After falling to the Rangers and the Blackhawks, the Blues (12-5-1) bounce back in a 3-2 victory against the Jets (8-9-2). Backes had three points and Tarasenko had two.
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This win broke a brief two-game losing streak. The Jets, however, haven’t won a game since November 4 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They were coming from a tough 7-0 loss to the Nashville Predators.
Ken Hitchcock placed captain David Backes on the first line with Vladimir Tarasenko (18 points) and Alexander Steen (15 points). Backes was going into the game with 6 points.
The Blues struck first as Colton Parayko dropped a pass to the red-hot Tarasenko, who ripped one past the Jets’s Michael Hutchinson. Tarasenko’s 11th of the season came 5:33 into the first period.
Tarasenko poked the puck around a Mark Stuart to Kevin Shattenkirk, who found David Backes for the Blues’s second goal. After sliding it past Hutchinson, Backes hopped onto the Jets’s goal to stop himself.
The Jets didn’t give up.
Alexander Burmistrov passed the puck back to Dustin Byfuglien at the point who blasted one towards Jake Allen. The puck caromed off Jay Bouwmeester and past Allen with 17:44 left in the second.
36 seconds later, Bryan Little tied the game with his 9th of the season. Little’s goal was assisted by Mattieu Perreault.
Alexander Steen brought the puck into the Jet’s zone and found Backes open in the high slot. Backes caught the pass on his forehand and- in one motion- moved it to his backhand while lifting it into the top left corner. The Blues took the lead back, 3-2.
With a scoreless third period, the Blues advance to 12-5-1. The Jets lost four of four games on their road trip and were outscored 21-8. They have lost six consecutive games, losing seven of their last eight.
Allen stopped 16 of 18 shots as Hutchinson stopped 25 of 28.
The Blues head straight to Columbus to face-off against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. The game starts at 6:00 p.m. Catch it on FS-Midwest and follow @bluesbuzzblog on Twitter.
(Photo via WRAL Sports Fans)
