WATCH: Winnipeg Jets react to 4-2 loss against St. Louis Blues

WINNIPEG – Vladimir Tarasenko scored a pair of goals to help push his St. Louis Blues past the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 at MTS Centre on Sunday afternoon.

The forward tallied the game-winner 9:50 into the third period on a delayed Jets penalty. Carl Gunnarsson added some insurance by re-directing in a Colton Parakyo pass on a power play with a little more than a minute to play.

“The way it went with penalties, it was tough to gauge the momentum,” said Jets forward Drew Stafford. “It could have gone either way. It’s unfortunate because I think we match-up pretty good against them five on five.”

Tarasenko broke a scoreless tie a 3:27 into the second period as he beat Ondrej Pavelec glove side with a shot from the slot for his first goal of the game. Winnipeg replied just 64 seconds later with a Mathieu Perreault power play goal. Blake Wheeler picked up an assist on the play for his team leading eighth point. He also became the second player in Jets franchise history to record points in each of the team’s first six or more games of a season.

The see-saw skirmish continued mid-way through the second frame when St. Louis’ Scottie Upshall poked his second goal of the season past an out of place Pavelec to give the Blues a 2-1 lead. The Jets though got the goal back with another power play marker just minutes later, this time from Drew Stafford. The forward tipped in a Nikolaj Ehlers wrist shot for his second goal of the year.

Winnipeg controlled the opening period by outshooting the Blues 12-10. Pavelec wasn’t forced to make his first save until 8:32 into the game. At one point, the Jets had eight more shots than the Blues.

“I liked our start,” said Jets captain Andrew Ladd. “I thought the first period we were on top of it. After that our pace was off a little bit. We weren’t able to sustain as much pressure as we would have liked the last two periods.”

The loss snaps the Jets’ two game win streak and drops them to 4-2-0 on the season. St. Louis on the other hand takes over first place in the Central Division as it improves to 5-1-0.

Anthony Peluso suited up in his first game of the season, taking the place of healthy scratch Nic Petan. Peluso finished the game with a minor penalty for roughing and 4:59 of ice time. Winnipeg also sat defenceman Paul Postma and Ben Chiarot.

St. Louis was without forward Paul Stastny as he continues to recover from a lower-body injury he suffered against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

The Jets continue their six-game homestand October 23 when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning.