Blues edge Jets in shootout after intense battle

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[February 27, 2015]  WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The homecomings were sweet this season for St. Louis Blues forwards Alexander Steen and Ryan Reaves.

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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