Between Nov. 11 and Dec. 3, the Jets were 9-2-1. In their six games prior to Sunday, they were 1-4-1 with a particularly flat outing at home this past Thursday, a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
"You have to be ready against every team in this division because it's a very good division," said Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey, who had a goal and an assist, was plus-3 and was named First Star of the game Sunday. "For our team specifically, we saw a bounce-back. We went to St. Louis and into a tough building against a team that's been playing very well and we played a game that gave us a chance to win.
"We didn't bury on a few chances and they got a couple on the power play, but we were able to come back here tonight and basically duplicate that performance. I think that showed a lot about the courage on this team, and our resiliency, and we talk about going through tough stretches as a team and how you respond, that's cutting it off quickly."
Winnipeg's speed and attack were out of sync for some of the past 12 days, Wheeler said. He said he noticed it after the Jets shut out the Ottawa Senators in a 5-0 win on Dec. 3.
"There are no off nights in our division," Wheeler said. "I think that's the way you want it because when push comes to shove and you're in the games that really mean something, then you're groomed for it and used to it. I think our last game, we felt that way was against Ottawa and we were off our game for a few games after that. We had to fight to get back into it."
Jets defenseman Dmitry Kulikov also said he felt some of the misfiring.
"I felt like before the Chicago game (on Thursday), we were a little on a down slide and we were trying to find a way to play better, and these last two games against St. Louis, even though we lost the first one, I think we dominated," Kulikov said. "We outshot them, we played with the puck for most of the game, and right now I think we're on the rise again, feeling good about our game. We feel like we fixed what we needed to fix and feeling good about it."