Jets snap losing skid

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This article was published 29/01/2022 (1321 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. LOUIS — After a rough two-week stretch that has tested their collective resolve, the Winnipeg Jets finally caught a good case of the Blues.

The Jets rallied from an early 1-0 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals to defeat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1, at Enterprise Center Saturday afternoon. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for Winnipeg, dating back to Dec. 18.

“Obviously, it wasn’t too fun losing those games. It’s frustrating,” Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois said after the game. “So, to win it helps. But I think to win the right way and to know that if we play like this… it’s easy to say, harder to do.

“There’s gonna be ups and downs, but I think it’s about building your game. So, for us to come in here, against a good team, play the right way, I think it could be a really good thing for us.”

With just two games left to try to right their wrongs before a week off owing to the NHL all-star break, it looked like it might be another long day for the Jets, when Vladimir Tarasenko capped off a tic-tac-toe goal on the power play to put the Blues 1-0 just minutes into the opening period. The Jets would answer back in a big way, though, beginning with the first of two goals from veteran forward Paul Stastny, who also chipped in an empty-net marker.

From there, the Jets put forth arguably their best period of the season in the second frame. Not only did they score twice — Kyle Connor notched his team-leading 24th goal of the season, set up by Dubois; followed by a one-timer goal from Nate Schmidt on the power play, set up by Connor — they also suffocated the Blues defensively, limiting St. Louis to just two shots in the period.

It was exactly the kind of fast-and-hard-to-play-against style head coach Dave Lowry has been preaching since taking over for Paul Maurice six weeks ago. And while the Jets have come close to that effort in stretches over their mostly dreadful stretch, none of it looked as dominant as it did Saturday.

Especially when you consider it came against a Blues team that’s fighting for top spot in the Central Division (26-13-5).

“Any time you can hold a team to two shots, you’re going to look at the reasons behind it. Obviously, we did a good job tonight, checking from the middle of the ice,” Lowry said. “We kept things out and when we got extended, we didn’t — we bent a couple of times — but we didn’t break. And when we needed a save, Eric Comrie was outstanding.”

Comrie had been waiting patiently to return to the crease, with No. 1 Connor Hellebuyck getting the lion’s share of the games, including the last 13 starts. Comrie hadn’t played since Dec. 10, when he and the Jets fell 4-3 in a shootout to the Vancouver Canucks.

But you’d have never guessed he went through a lengthy layoff from the crease. Comrie wasn’t busy through the first two periods, but remained sharp throughout, particularly in the final stages of the third period with the Jets trying to protect a two-goal lead.

The 26-year-old finished with 28 saves to earn his first win since a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 5, improving his overall record to 4-2-1.

“His patience tonight was (impressive), especially for not playing; that’s a long stretch to go without playing,” Schmidt said of Comrie. “You usually see a guy get in there and he’s over-excited to be in. He’s excited to get out on the plays, he might get himself out of position because he’s pushing so hard to get there.

“But I thought his patience tonight, his angles were on, his plays in front of him. He wasn’t scrambling at pucks, letting us do our job in front of him instead of trying to dive and scramble away. It calms our guys down a lot when you see a goaltender playing that way and have that type of poise back there. Especially after not playing for a long time.”

The Jets looked strong in all areas of the game, including on special teams, which was ultimately their downfall in a 5-1 loss to the Canucks on Thursday. They scored once on man-advantage in three trips, and then after Tarasenko’s early goal, the penalty kill took care of business on the Blues’ next four trips to the PP.

Unlike the Jets last victory – a 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings, a club near the bottom of the league standings and just as abysmal on special teams — the Blues entered the game with the third-ranked power play in the NHL. It was all the more promising given the Jets were playing with a depleted blue line, with Josh Morrissey (COVID protocol) and Dylan DeMelo, Dylan Samberg, Logan Stanley and Nathan Beaulieu all out with injuries.

That’s not to take away any credit from youngsters Ville Heinola, Johnny Kovacevic and Declan Chisholm, all of whom filled in admirably. Despite having a combined 20 games of NHL experience, with 16 of those games belonging to Heinola, the trio certainly looked like they belong, with each chipping in a valiant effort in the win.

“We had a lot of (young) guys in tonight and I thought they did a fantastic job. It’s always nice to see new guys come in, battle and grind it out,” Schmidt said. “Especially not an easy building to come into and win for guys in their first, second games. I was proud of our guys, proud of our D corps today, and Coms had a heck of a game, too.”

While the Jets were technically playing the Blues backup goalie in Ville Husso, the 26-year-old Finn is hardly a free pass. In fact, Husso has battled his way into a 1B position, behind starter Jordan Binnington. He entered the game with a 9-2-1 record, including a 1.81 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage.

The win won’t turn around the season, improving the Jets to just 18-16-7 on the year, which has them still outside the playoff line in the Western Conference. But it does build some momentum as they head into a hostile environment in Philadelphia to play the Flyers, before getting the next week off.

“It will let us relax a little bit. Like I said to them, I thought that game in Pittsburgh (a 3-2 shootout loss Jan. 23) was probably one of the best games that we’ve played in a real, long time,” Lowry said. “Then we come home, and we make a couple of mistakes, pucks end up in our net. Today, we came and we executed. We played a really solid road game, and we managed the game the way that we need to.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton