Blues all smiles after unlikely hero saves St. Louis from its late mistakes
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues learned a valuable lesson Tuesday night against a hungry Winnipeg team at Scottrade Center.
St. Louis can't afford to relax in the season's final month if it wants to stay in contention for a Central Division and Western Conference title. The Jets proved that by overcoming a three-goal, third-period deficit, but the Blues were still all smiles in the locker room thanks to a fluky goal from an unlikely hero to save a 5-4 win.
Barret Jackman said he had no intention to score when he sent a puck toward the goal from beyond the blue line late in the game. But after making several incredible saves in the third period, Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec failed to make the easiest one as the puck floated over his glove and into the net with 1:03 remaining.
"It's an interesting way to win a hockey game, but we'll take it," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "Not a good way to finish in the third period. I think we can all agree on that, but it's fun to watch."
The sellout crowd of 19,297 was certainly appreciative of the win, which snapped a two-game losing streak on home ice. It also moved St. Louis two points behind Anaheim and Nashville at the top of the Western Conference, with two games in hand on both teams.
Nonetheless, forward Jaden Schwartz said the Blues must make some improvements after giving up three straight third-period goals for the second time in three games. It cost them two points in a 3-1 loss at Philadelphia, and Schwartz said St. Louis should have known better after it had a three-goal rally of its own to earn a point at Vancouver a week ago.
Considering St. Louis plays 13 of its final 16 games against teams within 10 points of either making or missing the playoffs, the Blues can expect to face a desperate opponent almost every night. Pietrangelo said that means they have to do a better job of converting opportunities to bury teams.
But coach Ken Hitchcock seemed less concerned than his players, noting that Winnipeg's two goals in 11 seconds were both flukes thanks to a broken stick and a bad bounce off a skate. He acknowledged multiple key mistakes on the Jets' short-handed, game-tying goal, while also noting the Blues had opportunities to easily score more with 16 shots on goal in the third period.
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"Play that good for two periods, deserve a good fate," Hitchcock said. "The hockey gods took care of us."
If Winnipeg had successfully come back to win in the third period for the first time in 21 games this season, he would have been singing a different tune.
HAT TRICK
• Playing from behind. The Blues failed to end one ugly streak despite their impressive performance Tuesday night.
Michael Frolik somehow snuck in behind the St. Louis defense and put a weak wrist shot between the legs of goaltender Brian Elliott, putting Winnipeg ahead 1-0 in the first period. The Blues have given up the first goal in all nine home games since the All-Star break, and they've been outscored 11-2 in the first period even after Schwartz tied the game just under six minutes before the first intermission.
What makes the streak even more amazing is that St. Louis has scored first in 12 of its past 13 road games, failing to do so only in a 7-1 loss at Columbus. But to their credit, the Blues have rallied back to win at home five times, improving their record this season to 13-14-3 when opponents score first.
• Schwartz, Tarasenko heating up. The Blues' deep and balanced offense looks a lot more dangerous when its top two scorers are producing.
It's no coincidence that Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz went unusually quiet during a recent stretch that saw St. Louis surpass two goals only once in seven games. The two 2010 first-round draft picks combined for only three goals and four assists, or just three points excluding a 5-1 win over Boston.
The pair began to create and finish more chances at Vancouver, where both contributed an assist in a 6-5 shootout loss. Schwartz followed that by starting a streak of three straight games with a goal in a 3-1 loss at Philadelphia, while Tarasenko finally snapped a season-long stretch of six consecutive games without a goal in Saturday's 6-1 win at Toronto.
Schwartz scored his 23rd goal of the season early against Winnipeg to move ahead of David Backes for second on the team, and Tarasenko later put the Blues ahead for good with his 33rd. They even got center Jori Lehtera his first goal in 19 games on an easy tap-in off a perfect pass across the ice from Schwartz.
"It's because their puck support's back," Hitchcock said. "It's because they're close to each other, but this is now four games they've been like this and they're starting to score because of it."
• Penalty kill dominating. A busy night for the Blues' special teams ended badly after an impressive start.
St. Louis gave up five power plays for the second straight game and extended its streak of successful penalty kills to 16 after going a perfect three for three in the first two periods. Winnipeg finally took advantage of a high-sticking penalty on Pietrangelo early in the third, when Andrew Ladd scored after St. Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo broke his stick.
Schwartz scored a power-play goal in the first period and the Blues applied plenty of pressure, especially during 90 seconds of five-on-three hockey in the third period. But they could never break through against Pavelec and gave up a costly short-handed goal to Blake Wheeler on a slap shot to tie the game with 5:28 remaining.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
