The Winnipeg Jets see their losing streak extend to four games after losing 4-1 to the St. Louis Blues at home on Tuesday. The Jets struggled to puncture the Blues solid defensive structure that allowed few interior chances with their ability to box out.
Blues point leader Jordan Kyrou added to his total with a pair of goals while teammate Scott Perunovich had his best night of the season with two assists.
Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck was busy with 26 saves on 29 shots. Blues netminder Joel Hofer made saves when he needed to as he didn’t record a shutout but came close with 22 saves and only one goal allowed.
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The first period was a slugfest with both sides generating chances but ultimately resulted in no goals. The Blues are used to starting slowly often as they’ve been tied or trailing after the first period in 26 of their 27 games this season.
The second period was more tilted for St. Louis as Winnipeg landed only two shots on net in the first 12 minutes. The Blues generated a couple scoring chances with one coming on a power play from a Dylan DeMelo holding the stick penalty.
The onslaught continued until Jordan Kyrou broke the ice. Two Jets go into the boards for a puck battle near the blue line with the Blues coming out the other end with the puck and only one Jets defender in their way of the net.
Brayden Schenn draws out the defender before passing it over to Kyrou, who has a clear lane to the net and works the puck from his forehand to backhand for an easy goal, putting up St. Louis in the final three minutes of the second.
It didn’t stop there as 39 seconds later, Robert Thomas works a pass into the slot for a speeding Dylan Holloway who lands a shot on Hellebuyck but it’s saved. The momentum carries Holloway to his own rebound as no Jets defender urgently rushes to the puck, Holloway buries his own rebound for another Blues goal.
The second was an overall bad period as the Jets failed to generate almost chances as they were boxed out and couldn’t figure out how to get past the Blues defence. They were outshot 19 to 3 in the period and had to enter the third period trailing for only the sixth time this season.
The final 20 minutes needed to be perfect for the Jets but they again came out flat and couldn’t generate almost any offence. They had just one shot on net through the first seven minutes of the period before Kyrou extended the Blues lead to three.
St. Louis was excellent with their puck possession in the Winnipeg end and worked the puck around until Kyrou unloaded a shot from the top of the slot with a sea of bodies in front of Hellebuyck. He can’t see the shot get past him and the Blues now lead 3-0 with 13 minutes left in the game.
The Jets couldn’t generate chances until the last six minutes where they pulled the goalie very early on. It works as the Neal Pionk takes a low shot on net that Hofer saves but rebounds the puck right to Scheifele on the far side, who fires the puck into the net before Hofer has a chance to react.
It was the best the Jets could do however, as Robert Thomas scores on an empty net to seal the 4-1 win for the Blues. The Jets were certainly looking for a win at home to regain some momentum but instead drop their fourth straight game. They look to try and get in the win column once again when traveling to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Thursday.
