Momentum. What is it to the Winnipeg Jets? It’s stringing together wins and finally building a win streak to pull themselves back into a playoff spot. But after collecting three of a possible four points over their previous two games, the Jets were blanked 1-0 by Manitoban goaltender Joel Hofer and the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

Justin Faulk scored the lone goal of the game in the second period, his eighth of the season. Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves in his third consecutive start as Winnipeg fell to 15-16-2 on the year.

Slow start, again

The Jets were outplayed for most of the opening period. St. Louis held a 9-1 edge in shots at one point and generated several high-danger scoring chances, a couple of which rang off the iron. Hellebuyck stood tall to keep the game scoreless through 20 minutes.

“I think our starts haven’t been great. Definitely something we need to work on,” Kyle Connor said postgame. “It’s one shift on, one shift off. It kind of feels like it’s been going on for a long time now, almost a month. It’s not the way we want to play, and it just keeps happening. We’ve got to find a way to get out of it.”

Discipline

Last season, the Jets were known for their discipline and avoiding untimely penalties. That hasn’t been the case this year, and Wednesday in St. Louis was another example.

Trailing 1-0 with 2:54 remaining in the third period, Dylan DeMelo was sent to the box for tripping Jake Neighbours. Winnipeg killed off the penalty, but with 42 seconds left chaos broke out behind the Jets’ net shortly after. Josh Morrissey and Pius Suter exchanged shoves before Logan Stanley cross-checked Suter from behind, putting Winnipeg shorthanded once again. Stanley was assessed a roughing minor along with a 10-minute misconduct for the untimely infraction. St. Louis would run out the clock and hold on for the shutout victory.