Pavelec, Jets stymie Blues
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Winnipeg Jets rode another strong performance from goalie Ondrej Pavelec to post an impressive 5-3 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
Pavelec earned his second consecutive victory since being recalled from the AHL's Manitoba Moose on Tuesday. The Czech native made 34 saves in the Jets net to boost their record to 22-23-4.
Center Bryan Little led Winnipeg with a pair of goals. Defenseman Kevin Shatterkirk scored twice and Pheonix Copley made 24 saves in a losing effort for the Blues.
The Jets doubled their lead with their second power-play goal of the night when captain Blake Wheeler found Little streaking down the right wing. His wrist shot beat Copley high to the glove side for his 10th goal at 2:10 of the third period.
Winnipeg appeared to put the game out of reach a few minutes later following a scramble in front of the Blues net after a Jacob Trouba slap shot from the point. Left winger Nik Ehlers took a swipe at the puck as he was being hauled to the ice and it squirted through to center Mark Scheifele, who fired his 21st of the season behind Copley at 6:21.
The suddenly surging Jets power play notched its third goal of the game when left winger Nic Petan found Ehlers streaking down his wing. Ehlers' laser beam of a slap shot found the top corner above Copley's glove for a 5-1 lead with just under nine minutes to play.
With the Jets relaxing a bit and the game seemingly well in hand, the Blues launched a comeback.
Paul Stastny pulled the his team within three following a scramble off a faceoff in the Jets end. He walked out all alone from the side boards and roofed his 12th of the season over Pavelec's glove.
Then Shattenkirk potted his second of the game by cutting in alone in front of Pavelec and waiting until he went down for his 11th of the season at 13:43.
The Blues pulled their goalie with a little more than a minute to play but to no avail.
Winnipeg gave the hometown fans reason to get out of their seats just 7:47 into the game. On its first power play of the night, center Little deflected a point shot from Dustin Byfuglien past Copley, who was making his second career NHL start. It was Little's ninth goal.
The Blues returned the favor on a power play of their own a short time later. Stastny had the puck in traffic in front of the Jets net but spotted Shattenkirk streaking in all alone to the right of Pavelec. The defenseman ripped a wrist shot into the virtually empty net for his 10th of the season at 13:18.
Left winger Jaden Schwartz left the game with a couple of minutes left in the first period after blocking a rocket from Trouba. He was down on the ice for a couple of minutes and needed assistance to get to the bench.
The Jets took a 2-1 lead when Little kept the puck in the Blues zone and moved it to left winger Mathieu Perreault. He spun away from a check and made a diving pass to Byfuglien, who jumped up into the play and found Wheeler all alone to Copley's right. He calmly deposited the puck into the net for his 15th goal just 87 seconds into the second period.
NOTES: In the press box as inactive for the Jets were RW Patrik Laine, LW Brandon Tanev and G Michael Hutchinson. ... Joining them from the Blues were G Jake Allen, D Jay Bouwmeester and RW Nail Yakupov. ... Blues C Alex Steen was born in Winnipeg. His dad, Thomas, played his entire NHL career for Jets, scoring 264 goals in 950 games. ... The younger Steen scored his 155th goal against Washington this week, tying for 11th on the Blues' all-time list with Wayne Babych. ... The Jets have taken 190 minor penalties this season, second only to Calgary's 200 minors. ... St. Louis plays 25 of its last 41 games on the road. ... Blues G Pheonix Copley, who was recalled from the minors this week, is from the North Pole. Seriously. The 25-year-old was born in North Pole, Alaska. He is the second Alaskan-born goalie to play in the NHL. The other is Ty Conklin, the Blues goaltending development coach.