St. Louis 2, Columbus 1
When: 6:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 11, 2012
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Referees:
Steve Kozari, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen:
Thor Nelson, Ryan Galloway
Attendance:
14969
By SportsDirect Inc.
BLUES 2, BLUE JACKETS 1: David Perron snapped a tie at 3:46 of the third period and St. Louis held on to complete a sweep of its home-and-home series with host Columbus.
Patrik Berglund also scored and Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves to extend his personal winning streak to a career-high eight contests for the league-leading Blues, who kicked off their season-high seven-game road trip with their fifth straight victory.
St. Louis, which has allowed one goal in each game during the winning streak, was 8 for 8 on the penalty kill. The Blues have gone 14 contests without yielding a power-play goal, successfully extinguishing 47 straight infractions.
After a scoreless first period, St. Louis got on the board early in the second. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo's wrist shot from the blue line deflected to Berglund, who chipped it past Curtis Sanford at 1:09 for his 15th goal.
Columbus pulled even with just over 8 1/2 minutes left in the period as Mark Letestu beat Halak with a slap shot from the right faceoff dot. It was Letestu's third tally in as many games.
Perron put the Blues back in front less than four minutes into the third when he unleashed a wrister from the far side of the right circle that beat Sanford to the short side.
The Blue Jackets nearly tied the game with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. But Pietrangelo got a piece of the puck with his stick before it crossed the goal line and Halak quickly covered it to maintain the one-goal lead.
Sanford stopped 24 shots for Columbus, which had dropped two straight following a season-high four-game winning streak.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Jamie Langenbrunner returned to the lineup for the Blues after missing 10 games with a broken left foot. Langenbrunner, who has recorded four goals and 17 assists in 57 contests during his first season with St. Louis, was injured blocking a shot in a loss at Chicago on Feb. 19. The 36-year-old right wing registered three shots on goal and was a minus-1 in just under 12 1/2 minutes of ice time. ... St. Louis has allowed two goals or less in 10 straight contests. ... Columbus has lost seven of its last eight meetings with the Blues.
Top Game Performances
St. Louis |
|
Columbus |
Patrik Berglund 1 |
Points |
Mark Letestu 1 |
Patrik Berglund 1 |
Goals |
Mark Letestu 1 |
Barret Jackman 1 |
Assists |
Ryan Johansen 1 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Jaroslav Halak .971 |
Save Percentage |
Curtis Sanford .923 |
Jaroslav Halak 33 |
Saves |
Curtis Sanford 24 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
St. Louis
|
26 |
2 |
0-4 |
8-8 |
23 |
29 |
Columbus
|
34 |
1 |
0-8 |
4-4 |
15 |
28 |
Upcoming Games
-
Columbus will play their next game on the road against Edmonton. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .217 after a win and .370 after a loss.
-
St. Louis will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Blues have a W/L % of .636 after a win and .654 after a loss.