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 The Blue Jackets earned a third consecutive win for the first time
all season, and they improved to 7-5-0 under coach John Tortorella.
They were 0-7-0 when Tortorella who took over on Oct. 21.
Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for his seventh
win.
The Blues' only goal was scored by defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. St.
Louis goaltender Brian Elliott finished with 35 saves, 20 of them in
the second period.
St. Louis (12-6-1) lost for the third time in four games after
starting the season 11-3-1.
The Blues lost second-line center Jori Lehtera to an upper-body
injury late in the first period after he got tangled in a puck
battle with Saad.
As the two separated, Saad's stick blade appeared to inadvertently
strike and then scrape across Lehtera's throat.
Lehtera skated off under his own power after spending less than a
minute on the ice, but the Blues announced before the start of the
second period that he would not return.
No penalty was called on the play.
The Blues took a 1-0 lead only 7:36 into the first period, when left
winger Magnus Paajarvi made a drop pass in stride to Shattenkirk,
who stepped into a slap shot for his first goal of the season.
The Blue Jackets responded later in the period.
Goloubef, whose only NHL goal came 61 games ago, on Feb. 13, 2013,
scored off a rush from the left circle. His wrister ticked off
Elliott's glove and slowly dropped into the net.
The Blue Jackets dominated the second period, outshooting the Blues
21-3 and spending almost the entire period in the Blues' zone.
Despite the tilted ice, though, the Jackets only scored one goal in
the period.
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At 4:10 of the second, Saad scored off a backhander from just below
the right faceoff dot to put Columbus up 2-1.
The Blues leveled the ice in the third period in search of the
equalizer, but a late penalty by St. Louis center David Backes -- he
crosschecked Blue Jackets right winger Rene Bourque from behind --
put the Blue Jackets on the power play.
Saad hit an empty net with 33.7 seconds remaining to cap the
scoring.
NOTES: RW Jared Boll became the fifth player in franchise history to
play in his 500th NHL game with the Blue Jackets, joining Rick Nash,
David Vyborny, Rostislav Klesla and Fedor Tyutin. ... Blues RW Ryan
Reaves had been a healthy scratch in four of the previous six games,
but St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock put him in the lineup with a
singular purpose. "We don't want Boll to have an easy 500th game."
... Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen told rookie C
William Karlsson to seek permanent residence in Columbus, meaning he
won't be sent to the minor leagues. Karlsson, acquired last March in
a trade with Anaheim, was the last player to make the club out of
training camp.
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reserved.]
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