WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ The Blues have lost a lot of points lately in games that were there for the taking.
Their Central Division matchup with Winnipeg Friday at the MTS Centre shouldn't have been a one-goal game in the final minutes. It was because of backup goaltender Carter Hutton, who allowed one goal on 38 shots before being pulled for an extra-attacker.
But with Hutton looking on from the bench, the Jets scored two empty-netter in the final 2 minutes, 16 seconds of regulation to cap a 3-0 victory over the Blues.
They were trailing 1-0 when they pulled Hutton, and with two players serving matching minors in the penalty box, had a 5 on 4 advantage at the end other. But the puck came out of the zone and Winnipeg's Bryan Little outraced Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo back and guided into the net while the defenseman crashed hard into the boards.
It was a fitting end to the Blues' loss, who watched Blake Wheeler score his second goal of the game with 1:09 remaining into an empty net.
The Blues did not win a game in the four-game season series against Winnipeg, falling to 0-3-1, and that comes on the heels of them losing Tuesday to Edmonton and being swept in that season series as well.
The Blues are spiraling downward and fast.
They won seven of their first eight games under Mike Yeo, but now have dropped five straight. They fell out of the second wild card in the Western Conference Thursday night, and with their loss to Winnipeg, they are just three points ahead of the Jets in the standings.
The Blues went into Friday's game with the easiest remaining schedule in the NHL, in terms of opponents' points percentage (.482). But the schedule, which leads them to last-place Colorado Sunday, won't matter if the club can't find any offense.
The shutout in Winnipeg, the Blues' third of the season, means they have scored just six goals in their five-game losing streak. They were outshot 40-29 and went 0 for 3 on the power play.
The Blues had Hutton to thank for Friday's game being as close as it was in the first two periods.
Hutton came in with a lengthy shutout streak on the line, though statute of limitations may have rendered it over.
Hutton's last two starts were both shutouts, but the last was Feb. 15 at Detroit, more than two weeks ago, and the other was in Philadelphia Feb. 6, almost a month ago. He hadn't allowed a goal in over 160 minutes going into the night, and it lasted nearly another 11 minutes.
Blake Wheeler gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 10:51 seconds into the game.
After a hooking penalty on Jori Lehtera put the Blues on the penalty kill, Hutton didn't have much of a chance on Wheeler's 18th goal of the season.
Paul Stastny won the faceoff in the defensive zone, but Carl Gunnnarsson couldn't clear it. Winnipeg played keep away at the point until Wheeler ripped a slap shot that Hutton didn't see because of a screen.
But that's all Hutton and the Blues gave up Friday.
After a turnover by newcomer Zach Sanford, who was making his debut with the club, Hutton turned aside a chance by Winnipeg's Nikolas Ehlers late in the first period. That kept it 1-0 at the first intermission, when the shots were 11-11, though the Jets had the edge in play.
Hutton had more where that came from in the second period, denying a 2 on 1 early in the period and one on Adam Lowry, the son of former Blue Dave Lowry, midway through the frame.
But while Hutton was holding them in the game, the Blues' offense continues to be MIA. One of the team's few significant scoring chances Friday came late in the second period when Patrik Berglund found Jaden Schwartz streaking to the net. But Schwartz, who had just one goal _ an empty-netter _ in his last 16 games coming into the night put a soft backhander into the pads of Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyk.
The Blues couldn't get any momentum from their power play, either, Friday. In fact, the lack of overall confidence seemed to bleed into that unit as well, allowing Winnipeg a short-handed 2 on 1 late in the second period.
Still somehow trailing just 1-0 in the third period, the Blues went on their third and final power play of the game with just under 14 minutes remaining in regulation when Wheeler ran Hutton and was called for goalie interference.
