ST. LOUIS _ The Blues got their defense back in order on Saturday night. The offense remains out of order.
In a game where they once again didn't lack for scoring chances and once again didn't finish the ones they got, the Blues were able to win with just two goals, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets in overtime, 2-1, at Scottrade Center. It was the seventh time in the past nine games the Blues had scored one goal or less in regulation, though they have somehow managed to get six points from that limited offensive production.
The game-winner came with 42.1 seconds in overtime when Vladimir Tarasenko, who hadn't scored in seven games, skated around Brandon Saad and fired a shot into the top corner past goalie Curtis McElhinney to win it.
The win snapped the Blues' two-game losing streak leading into a Sunday game at Scottrade against the Colorado Avalanche.
If Tarasenko was a likely candidate for the game-winner, the other goal scorer wasn't. The Blues tied the game in the third period on a goal by Jay Bouwmeester, just the sixth goal for the team in six games and the fourth of those goals to come from a defenseman. To put it another way, prior to Tarasenko's game winner, the Blues' forwards have scored just twice in the past two weeks: Jaden Schwartz against the Kings and Paul Stastny against the Stars. In that time, three different defensemen, Bowmeester, Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk, have scored goals.
Though he saw only 20 shots in regulation, the Blues wouldn't have gotten to overtime without the play of Carter Hutton in goal. Making his third start of the season, he stopped 19 of them in regulation, including some with a high degree of difficulty.
The Blues were blanked in the first period for the sixth consecutive game but gave the Blue Jackets a power play with 31 seconds to go when Alex Pietrangelo was called for holding the stick of Alexander Wennberg. The Blue Jackets came into the game with the best power play in the league, scoring at a robust 44 percent, while the Blues penalty kill had slid from its lofty start to a more mundane 88.4 percent.
The Blues killed off that penalty and then had two power plays of their own, and couldn't score on either of them. The Blues also had some prime chances that they continue to be unable to put in the net. Less than five minutes into the period, Kyle Brodziak took a shot as a trailer on a rush that Columbus goalie Curtis McElhinney blocked. The rebound came off right to Scottie Upshall, who had an open half of the net to shoot at, and managed to find the goal post and have the puck bounce clear.
Less than a minute later, amid steady pressure from the Blues, Tarasenko got a puck about 12 feet out and had his uncontested shot blocked by McElhinney. The Blues, who hadd been on their best behavior, at least when it came to fights, in the first 10 games, got in their third in two games when Ryan Reaves, back in the lineup after being a scratch in Dallas, squared off with Nick Foligno after a hit on Pietrangelo.
But in keeping with the script, the Blues fell behind for the third straight game. Kevin Shattenkirk had the puck behind the Blues net and fought off Boone Jenner for position. Shattenkirk, still under pressure, backhanded the puck in front of the net, right on to the tape of Josh Anderson, who controlled the puck and beat Carter Hutton to the far side with 7:05 to go in the period.
Coming from behind has been a challenge for the Blues, who were 1-3 when giving up the first goal coming into the game and got that one win in the season-opener in Chicago. The Blues ended the period on a power play after Matt Calvert hooked Robby Fabbri, but it was still the fourth time in the past six games that the Blues failed to score in either of the first two periods.
The Blues finally scored in the third behind one of their most effective units, the fourth line. They got the puck into the Columbus zone and the Blue Jackets got it just over the blue line, but Upshall got it back, made a big arc through the neutral zone and got it to Jay Bouwmeester on the left. He skated in and took a slap shot from the circle that went into the top left corner. It was the first goal of the season for Bouwmeester, who had three last season and who was given a silver stick before the game in honor of having played in his 1,000th career game last week in New York.
