*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
Wearing their sharp looking 3rd jerseys, the team that plays in the "True North" did what they had to do. Mark Scheifele scored, Josh Morrisey had two assists, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues with a 4-0 shutout victory on Monday night in Winnipeg.
It was a game that the Jets appeared all over the statsheet in. They won to improve their record to 3-3-0 to begin the season, with 11 different skaters registering at least one point, with Morrisey being the only player with two points. The Jets won for the 6th time in their last 7 games against the Blues.
Jets assistant coach and acting head coach Scott Arniel said that "We knew we were going against a team in St. Louis that made you work for every inch of the ice. We did a great job of battling, getting from zone to zone to zone, getting to their end of the rink. That was a real complete game. I thought all our lines, all our D, I think everybody was rock solid. Hellebuyck as well."
Most of the first half of the game went scoreless, and by half, I mean 1 1/2 periods. At the 10:30 mark of the second period, Scheifele broke the ice with his 4th goal of the season to put the Jets ahead 1-0, assisted by Morrisey and Mason Appleton. Sam Gagner scored 10:38 into the 3rd period, doubling the Jets lead to 2-0 with Morrisey and Kyle Connor assisting.
Exactly 3:05 after Gagner scored, the Jets found the back of the net again. It was Morgan Barron who did so, scoring his first goal of the season with assists from Neal Pionk and Adam Lowry to make it a 3-0 game. Cole Perfetti sealed the win with an empty net goal, making it a 4-0 final when he scored with 1:34 left on the clock.
As per usual in Winnipeg, it was Connor Hellebuyck getting the start between the pipes. Hellebuyck recorded his first shutout of the season and 29th of his NHL career, stopping all 25 shots the Blues put on net. The win puts Hellebuyck's record at 3-2-0 to start the season.
Hellebuyck said after the game that "We needed everyone tonight, and we played a full 60. Character is in this room, and now we know the game plan that we need. This game wasn't going to be won off of a couple sweet plays. It was going to be won in the corners and making sure they got nothing."
Getting the start for the Blues was Thomas Greiss, who made his Blues debut in their 4th game of the year. Greiss didn't win his first start with his new team, but it wasn't really his fault. He stopped 39 out of the 42 shots the Jets sent at him, recording a .929 save percentage in the loss.
Blues forward Brayden Schenn said of the loss that "You're always in it, but they just kind of hemmed us in there. I don't think we deserved to win it tonight by any means. We were in it, I guess, until midway through the third period, but I don't think we deserved to win it. It wasn't our best. We'll flush it out and get ready for our next one."
Up next, the Blues get back in action at home on Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oilers, with Jordan Binnington to get the start. The Jets have two days off before a Thursday night tilt with the Los Angeles Kings, with Hellebuyck likely in net.
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