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 The Jets are still a long way from reaching their intended
destination, but left winger Andrew Ladd says the flight path will
go a whole lot smoother if the level of intensity matches that of
their gritty 2-1 shootout decision over the St. Louis Blues.
Ladd fired a rocket of a wrist shot over the glove of Blues goalie
Brian Elliott to give the Jets a lead in the shootout after St.
Louis right winger T.J. Oshie and Winnipeg right winger Drew
Stafford traded goals in earlier tries.
Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec sprawled to stop left winger Alex
Steen on the final shot to claim a critical second point for his
squad, caught up in a dogfight to crack the playoffs in the NHL's
Western Conference.
The Jets (36-23-12) hold down the second wild-card spot, just a
point back of the Minnesota Wild, who fell 3-2 to the Washington
Capitals on Thursday.
So, what's it going to take to finally make the playoffs?
"From our standpoint, the way we prepared and the energy we came out
with and how physical we were and on the puck, I think we're going
to need to play that type of hockey down the stretch to get in,"
said Ladd.
"That's playoff-style hockey."
Stafford, fitting in nicely on a line with center Mark Scheifele and
winger Blake Wheeler, knotted the game 1-1 at 13:16 of the third
period. He moved in and lifted a backhand over Elliott's blocker for
his 15th goal of the season and sixth since being acquired from the
Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 11, sending fans at the MTS Centre into a
frenzy.
St. Louis center David Backes had scored his 25th goal of the year
for a 1-0 lead in the second period, the fourth time in nine NHL
seasons the team captain has reached the mark.
The Blues (45-20-6) picked up a point and are two up on the
Nashville Predators for first place in the Central Division.
Indeed, St. Louis is an elite squad, however, Stafford believes he
and his new teammates are right there with them.
"There's a reason why (the Blues) are one of the best teams in the
league. They give you nothing. But that goes to show you what kind
of team we have," he said. "The fact we can compete with them and
make it a hard game for them, I feel as though five-on-five we can
compete with every team in the league and we proved that again
tonight.
"We're an elite team because we're big, we're fast, and we're mean.
When we get pucks to the net and bodies in front, most of the time
good things are happening."
This was the third meeting in three weeks for the division rivals,
who aren't particularly fond of each other. The game was wildly
entertaining and one of the most physical of the season, with plenty
of pushing and shoving after the whistles, bursts of offense and
highlight-reel saves.
Elliott and Pavelec were equally brilliant through regulation time
and the five-minute extra period. The Blues netminder turned aside
33 shots, while Pavelec, making his third straight start, stopped
32.
It was just 10 days ago that Pavelec was the goat, allowing a shot
from the neutral zone by Blues defenseman Barret Jackman to beat him
with just over a minute left in a 5-4 loss.
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Ladd said his goaltender has more than redeemed himself since.
"It's nice for him to be able to come back and face this team and
have an exceptional effort and really drive us to a win," Ladd said.
In the second period, Jets center Adam Lowry took a needless
cross-checking penalty on Backes deep in the Blues' zone at 6:05.
St. Louis didn't score on the power play but kept the puck in
Winnipeg territory, and Backes converted a perfect pass from center
Paul Stastny to finally beat a sprawling Pavelec at 8:08.
The Jets hit a pair of posts in the final frame, but Stafford didn't
miss on a tremendous individual effort to protect the puck and then
flip it over Elliott with under seven minutes left in regulation
time.
"(It's) pretty much the same intensity. I thought both teams played
really well," offered Elliott. "There isn't much separating every
team on the ice, it's just the standings, so what else are you going
to look at? It's two tough teams and we come to battle every night."
The Blues play the fourth of a six-game road trip Saturday in
Minneapolis against the Minnesota Wild. The Jets wrap up a
three-game home stand against the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
St. Louis had won three previous contests against the Jets,
including one in overtime.
Backes said the clubs play very similar styles.
"I said it before the game, it's playoff-style games, close games,
one-goal games," he said. "It was one heck of a game, I don't think
either team is terribly disappointed, but we needed two points and
we let it slide."
"Two shootouts and a goal from center ice in the last three, I don't
know if it gets much closer than that. We got them one more time in
our building; it's going to be a barnburner."
NOTES: The Jets were missing some key performers Thursday because of
injury -- D Dustin Byfuglien (upper body), C Bryan Little (upper
body) and C Mathieu Perreault (lower body). ... St. Louis D Kevin
Shattenkirk continues to recover from abdominal surgery and could
rejoin the club in the last week of March. ... D Zbynek Michalek,
acquired by the Blues at the trade deadline from the Arizona
Coyotes, played his 700th NHL game Thursday night. ... Riding the
bench were the NHL's winningest rookie goaltenders, Michael
Hutchinson (20) of the Jets and Jake Allen (18) of the Blues. ...
Ex-Jet C Olli Jokinen was a healthy scratch for the Blues.
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