Tarasenko's OT goal allows Blues to beat Blue Jackets
ST. LOUIS -- Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko scored 4:17 into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
The goal broke a streak of seven consecutive games without a goal for Tarasenko, who had scored four times in the first four games this season.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Blue Jackets.
After the Blue Jackets scored the game's first goal in the second period, Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester tied the game 2:16 into the third period with his first goal of the year.
Bouwmeester, playing in the 1,002nd game of his career, scored only his 82nd goal off a pass from left winger Scottie Upshall, flipping a backhand shot past goalie Curtis McElhinney, who was making his first start of the season.
The Blue Jackets, who scored 10 games on Friday night against Montreal, had just eight shots on goal before right winger Josh Anderson took advantage of a turnover by Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to score his fifth goal of the season and give Columbus a 1-0 lead. He picked off a pass by Shattenkirk right in front of the net and fired a shot past backup goalie Carter Hutton at 12:55 of the second period.
McElhinney kept the Blues scoreless through the first two periods, when the Blues out-shot the Blue Jackets 23-10. St. Louis' best scoring chances came in the second period, when Upshall hit the post off a rebound, and a shot by Tarasenko that was stopped by McElhinney.
NOTES: St. Louis RW Ryan Reaves was back in the lineup after missing Thursday night's game in Dallas as a healthy scratch. RW Nail Yakupov was a healthy scratch, but is expected to play Sunday against Colorado. ... The two games begin a stretch in which the Blues will play 11 contests out of 15 at home. ... G Sergei Bobrovsky, who earned his third shutout in the Blue Jackets' 10-0 win Friday night over Montreal, did not start for the first time this season. He has a 1.79 goals-against average in his first nine games. ... Scratched for Columbus were Ds Dalton Prout and Scott Harrington and LW Sonny Milano. ... The Blue Jackets are off until Wednesday night, when they will host Anaheim.