Blues blow late lead, lose in shootout

Source: St.self storage Louis Post-DispatchOct. 19--WINNIPEG, Manitoba --The Blues were in command -- or so they thought.They held a two-goal lead on Winnipeg with under seven minutes to play Friday night at MTS Centre, and the Jets had only four defensemen left in the game. But suddenly, the club found itself in a shootout for the second consecutive night and this one didn't end like the one in Chicago.In the seventh round, a shootout goal by Winnipeg's Olli Jokinen, and an ensuing save by Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec on Chris Stewart, capped a disastrous finish for the Blues. They lost the game 4-3 after the Jets won the shootout by a count of three goals to two, and instead of coming away with a two-game sweep of back-to-back road games, the club left Winnipeg stunned."It's a brutal loss," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.The Blues fell to 5-1-1 and will be off until next Friday, when they host Vancouver at Scottrade Center. The team, however, did not return to St. Louis; instead the players traveled to Charleston, S.C., for a four-day team-bonding trip.In his return home to Winnipeg Friday, Alexander Steen nearly provided the Blues with enough offense to beat the Jets.Steen scored two goals-- team-leading Nos. 6 and 7 -- and David Backes added his sixth, as the Blues built a 3-1 lead in the third period. Steen's second goal of the night gave the Blues their two-goal cushion with 16:26 remaining in regulation.The line of Steen, Backes and T.J. Oshie, along with defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester, had a dominating 5-on-5 possession, swinging the puck around the perimeter in the offensive zone. Finally, Backes fired a shot on net, and when the rebound sat still, Steen's stick seemed to be on a loaded spring the way the puck exploded for his seventh goal of the season."We had complete control of the hockey game," Hitchcock said. "We were managing the game properly. We made a puck error and gave them a little bit of life. But we had complete control. They were just playing the game out. We made a mistake with the puck and that hurt us."A pass from Blues defensemen Roman Polak didn't meet its destination, bouncing off the skate of center Adam Cracknell. Jet-fast forward Evander Kane took advantage, gaining the zone and putting a shot on goalie Brian Elliott, who was making his first start of the season.Kane's shot from the top of the circle hit the sticks of both Polak and Pietrangelo before sneaking past Elliott for a 3-2 Winnipeg deficit with 6:47 remaining in regulation."It was just two funny bounces," Pietrangelo said. "The puck is going so fast, you can't control it. We get those bounces sometimes. It is what it is."The next bounce went to Winnipeg, too.The Jets, who utilized their speed all night, moved the puck from Blake Wheeler to defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, and finally onto the stick of fellow defenseman Tobias Enstrom. All alone, Enstrom released a shot that went under the arm of Elliott for a 3-3 score with 1:54 left to play."There was a little over-collapse to the net," said Oshie, who was on the ice with Steen, Backes, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jordan Leopold. "We le迷利倉 a guy get open and he snuck one in."The Blues still had a chance after the game remained tied through overtime. On Thursday in Chicago, T.J. Oshie netted the lone goal of the shootout, lifting the club to a 3-2 victory.Oshie converted the Blues' first attempt Friday, and after Steen scored on the second try, the visitors led the shootout 2-1. They had four chances to end the game, but Shattenkirk, Vladimir Tarasenko, Vladimir Sobotka and Patrik Berglund all missed, keeping the Jets alive. Elliott made four saves before Jokinen ended the game."'Ells' did a great job in the shootout," Oshie said. "We've got to find a way to put a goal in before they do when you go into extra innings."Winnipeg completed its comeback despite playing the third period with only four defensemen.Jets rookie Jacob Trouba left in the first period after a self-inflicted collision into the end-boards. He attempted to put a body on Leopold, but when Leopold moved out of the way, the youngster went face-first into the wall.Trouba was taken off the ice on a stretcher, marking the third such instance this week in the NHL in which a player left immobilized. Two cases involved the Blues.San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle went off on a stretcher after a hit by the Blues' Maxim Lapierre on Tuesday in St. Louis, and Detroit's Niklas Kronwall left in the same fashion Thursday in Colorado.The Blues weren't at fault for Trouba's scary incident and, unlike the aftermath of the Boyle situation, they kept their composure.Steen had already handed them a 2-1 lead with his first goal. Trouba whiffed on a pass to his defensive partner and Steen capitalized, rifling a puck past Pavelec with 1:46 left in the first period.The first three goals of the game came off giveaways.The Blues took a 1-0 lead after Winnipeg's Grant Clitsome blew a tire and lost the puck to Oshie. He gathered it up and sent a laser pass in front to Backes for a wide-open look.Backes scored his sixth goal in the first seven games of the season, matching his output in 48 games in 2012-13. It came on only his ninth shot of the season, giving him a whopping 66.7 shooting percentage.The Jets picked up their first goal, by Jokinen, also on a turnover. Shattenkirk whiffed on a pass and the Jets went back the other way. Elliott turned aside the initial shot, but Jokinen fought for the rebound and sent a knuckleball past Elliott's glove for a 1-1 score.The Blues led by a goal after 20 minutes, but the lead could have been larger. Along with its 11 shots in the first period, the offense had another four hit the post. Berglund, Pietrangelo, Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz and each were denied by iron.The near misses proved costly, but the Blues were still in control. They eventually lost control and now must head on their team-bonding trip with a sour taste in their mouth."It's tough, but we've got a good group," Oshie said. "We had a tough loss to San Jose. This one, at least we played hard. They just earned the win."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at .stltoday.com Distributed by MCT Information Services自存倉