Blue Jackets At Blues Final Score: High Scoring Third Period Gives Blues 6-4 Win

Well, that certainly was unexpected. The Blues haven’t exactly been involved in many high scoring games this season, especially since Ken Hitchcock has taken over the wheel. They also haven’t been solid in games where they’ve been down after two periods — but just because a team hasn’t played well in a certain situation in the past doesn’t mean that they won’t play well there in the future. Tonight’s a great indication of that.

Alexander Steen started off the third period scoring less than a minute in with an equalizer goal past an unawares Steve Mason. The puck was batted down to Steen by Oshie, and the Jackets attempted an argument that the puck was played with a high stick to no avail.

Jason Arnott, who was sick and scratched last night with the flu scored next on a nifty behind the net pass from David Perron:

Alex Pietrangelo broke his season high point-less streak at nine games with this nasty snipe which completely caught Mason off-guard:

When the Blues and their fans felt complacent enough, Derick Brassard decided to exact some revenge for the hitting and chirping that he took exception to earlier in the match. He has been a healthy scratch often enough this season for his agent Alan Walsh to complain about it on Twitter — but a better way to get out of the pressbox is to score.

The Jackets pulled a last minute desperation move of pulling Mason (which may or may not be the same as leaving him in), and the Blues made them pay on an empty-net goal for Patrik Berglund. That was Berglund’s 8th of the year, and tonight eleven different Blues wound up on the scorecard.

The Blues’ next game is Wednesday night in Colorado. Tonight’s win sees the Blues at a 19-9-4 record with 42 points. That’s good enough for fourth place in the Western Conference and second in the Central Division.

Blue Jackets At Blues Second Period Score: Lead Flips To Columbus, 3-2

Not the best period of play for the Blues, and frankly possibly the worst period of play under Ken Hitchcock so far. The Blues’ lack of pressure, especially in their own zone, allowed the Blue Jackets to net two goals. The first goal of the period was an awkward deflection credited to Fedor Tyutin but which also could have gone in off of Derek Dorsett:

The credit, if possible, should have gone to Roman Polak.

The second goal came for the Jackets on the power play, which Columbus was granted for an absolutely questionable boarding call on Kevin Shattenkirk. With just one second to go in the period, Mark Letestu snapped one high glove side past Halak to give the Jackets the lead.

As Norm Sanders pointed out on Twitter, the Blues are 1-6-1 when trailing after two periods — possibly because it requires them to score more than two goals to win those games.

Blue Jackets At Blues Fist Period Score: St. Louis Hops To A 2-1 Lead

A surprise goaltending change worked out in the Blues’ favor tonight. Unfortunately for the Blue Jackets, scheduled starter Curtis Sanford is suffering from back spasms. Steve Mason instead wound up with the start, and Mason is known for allowing quite a few first period goals.

The first goal of the game went to the Blue Jackets from Derek MacKenzie, who capitalized off of a pretty juicy rebound:

The Jackets’ happiness was short-lived, however. Less than thirty seconds after MacKenzie scored, Kevin Shattenkirk cashed in on some fancy playmaking by Matt D’Agostin:

His game against Nashville whetted Oshie’s appetite for points, as last night’s only goal-scorer gave the Blue Jackets a taste of their own rebound-medicine here, less than a minute after Shattenkirk’s goal:

The Teej now leads the team in goals with 11

Columbus Blue Jackets At St. Louis Blues: Alex Steen And The Blues Need To Find Their Scoring Touch

The 4-1 win last Thursday over the New York Rangers looks like a high scoring fluke, as the Blues have had issues putting the puck in the net recently.