Stastny scores twice, Jets defeat Blues to end six-game skid

ST. LOUIS -- Paul Stastny scored twice, and the Winnipeg Jets ended a six-game skid with a 4-1 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

Kyle Connor had a goal and an assist, and Eric Comrie made 28 saves in his first start since Dec. 10 for the Jets (18-16-7), who were 0-4-2 their past six games.
"It feels great, let's be honest, it's been a long time," Jets coach Dave Lowry said. "I thought we played a real solid game. It's a hard league to win in, and every win is nice.
"Today, we came, we executed, we played a really solid road game. We managed the game the way we needed to."

Vladimir Tarasenko scored, and Ville Husso made 20 saves in his first home loss since April 5, 2021 for the Blues (26-13-5).
"I think we were flat," Blues forward Brayden Schenn said. "I don't think we had the intensity we needed to beat a good team. I don't think we moved our feet enough, didn't take care of the puck enough and ultimately fell behind and weren't able to grab it back."
Tarasenko's power-play goal from the left circle, a short side shot, gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 6:08 of the first period.

Stastny tied it 1-1 at 14:23 after Blues forward Jordan Kyrou and defenseman Justin Faulk collided, and when Husso came out to play the loose puck, he hit Stastny with it leaving the net empty for him to backhand the puck in from a sharp angle.
Connor gave the Jets a 2-1 lead at 7:57 of the second after the Blues turned it over, and Connor beat Husso after taking a pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois.
"We had two guys collide into each other [on the first goal]," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "And 'Huus' is probably wanting something different with that puck. That was the one goal. The second goal, we're all standing around watching him. And he jacked it into the net. That's basically what it boiled down to."
Nate Schmidt's power-play goal at 12:35 made it 3-1, a one-timer from the point after Husso lost his stick when he had it knocked out of his hand by defenseman Robert Bortuzzo.
"When [Connor] gets that look-in, it opens things up for other guys," Schmidt said. "It opened a situation up for me. I felt like I was getting my pucks through tonight. ... My legs felt great tonight. I thought we were jumping."

Stastny scored an empty-net goal at 17:25 of the third period for the 4-1 final.
"It's a big win, it feels good," Dubois said. "We knew we had a couple games before the break, we have a lot of games after. The season goes by fast. You can't be losing too many. To come here tonight against a really good team at home, it felt really good to get a win, to play well, and it was also good to see 'Coms' play well back there. When we made mistakes, he was there. It was a big win for everybody. We did a really good job tonight."
NOTES:Comrie's last win was Nov. 5, 5-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks. ... Jets starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck was given the game off after playing 13 straight games. ... Connor has scored nine points (five goals, four assists) in the past eight games and 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 13 games against St. Louis. ... Blues center Ryan O'Reilly played his 900th NHL game, 427 with the Colorado Avalanche, 249 with the Blues and 224 with the Buffalo Sabres. ... Husso was 9-0-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage his past 10 starts at home; he was 6-0-0 in seven games with a 1.11 GAA and .965 save percentage in January prior to Saturday. ... The Blues lost for only the third time their past 17 home games (14-2-1). … Jets forward Dominic Toninato played 10:22 after missing two games in NHL COVID-19 protocol. … Winnipeg defenseman Declan Chisholm was plus-1 in 12:10 in his first game since his NHL debut Jan. 13. … The Jets had scored three or fewer goals in the past nine games.