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Jets rally, beat Blues in SO

Oct 19, 2013 - 4:29 AM Winnipeg, MB (SportsNetwork.com) - The Winnipeg Jets erased a two-goal deficit in the third period and Olli Jokinen scored the decisive shootout goal to cap a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the St. Louis Blues at MTS Centre.

Jokinen beat St. Louis netminder Brian Elliott with a wrister on the glove side to open the seventh round. Ondrej Pavelec then turned away a bid from Chris Stewart.

It looked as though it was shaping up to be a happy homecoming for Blues forward Alexander Steen. The Winnipeg native beat Pavelec twice, the second tally giving the visitors a 3-1 lead at the 3:34 mark of the third.

Steen's father, Thomas, was a standout player for the original Winnipeg franchise, accumulating 817 points in 950 games for the Jets from 1981-95.

However, the current incarnation fought back with two goals in a 4:53 span.

"We had opportunities to get demoralized and get discouraged a bit, but I thought against a team that can close out games like St. Louis I thought we really stuck to the plan," said Winnipeg head coach Claude Noel.

Evander Kane, whose status for the game had been in question after he suffered an apparent leg injury in Wednesday's practice, closed the gap to 3-2 off a St. Louis giveaway with a shot that was deflected twice before sailing past Elliott at the 13:13 mark.

Tobias Enstrom accepted a cross-ice pass from Dustin Byfuglien and fired a slap shot home from the right circle with 1:54 left in regulation.

Pavelec finished with 29 saves for the Jets, who improved to 2-2-0 on their six-game homestand.

Elliott, making his first start, stopped 26 shots for St. Louis, which has dropped two of three following a 4-0 start.

"We were managing the game properly," said Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock, "and we made a puck error and gave them a little bit of life, but we had complete control they were just playing the game out and we made mistakes with the puck that hurt us. But we were in complete control and rolling four lines, everything was going good. It was a brutal loss."

David Backes staked the Blues to a 1-0 lead with his sixth goal of the season. Winnipeg defenseman Grant Clitsome turned the puck over when he fell down in the corner of the defensive zone. T.J. Oshie collected the puck and quickly fed the puck to Backes for a one-timer from the slot 8:43 into the game.

Jokinen netted the tying goal with 4:30 remaining in the opening period, but another giveaway cost the Jets. Rookie defenseman Jacob Trouba fanned on a pass as he backed into the Winnipeg zone, leading to an unassisted goal by Steen, who buried a wrister from the left circle with 1:46 to play before the first intermission.

Trouba wound up leaving on a stretcher at 2:50 of the second period. The 2012 ninth overall pick missed his check and did a painful faceplant into the end boards behind the St. Louis net.

Steen scored on a rebound from the doorstep in the third.

Game Notes

Backes matched his goal total from 48-game 2013 campaign ... St. Louis forward Maxim Lapierre was suspended for five games for boarding San Jose Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle on Tuesday night. Lapierre served the first game of the ban on Thursday while awaiting an in-person hearing Friday ... The Jets snapped a three-game losing streak to the Blues.