ST. LOUIS_The St. Louis Blues are still having trouble scoring. But goaltending? Not an issue, especially Saturday at Scottrade Center.
In his first start since Dec. 1, goalie Carter Hutton posted his ninth career shutout, making a first-period power-play goal by Vladimir Tarasenko stand up in a 2-0 victory over Winnipeg before 17,964.
Vince Dunn added a third-period goal, on the power play with 2:34 remaining, to seal the victory.
In snapping a two-game losing streak, the Blues (22-10-2) continued their season-long trend of protecting leads in the third period. They are now 18-0 when leading after two periods. Hutton stopped a career-high 48 shots Saturday in keeping one of the league's top-scoring team out of the net.
The Jets, now 1-4-1 in their last six games, fell to 18-10-5. The two Central Division stalwarts will do it again Sunday night in Winnipeg.
In part because of a foot injury, Saturday marked Hutton's first start in more than two weeks. He showed no signs of rust, turning aside shot after shot by Winnipeg, occasionally in dramatic fashion.
Right from the start, the Blues showed focus and discipline on the power play. It didn't pay off on their first power play of the night, a goaltender interference call on Bryan Little at the 4:22 mark.
But it did on the second, a tripping call against Andrew Copp at 8:22 that led to a 1-0 Blues lead.
Less than a minute into that second power play, Alexander Steen ripped a blistering shot at Winnipeg goalie Steve Mason from the right faceoff circle. Tarasenko pounced on the rebound to the left and deposited it in the net for his 15th goal overall and third power-play goal of the season at the 9:16 mark.
Before that goal, the Blues were only two for 24 with the man advantage dating back to the Minnesota game Dec. 2.
The Blues killed off two more power plays in the second period to maintain their 1-0 lead.
Hutton had 36 saves through two periods. In Thursday's 3-1 loss to Anaheim, the Blues allowed 18 shots total.
On Friday, the Blues had three banged-up players who didn't practice. A fourth, defenseman Carl Gunnarssson, left practice early after taking a shot off his right leg.
Three of those four are ready to go for Saturday night's game with Winnipeg. Robert Bortuzzo, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Gunnarsson returned to practice during an optional morning skate. Gunnarsson left practice a little early Saturday as well, but proclaimed himself fit for the Jets.
"I took a shot off the shin and just felt like I had to get off and check it out," Gunnarsson said of Friday's scare. "But it's good."
