COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Cam Atkinson recorded a career-high four assists while Sam Gagner scored twice to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to an 8-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday before 15,788 at Nationwide Arena.

Team captain Nick Foligno added a goal and two assists as Columbus improved to 5-1-1 in its last seven games. He leads the team with six goals and 10 assists (16 points) in 13 games.

"It's always fun to win at home," said Foligno, "especially scoring quite a few goals tonight, which is a good thing. We haven't really had the offense that we wanted to have, so it was nice to break through there.

"But, I still think we've got a lot to improve on in our game. I didn't like some of our decisions ... but it's a big win for us at home."

The Blue Jackets have scored at least eight goals for the fifth time in franchise history and second time in their last five games. Nine days ago, they had a 10-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Columbus.

Second-year center Robby Fabbri responded to being a healthy scratch for the first time in his career on Thursday with two goals Saturday for St. Louis, which lost its third straight game (0-2-1) while allowing a season high in goals.

"I think that we're in a spot right now where we're a little dazed by the situation," said defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. "If you look back at the last five or six years, we haven't had a run like this, at all."

Starting the game as if they were launched from the hand-made replica 1857 cannon that fires over one corner of the lower bowl after each Columbus goal, the Blue Jackets dictated the pace of the game.

Creating turnovers and numerous chances, the Blue Jackets took a 1-0 at 2:34. Gagner brought the puck around from behind the net and scored on a backhand roofer.

"It's obviously nice when you're able to score a bunch of goals and get some confidence that way," Gagner said. "But, we can't let our habits slip. We've got to make sure we're playing the right way."

The Blues evened the score with a power-play goal 4:01 later from Shattenkirk.

Eight seconds later, Foligno restored the Columbus lead. Foligno intercepted a pass and worked a give-and-go with Brandon Saad, who was stationed along the wall at the blue line, before beating Jake Allen from the faceoff dot.

At 15:10, Alexander Wennberg brought the puck across the blue line, pulling up as he awaited reinforcements. Wennberg's shot from the point bounced through Allen's five hole, giving the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead at the first intermission.

Gagner scored his second of the night with another backhand roofer past Allen, increasing the Blue Jackets' lead to 4-1 at 5:18 of the second period, chasing Allen.

Less than 30 seconds later, Columbus' Brandon Dubinsky beat Carter Hutton for his first goal of the season. Midway through the period, Markus Nutivaara scored his first NHL goal to push the Blue Jackets' lead to 6-1.

"We were soft with the puck and soft on coverage," said Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock, "from the first shift."

Asked if he had a fragile locker room right now, he answered, "It's always fragile when you're not winning."

William Karlsson scored at 13:30 to give Columbus a 7-1 lead. Fabbri scored a power-play goal with 4:04 left in the period.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored a power-play goal 21 seconds into the third period for the Blues.

"I thought it turned into a bit of a sloppy game," Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella said. "I'm certainly not crazy about our checking, but we came out on the right side of it."

Defenseman Zach Werenski made it 8-3, scoring down the middle with a power-play goal.

Fabbri netted his second goal of the night, cutting the Blue Jackets lead to 8-4. All four of St. Louis' goals came on the power play.

The Blues outshot the Blue Jackets 37-30.

"As we talked about it between the second and third period," continued Tortorella, "we need to understand how we're playing. Not what the score is, but 'how' we're playing.

"And I think we have a mature-enough group to understand that we aren't where we need to be."

NOTES: The Blues and the Blue Jackets met for the second time in eight days, completing the home-and-home season series. ... The Blues won 2-1 in overtime last Saturday in the first meeting. ... D Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) and Joel Edmundson (upper body) were out for the Blues. ... Injured Blue Jackets who did not play were D Seth Jones (fractured foot) and RW David Clarkson (lower body). ... The Blues scratched RW Ryan Reaves and RW Ty Rattie. The Blue Jackets scratched D Scott Harrington.