The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG—St. Louis Blues’ forward Vladimir Tarasenko is getting used to seeing the goal light flash behind the net.
Tarasenko scored twice, including the game-winner, to increase his goal tally to five on the young season as St. Louis beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 yesterday afternoon.
But Tarasenko’s thoughts weren’t on his own play after the game.
Instead, he praised his teammates for their determination, especially during a six-game road trip.
“It’s a tough road trip. We had something like three games in 72 hours,” Tarasenko noted.
“We have one more game against an unbeaten team [Montreal],” he added.
“We have some time to rest right now and then go home after.”
Tarasenko’s second goal of the game proved to be the winner in a tough, back-and-forth affair.
“We won the street fight. That was a good, old-fashioned street fight,” said Blues’ coach Ken Hitchcock.
“It was a lot of fun and we won the street fight.
“It was close, hard fought,” Hitchcock added. “The teams really get after each other.”
The Blues (5-1-0) scored twice in the second period and twice more in the third.
Scottie Upshall and Carl Gunnarsson also scored for St. Louis, who extended their winning streak to four games.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Mathieu Perreault replied for the Jets (4-2-0).
Brian Elliott picked up the win while Ondrej Pavelec suffered his second loss on the season.
There were just as many fisticuffs as scoring chances in the first period as both the Jets and Blues renewed their feisty, rough-and-tumble Central Division rivalry at MTS Centre.
Kyle Brodziak had perhaps the best chance of the period as the Blues’ forward had a wide-open net in front of him.
But Pavelec reached across to make the save.
“I like our start. I thought our first period—we were on top of it. Our pace was just off a little bit,” noted Jets’ captain Andrew Ladd.
“We weren’t able to sustain as much pressure as we’d like in the last two periods.”
“I think we’ve shown we can play with anybody,” Hitchcock said.
“We’ve sustained very significant injuries here already and yet we’ve still found ways to score goals, which is a good sign,” he added.
Elsewhere in the NHL, Edmonton edged Vancouver 2-1 (OT), Anaheim beat Minnesota 4-1, New Jersey nipped the N.Y. Rangers 2-1 (OT), and L.A. shaded Colorado 2-1.
