{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
Winnipeg 5, St. Louis 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Where: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Referees: Brian Pochmara, Francois St. Laurent
Linesmen: Bryan Pancich, Pierre Racicot
Attendance: 19178

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues can feel fortunate they won't be playing the Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs.

The Jets got two goals from Patrik Laine, the first igniting a three-goal outburst in 62 seconds early in the second period, and went on to a 5-2 win over the Blues on Tuesday night.

The win was the fifth in a row by the Jets, who also completed a season sweep of the five games against the Blues. Winnipeg won four games in regulation and one in overtime, outscoring the Blues by a combined margin of 21-10.

While St. Louis is playoff-bound, Winnipeg already was eliminated from postseason contention.

"They've got a lot of really good speedy forwards and they made us pay," said Blues goalie Jake Allen, who stopped 20 of 25 shots before he was removed from the game. "I don't think we've matcher their speed all year. We couldn't contain their speed or their skill.

"They've got a good team over there. I'm sort of surprised they're not a playoff team. They took it to us all year."

All Blake Wheeler knows is that he wishes the Jets could have played as well against other teams this year as they did against this Blues, which would have made them a playoff team.

"These guys, they've been such a good team over the last number of years and I think they bring out the best in us," Wheeler said. "Our preparation coming into a game against St. Louis, we know what kind of game it's going to be. It's going to be a tough matchup. We've played a lot of really close games with them over the years and this year we kind of got the puck to bounce our way."

The Jets were trailing 1-0 on a goal by Alex Pietrangelo 35 seconds into the game when they took control of the game early in the second period. Laine scored off a rebound 1:47 into the period and Nikolaj Ehlers followed with a goal off a wraparound just 14 seconds later.

The third goal came 48 seconds later when a shot by Mark Stuart deflected off the Blues' Kyle Brodziak and into the net.

The Blues pulled within 3-2 on a goal by Jori Lehtera at 4:38, but a controversial goal early in the third period snapped any chance of a Blues' comeback.

Allen appeared to make a dazzling glove save on a shot by Mark Scheifele but the play was reviewed and the call on the ice was reversed, giving Schieifele his 31st goal of the season.

"Apparently, we've got satellites in Mars that can see that or it could have been a different game," Allen said. "The league did their thing. I have no control on the review. You don't really hope for nothing unless you are sure it was not in the net. It was right there but how they could actually see the puck ..."

Laine later added his second goal, his 36th of the season, to complete the victory.

Laine thinks the Jets have played better lately, winning eight of their last 10 games, because of a lack of pressure of not having to worry about whether or not they will make the playoffs.

"I think everybody is just happy to be an NHL player," Laine said. "I think you can see that on the ice because we don't have any pressure anymore. We can just go out and have fun with each other."

It was the first time the Blues allowed five goals in a game since the Jets also scored five on Jan. 31. The Blues fired coach Ken Hitchcock the next day.

Despite the loss, the Blues remained a point ahead of the Nashville Predators for third place in the Central Division. The Predators picked up one point on Tuesday night, losing 2-1 to the New York Islanders in overtime.

Coach Mike Yeo won't have to worry about this loss affecting his job status, but he is concerned about the Blues bounce back and play in their final three games of the regular season.

"I didn't think we made things difficult on them at all with how we defended, how we attacked," Yeo said. "We were too easy to defend tonight.

"We're still pushing here. We can't be satisfied or happy with that game tonight and I don't believe anybody is. We all recognize we weren't good enough. It's one thing to know that, it's another to bounce back."

Carter Hutton replaced Allen in the third period and stopped all six shots he faced.

NOTES: The last time the Blues were winless in a season against an opponent they faced five or more times was in the 2005-06 season, against the Predators. ... Blues LW Jori Lehtera was back in the lineup after missing 12 games because of a concussion. He replaced RW Dmitrij Jaskin. ... The Blues still don't know if C Paul Stastny will be able to play before the end of the regular season or perhaps the first round of the playoffs. He is recovering from a lower-body injury, believed to be a broken foot, sustained March 21. ... C Jack Roslovic and LW Kyle Connor, two 20-year-old prospects, joined the Jets after being promoted from the minors but did not play. Both could be in the lineup on Thursday night when the Jets play at Columbus. ... The Blues play Thursday night at Florida.
Top Game Performances
 
Winnipeg   St. Louis
Patrik Laine 2 Points Jori Lehtera 1
Patrik Laine 2 Goals Jori Lehtera 1
Bryan Little 2 Assists Ivan Barbashev 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Michael Hutchinson .923 Save Percentage Carter Hutton 1.000
Michael Hutchinson 24 Saves Jake Allen 20
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Winnipeg 31 5 0-1 1-1 12 31
St. Louis 26 2 0-1 1-1 12 23
Upcoming Games
  • St. Louis will play their next game on the road against Florida. The Blues have a W/L % of .523 after a win and .571 after a loss.
  • Winnipeg will play their next game on the road against Columbus. The Jets have a W/L % of .514 after a win and .442 after a loss.