Blues rally to beat Jets 4-3 on late goal by Stastny
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Paul Stastny and the St. Louis Blues got the good fortune Winnipeg was looking for Tuesday night.
Stastny lifted the Blues to a 4-3 victory over the Jets when his shot hit the post and went in past goalie Connor Hellebuyck with 3:38 left in regulation.
Seconds earlier, a shot by Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele rang off the post near St. Louis netminder Jake Allen and stayed out.
"That's the way hockey goes," Scheifele said. "You've got to be able to rebound from it."
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But the Jets didn't, and ended up losing a game they led 3-1.
Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko both scored on the power play. Troy Brouwer also had a goal for St. Louis, and Allen stopped 33 shots.
Steen, Tarasenko and Kevin Shattenkirk each added a pair of assists.
It was Tarasenko who fed the pass to Stastny while Jets defenders were trying to erase a 2-on-1 chance.
"From this morning (during the morning skate), we were finding each other on 2-on-1s," Stastny said.
"I just had a gut feeling. For some reason, I thought he was going to pass to me there. He waited for the (defenseman) 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."
The loss halted a three-game home winning streak for the Jets, who got goals from Scheifele, Chris Thorburn and Drew Stafford. Hellebuyck made 22 saves in his third straight start.
Tyler Myers and Mathieu Perreault each picked up a pair of assists, and Scheifele had one.
"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 2-on-1 and then they hit the post, but it goes post and in," Perreault said.
"It's just that kind of luck we're having right now."
Winnipeg had a 3-1 lead in the second period before the Blues began their comeback with Steen's power-play goal at 18:25 while Adam Lowry was off for holding.
Scheifele then took penalties for roughing and cross-checking, and Tarasenko netted his 19th goal at the 51-second mark of the third period to tie the game.
"When you get power-play opportunities like that when the game is at 3-1, you need to capitalize on those," Steen said. "For us to do that was huge."
The Jets scored with their first shot on goal when Myers' point shot was deflected by Scheifele for his team-leading 12th of the season at 4:10 of the first period.
St. Louis tied it 16 seconds into the second with Brouwer's wrist shot from near the top of the circle. David Backes picked up the assist, extending his season-high point streak to five games with three goals and three assists.
Winnipeg regained the lead on a good effort by Blake Wheeler.
He missed the net on a breakaway, but got the puck along the boards and fed a pass to Thorburn, who fired a one-timer by Allen at 5:54 for his fifth of the season.
Stafford made it 3-1 at 8:30 with his 11th of the season, but then Lowry was sent to the box for a holding call that drew catcalls from the crowd.
The Blues went 2 for 3 on the power play and killed off both of Winnipeg's chances with the man advantage. Their penalty-kill unit is 20 for 20 in the last nine games.
NOTES: Thorburn played in his 594th game for the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise, tying Ilya Kovalchuk's record. ... The Jets host the New York Rangers on Friday. St. Louis hosts Nashville on Thursday.
