Jets end short road trip with tough loss to Blues

ST. LOUIS - For the second time in three games, the Winnipeg Jets were kept off the scoresheet by their opposition.
This time, it was by the St. Louis Blues, who handed the Jets a 3-0 loss at Enterprise Center on Sunday night.
Nikolaj Ehlers could only sum it up one way:
"It sucks."
While the Jets had 34 shots on goal and held the Blues to 17, Ehlers felt he and his teammates didn't do enough to get to the middle of the ice to create a little more traffic in front of Blues goaltender - and Winnipeg product - Joel Hofer, who was playing in his fourth NHL game.
"It seemed like whenever we got the puck we were going east-west or south," said Ehlers, who finished with three shots on goal in 12:54 of ice time. "We just weren't fast enough tonight and that's something we've got to get back to."

The setback leaves the Jets with a record of 39-29-3, which leaves them in the second wildcard spot in the West. They would've preferred to earn a victory in St. Louis to boost their lead to six and seven points over Calgary and Nashville respectively, but it wasn't to be.

"Any time you lose a game at this time of year, I feel like it's a lost opportunity," said defenceman Nate Schmidt. "We've battled to be here all year and things haven't been awesome lately for us but, at the same time, you're here for a reason and you have a chance to go do something with this."
Just like in Nashville, the Jets gave up the game's opening goal despite having the better of the scoring chances early. Kasperi Kapanen redirected a Nick Leddy pass behind Connor Hellebuyck, who was starting both games in a back-to-back set for the fourth time this season.
The goal came 4:04 into the first, shortly after the Jets hit a post on a Pierre-Luc Dubois deflection.
"We came out of the gate great," said head coach Rick Bowness. "Had the forecheck going, we hit the crossbar on a tip. We were jamming the net, we were doing all of the things we had talked about, and then they go down and score. We didn't handle it very well from that point."
It's the ninth time in the last 10 games that the Jets have given up the game's opening goal. It puts the Jets in a tough spot as even with all the offensive firepower, the 48 goals they've scored since February 11 are the third fewest in the NHL.

Hellebuyck kept it at a one-goal deficit with two sensational saves, the first a glove save on a slot shot from Robert Thomas, and the second a tic-tac-toe one-timer from the slot that he turned away with his blocker.
At the other end of the ice, the Jets couldn't take advantage of a four-minute power play - the result of Torey Krug being ejected from the game - leaving them down a goal after 20 minutes.
Winnipeg just couldn't get momentum back on their side.
"I talk a lot about timely goals, those are the goals that give you that boost and get you going again," said Bowness. "When it doesn't go in, you just got to stay in the fight and keep pushing."
St. Louis made it 2-0 just past the midway point of the second, as Justin Faulk rushed dup the ice and hit Nathan Walker with a backhand pass across the crease, and Walker flipped it up top for his second goal of the season.

"You're trying to get up and make plays and trying to get up and do something. It was a little too late, you know," said Schmidt. "They just slowed the game down and bogged it in and made it tough for our guys to get not only through the neutral zone, but get to the net offensively."
Ehlers and Blues forward Brayden Schenn dropped the gloves in the middle frame after exchanging a cross-check and a slash.
"When you're fighting for a playoff spot like we are and it's not going your way, you should do anything and try anything," said Ehlers. "Right now you're doing anything to get going."
In the third, when the Jets didn't connect on their third power play chance of the night, the Blues made them pay. Kapanen flipped a high stretch pass into the neutral zone, sending Jakub Vrana in alone. He made no mistake, beating Hellebuyck between the legs with eight minutes left in regulation.
That was it for offence on the night. Hellebuyck made 14 saves on 17 shots, and lost for the first time in the back half of a back-to-back - he was 3-0-0 in those second games coming into the night.
Now the Jets shift their focus to Tuesday night, a divisional tilt with the Arizona Coyotes. They're a team outside of the playoff race, but known for work ethic and they've gone 10-4-4 since February 11.
"We're in eighth spot. You'd rather be in eighth spot than ninth," Bowness said. "This is where we are, now it's up to us to stay there and hopefully push up a little higher."