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Jets rally in third to sting struggling Blues 4-2

Jan 30, 2023 | 9:10 PM

WINNIPEG — Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele each scored a pair of third-period goals as the Winnipeg Jets erased a 2-0 deficit and defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Monday night.

Saku Maenalanen and Kyle Connor both registered a pair of assists for the Jets (32-19-1), who snapped a three-game losing skid and extended the Blues’ losing streak to five games.

Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves for Winnipeg, which is 3-5-0 in its past eight games and changed all four lines to start the match with St. Louis.

Jake Neighbours had a goal and assist and Nikita Alexandrov also scored for the Blues (23-25-3), who finished a three-game road trip.

Jordan Binnington made 34 stops and picked up an assist on Neighbours’ goal.

St. Louis took a 2-0 lead at 2:02 of the third period, but Morrissey scored 40 seconds later.

Scheifele followed at 9:32 after a St. Louis giveaway and Morrissey added the go-ahead goal 21 seconds later when his shot went off the Blues Brayden Schenn.

Scheifele scored his 31st of the season into an empty net with 24 seconds remaining.

In the only game on the NHL schedule for Monday, there was no scoring in the first period but lots of squandered opportunities.

After the Blues came up empty on the game’s first power play, the Jets were handed a four-minute man advantage when Alexandrov was dinged with a double minor for high-sticking Jets forward Kyle Connor in the face.

The lengthy power play was a bust, with the Jets only getting one shot on Binnington.

Winnipeg had two great chances in the final six minutes of the first, but Binnington stretched out a pad to foil a close-in shot by Pierre-Luc Dubois, then used his glove while on his stomach to stop a Saku Maenalanen attempt.

Shots on goal were 12-12 after the opening frame.

The Jets had another pair of power plays in the first half of the second period, but a total of six shots couldn’t get by Binnington.

St. Louis made good on its next power play.

Binnington sent the puck to Nick Leddy, who made a stretch pass to Neighbours that he used for a backhand shot to beat Hellebuyck at 14:36.

The Blues then took two quick penalties, but the Jets couldn’t strike with a 25-second two-man advantage nor the five-on-four.

Winnipeg outshot the visitors 19-7 in the middle frame, but was 0-for-6 on the power play after 40 minutes. St. Louis was 1-for-2.

Alexandrov made it 2-0 at 2:02 of the third period, but the Jets’ comeback fired up.

REMEMBERING A STAR

Before puck drop, the Jets showed a video tribute and held a moment of silence for former star Bobby Hull, who died Monday at the age of 84.

The Hockey Hall of Famer played for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks before signing a then-record $1-million deal to join the Winnipeg Jets of the upstart World Hockey Association in 1972. The scoring legend spent eight seasons with the Jets, the last when the club merged with the NHL.

UP NEXT

Jets: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 11.

Blues: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 11.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2023.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press