Barret Jackman scores from center ice, Blues beat Jets 5-4

ST. LOUIS -- Barret Jackman scored his first goal in 36 games with 1:03 left, launching a shot from center ice to give the Blues a 5-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

After his team squandered a three-goal, third-period lead, Jackman bailed the Blues out when he got control of the puck along the left boards in the neutral zone off a faceoff.

He appeared to be just dumping the puck into the Jets' end, but his shot was on net and it handcuffed goalie Ondrej Pavelec.

That was the only goal that Pavelec allowed in 20 shots faced. He came on in relief in the second period when the Blues scored four goals on four straight shots against Jets rookie goalie Michael Hutchinson.

Linemates Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera all had a goal and an assist for the Blues.

Steve Ott also scored and Brian Elliott made 12 saves for St. Louis, which has beaten Winnipeg eight straight times. The Blues (42-19-5, 89 points) moved to within two points of first-place Nashville in the Central Division.

Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist for Winnipeg. Lee Stempniak, Blake Wheeler and Michael Frolik also scored for the Jets. The goal extended Frolik's scoring streak to seven games.

Winnipeg played without leading scorer Bryan Little, who sat out his second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.

St. Louis had what appeared to be a comfortable 4-1 lead going into the third period, but Ladd scored a power-play goal at 1:34 and Stempniak beat Elliott with a high wrist shot from the right circle 11 seconds later to make it a one-score game.

Wheeler then tied it at 14:32 at 4-4 with a short-handed goal.

After Frolik beat Elliott with a harmless looking shot from the high slot that slipped through the five hole 8:50 into the contest, the Blues scored the next four -- on four shots.

Schwartz tied the game with a power-play goal at 14:20 of the first period and Tarasenko gave the Blues the lead when he scored 31 seconds into the second period. Ott then scored at 10:08 of the second period, and when Lehtera beat Hutchinson from right in front off a pretty pass from Schwartz 1:01 later, Hutchinson took a seat.

Noteworthy

• The Blues have surrendered the first goal in their last nine home games.
• Frolik has goals in three straight games.
• The Jets have lost eight of their last nine road games.
• Lehtera's goal was his first since Jan. 8 (19 games).