Steen scores late to lift Blues to 3-2 win over Winnipeg

Alexander Steen refuses to talk about his recent goal-scoring exploits.

But his St. Louis teammates are more than happy to sing Steen's praises.

Steen scored a power-play goal with 59.4 seconds left to break a tie and Jaroslav Halak made 21 saves to lift the Blues over the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Tuesday night.

The Blues, who won their second straight, have earned points in five successive games. Winnipeg has lost five of six. The Jets finished a four-game road trip with a 1-2-1 mark.

Steen leads the NHL with 11 goals. He has scored in a career-best five consecutive games.

"Pretty impressive, isn't he?" Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "He works his tail off day in and day out. He deserves all of this success. We've just got to make sure he keeps going."

Pietrangelo and Brenden Morrow also scored for the Blues, who improved to 5-1-1 at home.

Steen has a team-high 16 points. He also scored with 21.1 seconds left to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Oct. 17.

"He's been great all over the ice, not just scoring goals," linemate T.J. Oshie said. "On the forecheck, on the backcheck, he's something. It's just a lot of fun to play with a guy like that."

Steen backhanded a shot from the slot that hit the post and then bounced off the glove of goalie Ondrej Pavelec and into the net.

"I had a little bit of time," Steen said. "It was nice to see it go in."

Steen, who had just eight goals last season, has a pair of two-goal games this season.

"He's just a smart hockey player," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He knows how to play the game."

The power-play goal was set up by Jay Bouwmeester. Oshie also contributed by drawing an interference penalty on Tobias Enstrom with 2:13 remaining.

Pavelec made 30 saves but fell to 4-6-2.

"We just found a way to lose again," he said. "It wasn't that bad a game, it just wasn't good enough."

The win served as a bit of revenge for the Blues, who lost in Winnipeg 4-3 in a seven-round shootout Oct. 18.

Halak, who improved to 7-1-1, stopped 18 of 19 shots over the final two periods. He is 5-2 lifetime in seven starts against Winnipeg.

Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets.

Little tied it 2-all at 10:27 of the third period with a short-handed goal. He tipped in a pass from Andrew Ladd, who had two assists.

Pietrangelo wristed a shot behind Pavelec at 4:16 of the final period to give the Blues a 2-1 cushion. It was Pietrangelo's second goal of the season and only his 31st in 234 games covering six seasons.

The Blues jumped in front 1-0 on Morrow's goal early in the first period off the rebound of a shot by Ryan Reaves.

Winnipeg tied it on a goal by Wheeler at 11:20 of the first. The Jets broke an 0-for-26 power-play drought with the two-man-advantage tally. Wheeler converted on the rebound of a shot by Ladd for the Jets' first power-play goal in nine games.

"We gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game," coach Claude Noel said. "It's really disheartening. We've got to find ways to repair some of these areas. They become different every night."

NOTES: The Blues are 6-0-1 when scoring first. ... Winnipeg D Paul Postma will be sidelined up to two months with a blood clot in his leg. ... The Jets were playing in St. Louis for the first time since April 8, 1996, when the teams tied 2-all. ... Winnipeg LW Evander Kane played in his 275th NHL game. ... The Jets have played 14 games in October, the busiest month in franchise history.

Noteworthy

* The Blues are 6-0-1 when scoring first.

* Winnipeg D Paul Postma will be sidelined up to two months with a blood clot in his leg.