Jets Win Fourth-Straight, Beat Blues 4-2

The Winnipeg Jets have won four-straight games, and have picked up two points in seven of their last eight games. 

With NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in the building, the Jets hit the ice for the fourth of five-straight contests against the Central Division on Tuesday, as the St. Louis Blues rolled into town. 

Winnipeg came out firing, fell asleep in the second period, and woke back up in the third, improving to 37-15-5 in the process.

"We were losing these games last year in the second half," defenceman Brenden Dillon shared postgame. "We were finding a way to lose, or letting that one goal go in, or that one really bad turnover at a certain time. I think it’s a credit to all the guys in this room here - all four lines, all six D. We are understanding the situation, and even when we’re not playing our best, we’re still finding a way to win.”

Sean Monahan, Brenden Dillon, Kyle Connor and Alex Iafallo got the goals for the Jets, while Laurent Brossoit picked up his ninth win of the season with 36 saves on 38 shots faced. 

Hometown product Joel Hofer didn't fare quite as well in his first NHL game in Manitoba. The 23-year-old was beaten three times in the first period alone, but rebounded as the night wore on.

The game began with a tilt between the captains, as Adam Lowry and Brayden Schenn threw down in a spirited tilt, resulting in both players taking some damage. Lowry ended up landing on top of Schenn, as fans gathered erupted early.

Shortly after, Winnipeg opened the scoring on Sean Monahan's 19th of the season. He was the recipient of a perfect passing play by Nikolaj Ehlers, who found him alone in the high slot. The game-opener was Monahan's sixth as a member of the Jets.

Then, it was Dillon who joined in the celebration just a minute-and-a-half later with a hearty fist pump. Scoring his seventh of the year, Dillon set a new career-high with a heavy blast from the point. 

“It feels good," Dillon added. "I might have jinxed myself when I missed that wide-open net a couple games ago. But it’s just been a lot of fun to have the kind of success that we’re having this year as a group. I think everyone is reaping the benefits of how well we’re doing as a team.” 

But that excitement was short lived, as the Blues got on the board just 30 seconds later. A lackadaisical Jets effort, combined with a strong St. Louis attack led to an easy Ivan Barbashev backdoor tap in. 

Before the Blues had a chance to soak in their gained momentum, Winnipeg bounced back with yet another strike from Connor. Finding the twine for the fourth-straight game, the speedster caught his opposing defence sleeping on a bad line change, beating Hofer low, glove-side.

The Jets led 3-1 through 20 minutes, while entering the middle stanza up 13-12 on the shot chart.

The second period was yet another disaster for Winnipeg, which gave up a goal and boatload of shots, despite some offensive zone control.

Brandon Saad picked up the Blues' second goal of the game, collecting his 17th of the season on a rebound tally just 2:10 into the frame.

St. Louis outshot Winnipeg 15-13 in the period but remained trailing by one as the third began.  

After being denied from the high slot late in the second, Iafallo made up for his earlier miss, scoring an insurance goal midway through the third. 

Rebounding off an Ehlers miss, Iafallo got his eighth of the season, which ended a 20-game goalless drought and a stretch of nine games without a point. 

"Feels awesome, feels great. I mean not scoring for a while, just to help the team win, there’s no better feeling," Iafallo said.

"You go through slumps. It sucks, you never want to do that. But at the same time, do anything to help the team out. You gotta play good defensively, blocking shots, whatever it is. I try to focus on that. If you’re not scoring, just focusing on the small things I guess."

Monahan picked up the secondary assist on the play as Poison's Nothing But A Good Time rang through the Canada Life Centre speaker system. 

The Blues pulled Hofer while already on a late third period man advantage, but it was all for naught, as the Jets last line of defence stood tall. 

Brossoit finished the night with 36 stops on the 38 pucks the Blues fired his way, while Hofer turned aside 28 of the Jets' 32 shots.

“It doesn’t matter who is net for us," Dillon said. "We are so confident in both those guys. Coming in this year, we know the workload that Helle can have, and he’s comfortable having. 

"But even on a divisional matchup night like this, still having days before the next game and to have the confidence to put LB in there, and for us as a group to go out there and get a big win like that, it just pays dividends. He’s obviously a Stanley Cup winner and it’s his second time around in Winnipeg, so all the guys are familiar with him. It’s just been a great addition.”

Next up for Winnipeg is a three-game road trip with stops in Dallas, Carolina and Buffalo over the next week. Thursday's game against the Stars features a 7:00 PM central start time, while Saturday's contest in Raleigh is a rare 11:30 AM morning start. Sunday's game against the Sabres is back to a standard 6:00 PM puck drop.