NHL Game Summary - St. Louis at Winnipeg
Winnipeg, MB (SportsNetwork.com) - Jake Allen made 28 saves on 30 shots to lead St. Louis to a 4-2 win over Winnipeg Sunday.
Winnipeg native Ryan Reaves scored the eventual game-winner at even strength 2:25 into the third period, while Jaden Schwartz and David Backes added power-play goals in the second period, each time erasing one-goal leads held by Winnipeg.
Bryan Little and Jim Slater each lit the lamp for the Jets, who had Ondrej Pavelec made 25 saves on 28 shots.
The Jets were buzzing early and outshot the Blues 12-9 in the first period. They converted one of their chances over nine minutes into the game when Little pounced on a rebound in the slot to score his sixth goal of the season and first since Oct. 26 when he scored a game-winner to beat Colorado.
It took until the 5:14 mark of the second period for St. Louis to answer. On the power play after a delay-of-game penalty, Schwartz deflected a blast from Steen at the blue line past Pavelec to tie the game with his eighth goal of the year.
Nearly halfway into the second, Slater scored his first goal of the season when he found a loose puck in the slot and fired it past Allen.
Once again, St. Louis used the power play to answer. With time winding down in the second, Alexander Steen sent a tape-to-tape stretch pass to Backes, who split the defense and wristed a shot past Pavelec to tie the game.
Minutes into the third, Reaves spun around to find a loose puck in the slot after Steve Ott's initial shot was blocked, and he fired it by Pavelec for his third goal of the season and the game-winner.
After the game, Reaves said, "Coming back here, all my friends and family are here, getting a goal in front of them is special."
With time winding down, the Blues got another power play when Evander Kane's high-stick drew blood from Barret Jackman, resulting in a double-minor. The Jets kept the puck out of the net, but couldn't capitalize on the momentum and tie the game late.
"We were kind of out of gas at the end with no energy to go on the power play and we were more using it as a rest period to be honest with you," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock. "But I can't say enough about the way we competed today. That's a big hard team to play against that's rested."
Paul Stastny scored the empty-net goal, his third tally of the season, trailing the play and taking advantage of a long carom off the boards.