Fleury the Star as Jets Hold On to Beat St. Louis 3-2

Blues lose in Regulation for first time in eight games

The most confounding team in the NHL won its second straight game despite being outplayed at every level of the game.

And they did it thanks to a surprising hero.

Defenceman Haydn Fleury scored his first goal and also dished out his first assist as a member of the Winnipeg Jets as Winnipeg held on to beat the visiting St. Louis Blues 3-2.

After beating Colorado 3-1 on Saturday -- despite being outplayed -- the Jets came back on Sunday, were outshot 31-16 and seldom got the puck out of their own in the final 40 minutes and yet won their second straight and got back to .500 at 28-28-10.

Amazingly, they are also in a playoff hunt, now just four points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

On Sunday, the Jets opened the scoring early (2:31) in the first period when defenceman Haydn Fleury took a nice pass from Brad Lambert and ripped a shot over the shoulder of Winnipeg-born St. Louis goaltender Joel Hofer. It was Fleury’s first goal as a member of the Jets and Brad Lambert’s first assist of the season. Morgan Barron, who started the play, also drew an assist. It had been 817 days since Fleury last scored a goal.

Scheifele beats Hofer (Photo. by Danny Truong)

Five minutes later, Mark Scheifele was sent in alone by Josh Marrissey and he made no mistake flipping a shot over the pad of Hofer. It was Scheifele’s 31st of the year (he would have looked really good on the Canadian Olympic Team) and Morrissey’s 34th assist of the campaign.

St. Louis outshot Winnipeg 9-6 in the first period and had some scoring opportunities, but Eric Comrie was superb in the Jets net.

The Blues finally got on the board at 5:17 of the third when Dalibor Dvorsky converted a great pass from Jonatan Berggren on what was, essentially, a four-on-one Blues rush. It was Dvorsky’s 10th of the season.

But the Jets bounced back with about eight minutes left in the period. The Blues were about to be handed a delayed minor penalty when Morgan Barron hit a streaking Kyle Connor with a perfect stretch pass at the Blues blueline. Connor went in alone and scored his 31st of the season with a nifty move that froze poor Hofer. It was a brilliant goal, a highlight-reel goal and truly fun to watch. As well, Haydn Fleury, who was having the game of a lifetime, picked up his first assist of the season to go with his first goal.

Meanwhile, the Blues kept battling and decided to pull their goaltender with 3:47 to play and it paid off. After controlling the puck for nearly three full minutes, Dylan Holloway scored from in close at 19:09 to cut the Jets lead to 3-2.

But that was all St. Louis could muster and the Blues had lost in regulation for the first time in their last eight outings.

The Jets play again on Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre against the Nashville Predators.