Blues 3, Blue Jackets 1
ST. LOUIS -- Right wing Scottie Upshall broke a 1-1 tie with a third-period goal to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 3-1 win Saturday night over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Upshall scored his fourth goal of the season on a wrist shot from the slot 6:02 into the period, beating goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, to hand the Blue Jackets only their second loss in their last five games and snap the Blues' three-game losing streak against Columbus.
Left wing Alexander Steen added an empty-net goal in the final minute, his ninth of the year.
The Blues found themselves in a familiar position after the first period, trailing 1-0 on a goal by Columbus center Ryan Johansen at 14:46. It marked the fourth time in their last six home games, and seventh in 11 home games this season that the Blues have allowed the first goal of the game.
The Blues have been ahead at the end of the first period only five times in their 24 games this season.
Right wing Vladimir Tarasenko tied the game with a power-play goal just 2:09 into the second period. Tarasenko, who had hit the post earlier on the power-play, scored his 14th goal of the year with 15 seconds left in the tripping penalty against left wing Boone Jenner.
Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk earned the assist on the goal, extending his streak of consecutive games with at least one point to eight.
The Blue Jackets and Bobrovsky were able to keep the game tied by killing off a 5-on-3 power-play for 1:13 late in the second period. The Blues outshot the Blue Jackets 18-8 in the period, their most shots in a period this season, but could not get more than the goal by Tarasenko.
Right wing Markus Hannikainen, a 22-year-old native of Finland, made his NHL debut for the Blue Jackets but left the game after the second period with an upper-body injury. Hannikainen was called up from Lake Erie on Friday.
NOTES: Blue Jackets C Brandon Dubinsky did not play after he was suspended for one game by the NHL for cross-checking the Penguins' Sidney Crosby in the neck Friday. ... Rookie D Joel Edmundson was back in the Blues' lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last two games. ... RW Dmitrij Jaskin, who has one goal and four assists in 22 games, was a healthy scratch for the Blues. ... The Blue Jackets' overtime victory Friday snapped a streak of 23 consecutive regulation games to start the season, the longest such run in the NHL since the Islanders started 1998-99 with 27. ... The Blues began a stretch of playing nine of 11 at home.