Little lifts Jets past Blues in OT
ST. LOUIS -- Right winger Patrik Laine continued his goal-scoring streak and center Bryan Little scored the game-winner in overtime as the Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Saturday night.
Right wingers Chris Thorburn also scored and goalie Michael Hutchinson made 20 saves as the Jets snapped a six-game road losing streak.
Left winger Alexander Steen and right winger Dmitrij Jaskin scored for the Blues and goalie Carter Hutton made 20 saves.
Little scored 17 seconds into overtime on a 2-on-1 with Laine, who got his seventh assist on the winner.
Even with the loss, St. Louis extended its home points streak to 11 games. The Blues are 11-1-3 at Scottrade Center this season.
The Blues also have points in 15 of their 16 games against the Jets since they moved to Winnipeg.
Thorburn scored a short-handed goal with 7:33 left in the first period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. Blues right winger Vladimir Tarasenko fanned on a shot, allowing Jets right winger Blake Wheeler and Thorburn to have a 2-on-1 break. Wheeler's saucer pass allowed Thorburn to tap it into an open net.
It was Winnipeg's fourth short-handed goal of the season and its first since Nov. 8.
Steen tied the game early in the second period with his 200th career goal. Steen ripped a slap shot from the left dot for his third goal of the season and first since Oct. 22.
Two minutes later, Jaskin gave the Blues a 2-1 lead at the 7:26 mark with his first goal of the season.
Laine tied it at 9:18, scoring his fourth goal in his last three games. The goal was Laine's 16th of the season and moved him into a tie for the NHL lead with Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby.
Laine's 16 goals are the most by a teenage rookie in his team's first 27 games of the season since Joe Sakic scored 16 for the Quebec Nordiques in the 1988-1989 season.
NOTES: Blues C Jori Lehtera is a healthy scratch for the first time in his three-year career. Lehtera has three goals and four assists in 20 games this season. He was replaced by RW Nail Yakupov, who has two goals and three assists in 16 games. ... RW Patrik Laine's two power play goals Thursday broke a three-game drought with the man advantage for the Jets. ... C Kyle Brodziak dressed for his 100th game as a member of the Blues against the Jets. ... The Jets travel to Chicago on Sunday for the second of back-to-back games. The Blues wrap up their five-game homestand against Montreal on Tuesday.