Roslovic, Hellebuyck help Jets top Blues to end five-game slide

WINNIPEG -- Jack Roslovic had two goals and an assist to help the Winnipeg Jets end a five-game losing streak by defeating the St. Louis Blues 5-2 at Bell MTS Place on Saturday.

"It's huge, especially against a team like that, a team that is high up in the standings," Roslovic said of the Central Division leaders. "We can play with anybody. I think this is going to be the spark for the Stanley Cup]*
"We've been playing well these past couple of games, but it hasn't been that way on the score sheet," Roslovic said. "We're moving our feet, playing hard and sticking up for each other, and doing all the right things."
Brayden Schenn and Ryan O'Reilly scored, and Jordan Binnington made 28 saves for the Blues (31-14-8), who lost for the fifth time in six games (1-4-1), including a 4-2 loss at the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.
"I wanted to come up with a save there for the boys, but stuff happens and the puck doesn't bounce your way," Binnington said of a clearing attempt near the St. Louis blue line by Blues defenseman Vince Dunn that bounced off linesman Greg Devorski and led to Roslovic's goal, giving the Jets a 1-0 lead at 18:44 of the first period. "That's where the goalies come in, and I've got to have some accountability for myself. I just have to keep working hard and keep being there for the boys, and it'll come."

Jets captain Blake Wheeler said, "That kind of got some good mojo on the bench. When you get a bounce to go your way, you want to keep rolling with it. We finally got a couple of good bounces tonight. Sometimes when you're playing really well, you're still losing and things aren't going your way, and tonight was one of those nights where we had our game and got some bounces."
Roslovic scored on a rebound in front to make it 2-0 at 17:05 of the second period.

"We know they have a lot of firepower and they're fighting for their lives," O'Reilly said. "They're going to play desperate, and you see from that they get that first goal and get a bit off confidence and go from there. For us, we have to play tougher on them. We have to find a way to make it difficult, especially on their top guys, and build our game from that."
Andrew Copp extended the lead to 3-0 with 15 seconds left in the period.
Schenn ended Hellebuyck's shutout at 13:20 of the third period to make it 3-1.

O'Reilly scored on a wrist shot from the high slot to cut it to 3-2 at 15:50.
Blake Wheeler scored into an empty net at 18:29 to make it 4-2, and Patrik Laine scored an empty-net goal with 21 seconds remaining for the 5-2 final.

They said it

"We maybe had to find the back of the net a little earlier tonight, and we didn't. We had a lot of opportunities. … We'll go home and regroup and have a nice (three-game] homestand. I'm focused on that now." -- Blues coach Craig Berube
"I think we can get better. It wasn't perfect by any stretch. But it felt like it was a good step in the right direction. Depending on when we get guys back, it could be like this for a little while. Hopefully we can build on today's performance." -- Jets forward Andrew Copp

Need to know

Blues forward Alexander Steen played in his 1,000th NHL game. Steen, who was born in Winnipeg, has played the fourth-most games in St. Louis history (747). … The Jets, who lost 2-1 to the Boston Bruins here Friday, play seven of their next eight at home, where they are 12-12-2 this season and 2-7-1 in their past 10. … Winnipeg center Mark Scheifele (six goals, 10 assists) and forward Kyle Connor (eight goals, eight assists) each has 16 points in his past 14 games.

What's next

Blues: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Jets: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, FS-TN, NHL.TV)