Tarasenko, Blues send Blue Jackets to fifth straight loss

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Blue Jackets lost their fifth straight game when Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists to help the St. Louis Blues to a 4-2 win at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and an assist, and Brayden Schenn had three assists for the Blues (23-22-5), who have won two straight games and are 6-2-1 in their past nine. Jordan Binnington made 18 saves.
The Blues have allowed two or fewer goals in seven of their past nine games.
WATCH: [All Blues vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
It was the first game for St. Louis since Jan. 23. Its mandated five-day break followed the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.
"Coming off the break, obviously they've played a couple of games, we had the mentality to play heavy, play a simple game," O'Reilly said. "It wasn't perfect by any means, but the guys showed up ready to work. We stuck with it and battled."
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored, Artemi Panarin had two assists, and Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves for Columbus (28-20-3).

The Blue Jackets have lost five straight for the first time since going 0-4-1 from Jan. 30-Feb. 9, 2018. They have been outscored 19-11 during the streak and have lost all three games this week after having nine days off. Their five-day break preceded All-Star Weekend.
"We were lethargic two of our last three games at a very important time of the schedule," Columbus coach John Tortorella said.
O'Reilly made it 1-0 at 8:28 of the first period after a shot from the right point by Alex Pietrangelo slipped through Korpisalo's pads. The puck was in the crease when O'Reilly tapped in his 19th goal.
"That's where goals are being scored these days in the League, around the net," he said. "I don't know if I stole one from [Pietrangelo] but I was going to poke it in. I wasn't going to waste time."

O'Reilly extended his point streak to seven games (10 points; three goals, seven assists). His assist on Tarasenko's goal was his 300th of his NHL career (701 games).
Carl Gunnarsson extended the lead to 2-0 with 45 seconds remaining in the first, with Schenn getting his 200th NHL assist in 561 games.
"We scored the first two goals and felt more confident," Tarasenko said.
The forecheck created a turnover to Tarasenko out of the left corner. He passed to Schenn in the right circle, and Gunnarsson was in front to redirect his shot.
"I beat my guy to the net and called for it," Gunnarson said. "I didn't have to move my stick."

The Blue Jackets went more than 14:47 without a shot until getting three during a power play that began at 3:36 of the second period.
"We need to be better overall. It was not good enough," Bjorkstrand said.
Bjorkstrand cut it to 2-1 at 6:15 of the third before Tarasenko scored 34 seconds later at 6:49 for a 3-1 lead.
Tarasenko's 18th goal of the season was similar to the Blues' first goal; Korpisalo saved a shot by O'Reilly, but the puck trickled behind him, and Tarasenko pushed it across the line.
"They just went through," Korpisalo said of those two goals. "I kind of had it but it trickles through and they score. That [stinks], [stinks] a lot. Huge points here and it cost us the game."
Dubois scored at 17:23 with Korpisalo pulled for an extra attacker to make it 3-2. Oskar Sundqvist scored into an empty net with 30 seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.

They said it

"We had good legs right away. I didn't think our execution was overly great the first period, but we got better as the game went along." -- Blues coach Craig Berube
"We have to figure it out. It's not just one guy. It's our team. It's a game very similar to Buffalo (a 5-4 home loss to the Sabres on Tuesday). We regrouped, played a really hard game in Winnipeg (a 4-3 loss to the Jets on Thursday). I think that had something to do with it. We emptied the tank. That may have had a little influence on tonight's game, but it can't go like it did tonight." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

Need to know

Tarasenko has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past nine games. He has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past seven games vs. the Blue Jackets and 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in 15 games against them. … Blues forward Robert Thomas had one shot in 12:10 after missing seven games with a shoulder injury. … Columbus forward Cam Atkinson had an assist and played 19:30 after missing one game with a facial injury. He has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past eight games. … Panarin has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his past nine games. … Dubois has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in the past 13 games.

What's next

Blues:At the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: At the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-O, NHL.TV)