Season series: The St. Louis Blues have won each of their first three games against the Winnipeg Jets, including a 5-4 victory at Scottrade Center on March 10. Defenseman Barret Jackman scored the winning goal with 63 seconds left in the game. Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has four assists, and Jets captain Andrew Ladd has a goal and three assists.
Blues team scope: St. Louis resumes its season-high six-game road trip winners of its past three away from Scottrade Center, outscoring opponents 13-1 in those games. The Blues have won five of their past six games and each of their past three wins have been shutouts. St. Louis overtook the Anaheim Ducks for first place in the Western Conference with a 4-0 win against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. Goaltender Brian Elliott established a new franchise record with his 21st shutout as a member of the Blues. St. Louis has a 126:16 shutout streak. Since ending a six-game stretch without a point, left wing Alexander Steen has three goals and six assists in his past six games. Steen's linemate, center David Backes, has three goals and five assists in his past six games.
Jets team scope: Winnipeg continues its three-game homestand with injured defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and center Bryan Little edging toward returning to the lineup; each player has missed five games because of a lingering upper-body injury. Byfuglien and Little practiced Wednesday, according to the Jets website. "I think the next step is seeing how [the injury] holds up with contact," said Little, who hopes to play Saturday when the Jets finish their homestand against the Washington Capitals. Byfuglien was a game-time decision for the Jets' 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, but he did not dress. Coach Paul Maurice did not have any further update on Byfuglien on Wednesday. Winnipeg holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with a one-point lead on the Calgary Flames.
The Winnipeg Jets might have been initially pleased seeing highlights from the St. Louis Blues' most recent shutout because it helped them gain control of the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
The problem is the Jets are next in line to face the visiting Blues on Thursday night, and the Central Division leaders haven't suffered a regulation loss in the series since the opponent in question called Atlanta home.
St. Louis' 4-0 victory at Calgary on Tuesday night combined with Winnipeg's 5-2 home win over San Jose moved the Jets (35-23-12) one point ahead of the Flames for the No. 8 spot and six in front of the Sharks.
That could all be given back against the Blues (45-20-5), who have shutouts in three of their last four games, including the first two stops on a six-game road trip with both goaltenders contributing.
Brian Elliott made 25 saves against the Flames to set the franchise record with his 21st shutout in four seasons in St. Louis. Jake Allen stopped 28 shots in Monday's 3-0 win in Dallas for his first action in two weeks.
"Our goaltending has really been the story for the last 10 days or so," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "These guys have given us a chance to win every night, and it's a really good sign."
It was Elliott's second shutout in three games, giving him a 1.48 goals-against average while going 6-2-0 in his last eight starts. That includes a 5-4 home win over the Jets on March 10, his fourth straight victory in the series.
Alexander Steen scored twice Tuesday and has three goals and five assists in six games. David Backes had a goal and two assists, giving the center 10 points in eight games this month.
The Blues faced just one penalty kill against Calgary and it was successful, running their impressive stretch to 30 of 31 over 10 games. The Jets' power play is 3 for 7 over two games.
Since the move was made to Winnipeg, the Blues have posted an 8-0-1 record, and they're 10-0-2 in the series since losing 4-2 to Atlanta on Oct. 8, 2009. Three wins have come this season, the first two of which came away.
Dating to Jan. 3, the Blues are 12-2-1 on the road with 3.47 goals per game. That's the best away record in hockey in that time as well as the highest road scoring average, and only one team is scoring that much at home in that span: Winnipeg.
With an identical 52 goals, the Jets are 10-3-2 at MTS Centre since Jan. 3.
Winnipeg's victory over the Sharks began a three-game homestand, and Blake Wheeler led the way with two goals and an assist. His five-game point streak includes five goals and four assists, while the forward has 13 points in 12 career games against St. Louis.
Linemates Mark Scheifele (11 points in 10 games) and Drew Stafford (six in five) also had multipoint performances.
"Those guys are buzzing right now," Wheeler told the team's official website. "... It's going well right now and it feels good to click at this time of year."
The Jets remained without center Bryan Little and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien for a fifth straight game due to upper-body injuries. Both have returned to practice, though their returns are uncertain.
Ondrej Pavelec stopped 38 shots against the Sharks and has a 1.38 GAA in four appearances this month. He was in goal for the franchise's last regulation win in the series but is 1-4-1 with a 2.69 GAA against the Blues since.
Michael Hutchinson has allowed seven goals on 26 shots in his last two starts, including four on seven before being replaced just over a week ago against St. Louis.
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Another tough game. Hopefully the trains keeps rolling. This is shaping up to be a great playoff race in the West, with both the top spots and bottom spots up for grabs.
That tying goal was inevitable. Jets have been out muscling us VISIBLY, refs have let them get away with a couple of things and we have not responded. Also failing to capitalize on our odd man rushes that their desperate play was providing.
That overtime was playoff-esque: back and forth, chances, momentum swings, crowd going nuts. Speak of which, the Jets' fans are the #1 reason why I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs.
2015-2016 LGB Sponsor of Not Ott, because he is a booger-eating dumb dumb
