*Photo from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle*
Don't look now, but Gloria is starting to play more and more again. Nathan Walker scored, Kasperi Kapanen had a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Winnipeg Jets with a 3-0 victory on Sunday afternoon in St. Louis.
The Blues have now taken home two straight wins and have 4 wins in their last 6 games. It might be a little late for them to make a playoff push, though. On the scoresheet, Kapanen was the only multi point scorer with his two point game. 5 other skaters registered a point in the win.
Blues head coach Craig Berube said of Kapanen that "I've been happy with him, with his game. He had some good looks in the first period, too. He's been pretty solid all around. Defensively, I said his awareness is good and he plays good 'D.' Offensively, I think he's gaining more confidence as it goes along, to be honest with you."
It was Kapanen who started the scoring for the Blues, scoring 4:04 into the game to make it 1-0 on his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Nick Leddy. At the 10:34 mark of the second period, the Blues extended their lead to 2-0 thanks to Walker's second goal of the season, with assists coming from Logan Brown and Justin Faulk.
No goals were scored again until later in the 3rd period. On a breakaway, Jakub Vrana scored for the Blues to make the lead 3-0 at the 12:00 mark of the 3rd. It was Vrana's 4th goal in as many games and his 6th of the season, with the lone assist going to Kapanen.
Getting the start in goal for the Blues was Joel Hofer, who picked up the win to move to 2-0-0 on the season. Hofer shut out the Jets with a 33 save performance. He wasn't credited with the shutout however, because he had to leave the game briefly in the second period due to a skate issue. Thomas Greiss came on and made one save before Hofer returned.
Berube said of Hofer's strong performances that "He’s not going down, but it’s great to see him play well. It’s great to see him get a shutout tonight. Good job by the team in front of him. He’s doing a good job and he’s playing well, so he knows he can do the job."
It was Connor Hellebuyck who got the start for the Jets, playing solid but unable to get the win. Hellebuyck turned away 14 out of the 17 shots on goal from the Blues, which was good for a .824 save percentage. His record dropped to 30-22-2 in 54 starts.
Jets head coach Rick Bowness said of the loss that "We came out of the gate great. Had the forecheck going, we hit the crossbar on a tip, we were jamming the net, we were doing all of the things we had talked about, and then they go down and score. We didn't handle it very well from that point. We did have some opportunities; we didn't capitalize on them. They're a big defense, all those guys are big and strong, and we had a tough time battling through them."
Both teams get back in action on Tuesday night. Jordan Binnington is the expected starter for the Blues against the Detroit Red Wings, while Hellebuyck will likely start for the Jets as they face the Arizona Coyotes.
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