Hellebuyck stymies Blues as Jets regain winning tune
Winnipeg evens back-to-back series to snap 2-game skid
Connor Hellebuyck was happy to have a hand in some payback.
Less that 24 hours after Winnipeg was shut out 2-0 in St. Louis, Hellebuyck made 24 saves as the Jets ended a two-game losing skid with a 4-0 win over the Blues on Sunday.
"We kind of deserved this one because [of Saturday's loss]. I thought we were the better team," said Hellebuyck, who sat out the loss in favour of backup Steve Mason.
"It's very satisfying and I think it's better for the guys in this room because now they know that they did play the right way and they continued to play the right way."
Hellebuyck recorded his second shutout of the season and eighth of his career.
Carter Hutton had been in net for the St. Louis victory, stopping 48 Winnipeg shots. Mason made 28 saves.
It was starter Jake Allen who faced 46 shots on Sunday, turning aside 42 in the losing cause for the Blues (22-11-2).
"Too many shots against. That's not us," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo said. "We're typically one of the top teams in the league for shot suppression and chance suppression. A little bit too easy to play against the last couple games."
Patrik Laine scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season. Adam Lowry, Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey also had goals for Winnipeg (19-10-5). Morrissey added an assist and Andrew Copp and Jacob Trouba each had a pair of helpers.
The win was a boost for the Jets, who are now 2-4-1 in their last seven games.
Defenceman Alex Pietrangelo was back in action after the Blues captain missed four games with a lower-body injury. He logged just over 21 minutes of ice time.
Winnipeg's total of 94 shots in the two weekend games was a concerning stat, he said.
"We've got to control the pace of the game a bit more," Pietrangelo said. "I don't think we really had much control. I don't think we played in the offensive zone enough tonight to kind of tire them out."
The game was scoreless after the first period and Winnipeg led 2-0 after two.
Winnipeg forward Brandon Tanev sacrificed his body for Lowry's goal at 4:32 of the second period.
Tanev skated behind the St. Louis net with the puck and was crushed by two Blues players. The puck popped loose, Copp picked it up and sent a pass to Lowry in the crease.
Laine used a wrist shot on Allen's blocker side to record his 10th power-play goal of the season at 15:13 while Pietrangelo sat in the penalty box for cross-checking. Laine became the first NHLer to score 10 power-play goals this season.
Scheifele picked up his 15th goal of the season when he re-directed Morrissey's shot from near the top of the circle at 11:54 of the third.
Morrissey then made it 4-0 less than two minutes later with his wrist shot from the high slot.
Winnipeg went one for four on the power play while St. Louis was zero for four.
Jets coach Paul Maurice was glad the tables turned.
"They're a little frustrated things didn't go their way [Saturday]. They handled it the right way," Maurice said. "It's always a very fine line. You need to stay in the game, the style of game you play best and they did that."
The Jets head out on a three-game road trip, starting Tuesday in Nashville. The Blues play the second game of a four-game road trip in Calgary Wednesday.