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Columbus Blue Jackets stave off St. Louis Blues, move closer to playoff position
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- Columbus Blue Jackets stave off St. Louis Blues, move closer to playoff position
Afte a gut-wrenching loss Thursday , the Blue Jackets couldn't afford to let it snowball into something bigger Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.
More: 3 takeaways from the Columbus Blue Jackets' painful loss to the Detroit Red Wings
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Thanks to churning out another six goals in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,535, it didn't despite a nail-biting finish in a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues . After nearly coughing up a 5-2 lead in a third period when each team scored four goals, the Blue Jackets (17-17-6) pulled into a tie at 40 points with the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins in a tight battle for the Eastern Conference's second wildcard.
The spot currently belongs to Ottawa via standings tiebreaker, but the Blue Jackets are pushing for it.
"(We) made it a little closer than it should've been, but we found a way to win and that's the most important thing," defenseman Ivan Provorov said. "We know that we have to work hard and everything else will come after it. We've shown that so far this season, and we're improving as a team, overall, game in and game out. We've just got to continue climb up and keep getting better as a team."
Dmitri Voronkov led five different goal-scorers with his 14thand 15thgoals of the season. Kirill Marchenko , Mikael Pyyhtia, Adam Fantilli and Mathieu Olivier scored the other four, including the latter scoring his 10thgoal of the season into an empty net with 1:01 remaining to seal the win. Provorov and Sean Monahan led the Jackets in scoring with three points on three assists each, while defenseman Zach Werenski collected two more assists to extend his franchise record home points streak to 15 straight games.
Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Dmitri Voronkov (10) celebrates after a goal was scored in the third period at Nationwide Arena on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.
Elvis Merzlikins picked up the goaltending win with 29 saves on 33 shots, including several dazzling saves in the first two periods to allow the Blue Jackets to build a 2-0 lead on goals Voronkov in the first and Marchenko in the second. The third quickly turned into a goal bonanza after Pyyhtia made it 3-0 at 3:44 with his fourth goal of the season, scored with teammate Zach Aston-Reese watching from the penalty box serving a minor penalty for slashing.
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The two sides then alternated goals three times in a span of eight minutes before the Blues scored with their net empty and a 6-on-5 advantage with 3:44 left in the third period. That goal was scored by Brayden Schenn , who slid the puck under Merzlikins off his own rebound during a furious scramble around the Blue Jackets' net.
Columbus Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli (19) shoots and scores a goal against the St. Louis Blues in the third period at Nationwide Arena on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.
St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer returned to his net for the next 1:44 before heading back to the Blues' bench for another 6-on-5 advantage while still trailing 5-4. A minute later, Olivier secured the victory for Columbus with an empty netter.
"We bent a little bit, but we'll correct some stuff around our net," Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. "But for the most part, we liked our game."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets edge St. Louis Blues by surviving third period
