PREVIEW: Blue Jackets finish back-to-back, start road trip in St. Louis

BLUE JACKETS (12-6-0) at BLUES (10-7-3)

"We'll take the two points all day long," Larsen said. "I say this all the time, they're not all gonna be Picassos, right? Tonight for two periods we chased the game and they were on us. That was a desperate team over there, and I could feel it. I'm still shocked at their record, and I'm sure they are, too. It's a really well coached team and they're a good hockey team."
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In the midst of a 1-6 streak, Vancouver may have been playing for the jobs of head coach Travis Green and general manager Jim Benning based on the speculation north of the border, but the Canucks spent most of the first two periods on the attack. The funny thing was that while the Canucks had plenty of the puck, they were never able to take the lead, as the Jackets led 1-0 in the first, 2-1 in the second and 3-2 in the third on the way to the 4-2 victory.
While the Jackets battled to find their game over the first two periods, they were able to keep the score in their favor and finish things off. It was just the fourth time all year in 12 wins for Columbus that the team didn't trail.
"The third was much better," Larsen said. "It still wasn't perfect by any means, but you have to scratch and claw and find a way to manufacture a goal and get an empty-netter. Credit to the guys. There was nothing pretty about it."
Credit the Blue Jackets for not being fooled by the win, as Columbus looks to clean things up during tonight's back-to-back against St. Louis.
"Obviously we're very happy; you'll take any two points in this league, but we know we have to be way better tomorrow against a tough St. Louis team," Gus Nyquist said.

Know the Foe

The 2019 Stanley Cup champions haven't quite been able to recapture the magic of that charmed season the last few campaigns, but there's a lot to like about what the Blues are doing thus far.
The team checks in tied for second in the Central Division of the Western Conference, just four points behind first-place Minnesota. Things would be better were it not for a recent swoon, as a team that started 7-1-1 has a 2-5-2 record in the last nine games, including a Friday night overtime loss at Chicago.
St. Louis is outscoring teams on the year, placing 10th in the NHL in goals per game (3.20) and 11th in goals allowed (2.75). The power play has been particularly potent, with the Blues checking in second in the league at 30.9 percent, while the penalty kill percentage of 83.0 is 15th in the league.
Of all the players you might expect to be near the top on the league in scoring, perhaps Jordan Kyrou is a surprise, as the 23-year-old leads the team and is tied for 13th in the NHL with 21 points (eight goals, 13 points). David Perron and Rob Thomas have factored a lot into the scoring as well, as the former has seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points while Thomas gets there with 16 helpers and two goals.
Coming off a largely lost season because of injury, Vladimir Tarasenko is next with a 7-9-16 line, while former CBJ forward Brandon Saad is tied for the team lead with eight goals on the year. Such names as Pavel Buchnevich, Ivan Barbashev, Brandon Saad, Torey Krug and Ryan O'Reilly add to the depth on the St. Louis team.
In net, 2019 Stanley Cup winner Jordan Binnington leads the way, as he's started 15 of 20 games with a 7-5-3 record, 2.80 GAA and .913 save percentage. Ville Husso and Joel Hofer have split backup duties.