Jets top Blues on Scheifele's shootout goal

ST. LOUIS -- Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele saw something in the shootout against the St. Louis Blues that his teammates hadn't tried.
Scheifele got a good look at how the three shooters before him had no success against Blues goalie Brian Elliott. So he tried something different, and scored in the fourth round to give the Jets a 2-1 victory against the Blues at Scottrade Center on Tuesday.

Scheifele beat Elliott with a wrist shot to the glove side, just under the crossbar, after Winnipeg's first three shooters all went low.
It was Scheifele's first NHL shootout goal in four tries.
"I watched the three previous guys go and kind of saw what [Elliott] was doing and picked my spot going in and saw it going down and happy to put it there," Scheifele said. "I think I've only shot three [shootout attempts] in three years, so I don't get out there too often. The biggest thing is I know what to do. I've done it a lot in juniors and obviously in practice too, so you know what you can do and I was happy to do it."

Winnipeg (24-26-3) got a goal from Bryan Little. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves through overtime and was 4-for-4 in the shootout.
Hellebuyck rebounded after being pulled his previous start and was 1-4-0 in his past six games. He gave Scheifele a chance to be the hero by making a great pad stop on Vladimir Tarasenko in the second round of the shootout.
"I took it as a learning experience and I think it happens to everyone," Hellebuyck said of his recent struggles, "but I think I learned a lot from it."
Rookie defenseman Colton Parayko scored for the Blues (30-17-9) and Elliott made 32 saves. He fell to 3-2-2 the past seven starts despite allowing one goal in five of those games, he is 5-0-2 in his past seven starts against the Jets.

Coach Ken Hitchcock felt his team's compete level for the puck in the offensive zone was lacking, a reason the Blues produced just 22 shots.
"I don't think we competed in the offensive zone at all," Hitchcock said. "We didn't compete for the puck. Our goalie was our best player again; played great.
"... We didn't compete for the puck in the offensive zone. Pretty simple. So, lots of opportunities to do it and when you don't have the puck, you can't score. We didn't have the puck. Pretty simple."
Little put the Jets up 15 seconds into the second period after Elliott couldn't handle Dustin Byfuglien's fluttering puck from the point that was deflected by Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. Elliott tried to catch the puck but dropped it in the slot, and Little was there for the quick shot and a 1-0 Winnipeg lead.
The Blues had a chance to clear the puck, but Shattenkirk fanned on a clearing pass.

"It was spinning up in the air and you kind of lose it up in the lights and stuff," said Elliott, who has a 1.27 goals-against average and .958 save percentage in the past seven games. "No excuses; they capitalized on it. It's frustrating that that's the one they get, but we reacted and [Parayko] had a big goal for us on the power play that was an unbelievable shot. That tied it up, but 1-1 going into the third in a tight game, it's a team that was desperate on the other side to get a win. We felt like we were in a good position."
Parayko tied it at 2:27 with the Blues' fourth power-play goal in eight tries in two games after they had gone 0-for-24. He took Jori Lehtera's spin pass straightaway at the blue line and beat Hellebuyck with a slap shot for his first goal in 21 games.
"[Robby] Fabbri, [Troy] Brouwer and [Lehtera] there, they were moving the puck great down low," Parayko said. "[Lehtera] with an unbelievable pass, kind of behind his back and just opened up a lane for me to kind of take the opportunity to step into one. Great screen by Brouwer and overall, just overall great play by the forwards.

"With a situation like that, I had an open lane right down the middle. Can't really pass up those opportunities on the power play. That's something we strive for is get pucks to the net. That's what it's going to take."
A scoreless first period produced big saves by each goalie.
Hellebuyck robbed Blues forward David Backes from point-blank range with 5:50 remaining after Backes intercepted Mathieu Perreault's pass. Elliott came up with a glove save off a Blake Wheeler shot with 4:40 remaining in the period after the Jets cycled the puck to the high slot.
The Jets barely missed taking the lead with less than seven minutes remaining in the third period. Defenseman Tyler Myers' wrist shot from the right point deflected off teammate Andrew Ladd in the slot, hit the crossbar, bounced down and trickled wide of Elliott.

Nonetheless, Jets coach Paul Maurice was pleased his team finished a quick two-game trip 2-0-0.
"Tough building to get a win in," Maurice said. "... We played a great game in Colorado [a 4-2 win Saturday] and it was a real team kind of building win, but we've been searching for that time to get on a roll to get that good feeling and you need a game like this to give you a chance."
The Jets go home to play the Boston Bruins on Thursday. The Blues play at the Florida Panthers on Friday.