Blues give up ground in Central

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues failed to gain in the race for third place in the Central Division when they lost 5-2 to the Winnipeg Jets at Scottrade Center on Tuesday.
The Blues (43-29-7) lead the Nashville Predators by one point for third after Nashville lost 2-1 in overtime to the New York Islanders.
It was the first regulation loss in 10 games for the Blues (7-1-2), who were coming off a 4-1 win against the Predators on Sunday.

"My concern was actually before the game," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo said, "and the game itself just confirmed what I was feeling. Meaningful games as far as getting into the playoffs and then you get into the playoffs and you come back home and you play a team (the Predators) that you're fighting in a position for in an emotional game, so we knew we'd have a good response and a real strong team effort.
WATCH: All Jets vs. Blues highlights
"I was nervous about this one today. Unfortunately, I was right."
Patrik Laine scored two goals, Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Stuart and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist, and Michael Hutchinson made 24 saves for the Jets (38-35-7), who have won five games in a row and swept the season series from the Blues (5-0-0) for the first time in franchise history, outscoring them 21-10.

"These guys, they've been such a good team over the last number of years, and I think they bring out the best in us," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said of the Blues. "Our preparation coming into a game against St. Louis, we know what kind of game it's going to be, it's going to be a tough matchup. We've played a lot of really close games with them over the years and this year we kind of got the puck to bounce our way."
Laine, Ehlers and Stuart scored three goals in 1:02 early in the second period to give Winnipeg a 3-1 lead.
Alex Pietrangelo and Jori Lehtera scored for St. Louis, and Jake Allen made 20 saves on 25 shots before being replaced by Carter Hutton at 9:02 of the third period.
It was the first time St. Louis allowed more than three goals in 18 games, dating to Feb. 26.
Pietrangelo scored his NHL career-high 13th goal 35 seconds into the game to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.

Laine tied the game 1-1 at 1:47 of the second, then Ehlers made it 2-1 Winnipeg at 2:01, and Stuart put Winnipeg ahead 3-1 at 2:49.
Lehtera, playing for the first time in 13 games, cut the Jets lead to 3-2 at 4:38.
Scheifele gave Winnipeg a 4-2 lead at 4:48 of the third period on a shot that was gloved by Allen. The NHL Situation Room initiated a video review that showed the puck crossed the goal line in Allen's glove.

Laine scored his second of the game to make it 5-2 at 9:02, chasing Allen from the game. It was his 36th goal, three behind Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs for most by an NHL rookie.
Hutton made six saves in relief.
Wheeler and Jets forwards Mathieu Perreault and Bryan Little each had two assists.

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Goal of the game

Wheeler sent the puck toward the net from the left faceoff circle, and it went off Scheifele in front of Allen. Ehlers gathered the loose puck and used his speed to score on a wraparound inside the right post.

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Save of the game

Hutchinson gloved Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester's slap shot from the top of the right circle at 3:38 of the third period to keep the Jets ahead by one.

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Highlight of the game

Perreault threaded the needle with a backhand pass to Laine in the high slot for his second goal of the night.

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Unsung performance of the game

Stuart, who doesn't get on the score sheet often, doubled his goal and assist total through his first 39 games, and had a plus-3 rating and two blocked shots in 17:18. The defenseman scored with a shot that hit Blues forward Kyle Brodziak and Bouwmeester. "I don't even really know how it went in," Stuart said. "I have to see the replay. It took a few bounces, I know that."

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They said it

"It feels good. I think I've been playing well since my couple last games. I just haven't got the reward yet and I got a pair, so I'm happy with that." -- Jets forward Patrik Laine
"It was crazy. It was quick. What can you do? We had to find a way to get back at it. Definitely a really bad couple minutes for us all." -- Blues goalie Jake Allen on the Jets scoring three goals in 1:02 early in the second period

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Need to know

Scheifele is the first Jets player to reach 80 points (31 goals, 49 assists) since the franchise moved from Atlanta in 2011.

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What's next

Jets:At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Blues:At the Florida Panthers on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-MW, NHL.TV)