It got a little dicey at the end, but the Blue Jackets figured out a way to edge the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in front of 17,130 on Nov. 1 at Nationwide Arena for their fourth straight win to open their third straight set of back-to-back games.
Zach Werenski led the way with two points on a goal and assist, while Charlie Coyle and Sean Monahan scored the other two goals for the Blue Jackets (7-4-0). Jet Greaves (36 saves) started in net, making several key stops with the Blues pressing hard, down by a goal, in the final five minutes.
Justin Faulk and Nick Bjugstad scored goals for the Blues (3-7-2), who started goalie Joel Hofer (32 saves).
After falling behind 1-0 early in the first on Faulk’s goal, the Jackets countered with three unanswered goals from Coyle in the first, Werenski in the second and Monahan in the third to build a 3-1 lead.
Werenski added a primary assist on Monahan’s power-play goal for a two-point game, while Monahan’s tally moved him to 600 points career points. The Blues didn’t roll over, though, pulling within 3-2 on a goal by Nick Bjugstad with 10:12 left in the third and then getting power play during the next shift by drawing an interference penalty on Ivan Provorov.
St. Louis got the scoring started just 3:37 into the game with Faulk’s goal off a wrist shot that beat Greaves under the blocker and inside the left post on the far side.
It took the Blue Jackets just 1:01 to tie it 1-1 on Coyle’s goal to continue his line’s success in a 6-3 victory Oct. 29 over the Toronto Maple Leafs. That’s how it stayed until the second, when Werenski gave the Jackets a 2-1 lead at 8:05 on his fourth goal of the season to push his goal streak to three straight games and tie his career high.
The Blue Jackets conclude their third straight back-to-back on Nov. 2 at the New Islanders (5-5-1), who last played Oct. 31 in a 3-1 victory at the Washington Capitals. The game is scheduled to start in Elmont, New York about 19 hours after the Jackets finished playing the Blues in Columbus.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets fend off St. Louis Blues to win fourth straight
Reporting by Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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