"It's just that kind of luck we're having right now."
Scheifele said it's a same-old, same-old scenario for the
penalty-prone club.
"We've been seeing that for a while now," he said. "It's something,
obviously, we don't want to be taking penalties. Obviously, it's on
all of our minds not to, but you get into the compete and you get on
the wrong side of it sometimes."
NOTES: D Paul Postma and D Adam Pardy were healthy scratches for
Winnipeg, while D Robert Bortuzzo and C Scott Gomez did not dress
for St. Louis. ... Jets RW Chris Thorburn tied former NHL sniper
Ilya Kovalchuk on Tuesday for the franchise record (594) for games
played. Kovalchuk spent eight seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers
(2001-10) before signing with New Jersey prior to heading to the
KHL. Thorburn, a member of the Thrashers/Jets organization since
2007, can set the franchise record Friday when the New York Rangers
visit Winnipeg. ... D Jay Bouwmeester appeared in his 200th game
with St. Louis. ... Coming into the game, Jets C Bryan Little had
taken 721 faceoffs this season, second in the NHL behind only
Buffalo C Ryan O'Reilly (740).
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