Blue Jackets defeat Blues, push winning streak to five

ST. LOUIS – The Columbus Blue Jackets won their season-high, fifth straight game 5-3 against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

Kent Johnson had a goal and an assist, and Zach Werenski notched an assist to extend his point streak to five games (one goal, seven assists) for the Blue Jackets (27-20-7), who are 8-1-0 since Rick Bowness took over as coach on Jan. 13. Jet Greaves made 28 saves, including 15 in the third period.

“Good teams find a way to win. We're a good team,” Bowness said. “A very impressive, gutty effort. We went into the third period in our third game in four nights, and we're down to 10 forwards. We're scrambling our lines. I was very, very proud of the guys. We took some penalties in the third, probably fatigue penalties more than anything.”

Jimmy Snuggerud and Jonatan Berggren each had a goal and an assist, Brayden Schenn had two assists, and Jordan Binnington made 18 saves for the Blues (20-26-9), who have lost six of seven (1-5-1).

“I just think we're hoping for things to go right and when they don't, we wait for a push and the reality in this League [is] that's not good enough,” Schenn said. “We have to find ways to dig in for one another. Realistically, you can't come back every third period. If you actually play the right way for the first 20-30 minutes of the game when you've got a team on a back-to-back, you will eventually tilt the ice and hem them in, like we did (in the third), but we're always chasing games. We just don't have enough drive to come out and push teams out early on.”

Snuggerud put St. Louis ahead 1-0 at 7:11 of the first period, working a give-and-go with Schenn and beating Greaves over the left pad with a wrist shot.

Just 37 seconds later, Isac Lundestrom tied it 1-1 at 7:48. Boone Jenner stripped the puck from the back side of Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich and passed cross-ice to Lundestrom for the wrist shot from the right side.

“We had a great response tonight after every goal they scored,” Johnson said.

Denton Mateychuk’s shot from the top of the left circle gave Columbus a 2-1 lead at 12:54. It was tipped through Binnington's five-hole after incidentally hitting the shaft of Blues defenseman Colton Parayko's stick.

Berggren tied it 2-2 at 3:15 of the second period with a power-play goal. Philip Broberg's shot from the point rebounded off Greaves in front and got touches from Schenn and Pius Suter before Berggren put it away with a wrist shot from the interior of the right circle.

“The guys have done an easy job for me to come in and play my game," Berggren, who was claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 16, said. “I feel like even if I haven’t produced these couple games, I’ve created a lot, and that’s all I can do. Lucky now, the puck goes in. Hopefully it keeps going [in] like that.”

Johnson restored Columbus’ lead 3-2 at 8:30 with a power-play goal of his own, tipping Ivan Provorov’s wrist shot from the left point.

“It happened quick,” Johnson said. "I was filling in that spot in front. Provorov was wide open and it was a nice shot by him. It was nice to get a piece of it and for it to go in.”

Tyler Tucker tied it 3-3 at 13:35 when his wrist shot from the left wall caromed off Jenner in front and went bar down over Greaves.

Damon Severson gave the Blue Jackets another one-goal lead with a slap shot from the high slot that grazed a Blues stick on the way to the net to make it 4-3 at 16:01.

Mason Marchment scored into an empty net at 19:30 of the third period for the 5-3 final.

During the game, St. Louis announced that center Robert Thomas underwent a minor leg procedure and is expected to return following the Olympic break.

“The consensus was that, in the end, if he gets this done, it would be the best thing long term instead of trying to manage it,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think it was just becoming a nuisance to him. It’s no fun every time that you take a stride and you have pain.”

NOTES: The Blue Jackets have outscored their opponents 23-13 during their winning streak. … Snuggerud has six points (two goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Greaves improved to 4-0-0 in his career against St. Louis. … Columbus forward Kirill Marchenko had an assist to give him five points (one goal, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Suter had an assist and played 18:05 after missing 15 games with a right-ankle injury. … Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan did not play in the third period. He was checked in the first period by Schenn but returned to play the second period. … St. Louis forward Jake Neighbours did not play due to an upper-body injury, but Montgomery expects him to play Monday at the Nashville Predators.