Columbus Blue Jackets stop St. Louis Blues comeback, finish off preseason win
Another big lead nearly vanished, but the Blue Jackets found a way to stop the meltdown.
After watching the St. Louis Blues chip away at their 4-0 lead with two goals in the second period and one more in the third Monday night at Nationwide Arena, the Jackets gained their footing to finish with a 5-3 preseason win. It was similar to a 4-3 loss Saturday in Buffalo, when the Sabres overcame a 3-0 deficit for a comeback win at KeyBank Center.
“The whole team, when it was 4-0, we just started to make some risky plays,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “We don’t need to do that … and (too many) penalties. So, it looked like the last game in Buffalo. We’re going to take that right off the playbook and move forward, but we have to learn from those mistakes.”
Boone Jenner, Kirill Marchenko and Justin Danforth scored goals in the first period for the Blue Jackets (2-2-1), who got 36 saves from rookie goalie Jet Greaves. Cole Sillinger made it 4-0 at 4:49 of the second on his first goal of the preseason, which preceded the Blues tilting the ice.
St. Louis cut the Jackets’ lead to 4-3 on two goals by Jakub Vrana and one by Sammy Blais, including two power-play goals sparked by stick infractions. Just like the Sabres, the Blues were able to pin the puck in the Columbus zone and draw penalties through extended possession time. The difference was the Jackets' ability to regain their footing and push back.
Johnny Gaudreau finally sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with 1:20 left.
“We let it slip away from us a little bit there in the second,” defenseman Damon Severson said. “We just started playing the type of hockey we don’t want to play and (took) a few penalties, but for the most part we buckled down more in the third and figured out the way we need to play and limited their opportunities.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets stave off St. Louis Blues' comeback
