WINNIPEG – The rivalry between Winnipeg and St. Louis continues to grow every time these two get together. Sunday’s game was just a glimpse of how intense the Central Division is as there was no love lost for sure. The Blues took it to the Jets and scored a couple third period goals for a 4-2 road win in Winnipeg.
This was a war right from the start as these two teams are very similar in style, big, fast, and very physical. Every whistle featured scrums and pushing and a lot of chatting. It was a very entertaining game for the fans as there was a lot of end to end action as well as a lot of physicality.
“We won the street fight,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “It was a good, old-fashioned street fight.
“Players like playing in these games. These are old-fashioned. You get ice by the inch, and they’re fun to play in, and I think our players really like this type of atmosphere, love this building, like playing this team because it demands a lot, and they’re fun to coach against. They’re very emotional, very intense hockey games, and they’re fun to be around.”
St. Louis goalie Brian Elliot was superb in the pipes making several key stops ending the game with 27 saves to get the win.
“We know that’s how [Winnipeg] is going to come out in this building,” Elliott said. “They’re a fast team that tries to get on you really early. I thought we did a good job of just weathering the storm in the first [period], just kept executing our game plan and persevered through.”
Vladimir Tarasenko led the charge for the Blues scoring a pair, his fourth and fifth goals of the season and was dangerous almost every shift he was on the ice. He was named the game’s first star. Rounding out the scoring for the Blues were Scottie Upshall who notched his second of the year and Carl Gunnarsson who added a late power play marker for his first of the year.
Winnipeg got goals from Mathieu Perreault his first of the year a power play marker. Drew Stafford notched his second of the season.
Ondrej Pavelec made 37 saves on a busy afternoon where he saw 41 shots in taking the loss.
The Jets were right in this game although they never lead and were always battling back just couldn’t find that extra gear in the third. Special teams were a factor for both teams as they both had seven power plays a piece with the Jets scoring twice and the Blues scoring once.
The Jets will now a few days off between games as they don’t play again until Friday night when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to town.
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