Tarasenko, Blues beat Jets in 'street fight' for 4th straight victory
Vladimir Tarasenko scored a pair of goals as the St. Louis Blues earned their fourth consecutive victory with a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
Related: VIDEO: The TarasenkShow hits Winnipeg
The Blues star opened the scoring on a wrist shot in the second period and added the eventual game-winner on a delayed penalty midway through the third:
(Courtesy: NHL.com)
Tarasenko's hot start put him in some good company.
Via @EliasSports: Vladimir Tarasenko (@tara9191) of the @StLouisBlues and his season-opening six-game point streak... pic.twitter.com/CBTDgTDbii
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 18, 2015
Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson tipped home an insurance marker to make it 4-2 on the power play with 1:07 remaining, after Jets blue-liner Dustin Byfuglien was penalized for a monster hit on Jay Bouwmeester.
Byfuglien got a charging penalty for the check, and both he and St. Louis forward Scottie Upshall received coincidental roughing minors for their roles in the ensuing melee.
However, the officials missed Bouwmeester's retaliatory punch on Byfuglien that came immediately after the initial hit, and the Blues ended up with the power play that led to Gunnarsson's goal.
St. Louis improved to 5-1-0, while the Jets dropped to 4-2-0.
Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock had an apt way of describing the hard-fought contest:
Hitchcock: “We won the streetfight.” #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) October 18, 2015