COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Craig Berube talked to the Blues on Thursday about the importance of adding onto to 2-1 or 3-1 leads, putting teams away, and avoiding overtime. It didn't happen Friday in Columbus.
St. Louis couldn't hold a 2-1 lead early in the third. Pierre-Luc Dubois' goal early in the period tied the game at 2-2. And then in overtime, defenseman Zach Werenski's third goal in as many games gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 overtime win at Nationwide Arena.
It was the league-leading 10th overtime goal of the season for St. Louis (12-3-5) and their seventh in the past nine games. Columbus improved to 7-8-4.
The Blues went from having a 4-on-3 power play in overtime after Jaden Schwartz was tripped by Oliver Bjorkstrand to being on the penalty kill in a 4-on-3 situation after a penalty for too many men on the ice. Schwartz came out way too early, resulting in the penalty, and that's when Werenski scored at the 3:34 mark of OT.
For Brayden Schenn, it was an October to remember, with nine goals. Schenn has cooled off in November. He had gone five games without a goal _ until nine minutes into the second period Friday.
Schenn's 11th goal of the season came just six seconds into a power play, giving the Blues a 2-1 lead at the 9:04 mark of the period at Nationwide Arena.
Schwartz made the play, poking the puck from his knees to a wide-open Schenn for a backdoor goal against Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo. The Blues, who entered the game ranked fourth in the league on the power play (26.2 percent), have scored seven power play goals in their last seven games including Friday.
After a largely lackluster opening period, the Blues took the play to Columbus in the second, controlling most of the possession time.
Mackenzie MacEachern put an exclamation point on an otherwise unspectacular opening period for the Blues. His wraparound goal with 43 seconds left tied the game at 1-1 at Nationwide.
It was MacEachern's second goal of the season, and for the fourth line, it was the trio's fifth goal in the past seven games.
Prior to that score, Columbus had the best of it in the period, outshooting the Blues and having most of the possession time and most of the best chances.
The Blue Jackets' Vladislav Gavrikov scored his first NHL goal at the 9:34 mark of the period, left alone on the backside due to a defensive breakdown by the Blues. His backhand in close beat Jake Allen, making his fifth start of the season.
