Bryan Little scored a pair of power-play goals and Ondrej Pavelec stopped 34 shots as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues 5-3 Saturday afternoon at MTS Centre.

Pavelec, who set a franchise record when he made 25 saves in the second period, won his second straight game since being recalled from the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose this past Tuesday.

"Well again, I don’t think it’s an important record,” said Pavelec. “That’s the way it is. In the next week I could be in the minors again. So I go day by day and every time I get a chance to play I’m gonna try my best and we’ll see what happens. And that’s pretty much it."

Little scored his ninth of the season in the first period and added his 10th in the final frame.

Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice was impressed with Little's special teams contribution.

"He’s a really smart, nifty player with the puck and he can finish. But he’s got a chemistry with some of those guys. So we had 2 or 3 things working against our power play up until he got healthy, him plus Perreault and Petan were out. So our left handed guys were out which is really what Laine needs. It has to be worked from a certain side of the ice for him. And then the other centre to make the other unit so you balance two units out. Now with those guys those guys healthy we can do that and with Patty out we have enough right-handers to cover that hole. But he (Little) was the key piece to it."

Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele with his 21st of the season also scored for the Jets.

Kevin Shattenkirk potted a pair for the Blues while Paul Stastny had the other St. Louis goal.

Winnipeg (22-23-4) will host the Anaheim Ducks on Monday and the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

Patrik Laine, who has missed seven games after suffering a concussion earlier this month in a game against the Buffalo Sabres, will return to full contact practice with the Jets on Sunday.

 

photos courtesy Ray Peters