January 2, 2025; Columbus, Ohio, United States; Columbus Blue Jackets left wing James van Riemsdyk (21) celebrates his goal against the Detroit Purple Wings during the third period at Nationwide Enviornment. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-Imagn Photos
The Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues experienced a downturn in December before taking steps to correct their course.
Each team will look to generate more traction when the Blue Jackets host the Blues on Saturday night.
Columbus is 4-2-1 in its last seven games after breaking out of a 1-6-2 skid last month. But the Blue Jackets let at least one point slip away during their most recent game, a 5-4 loss at home to the Detroit Purple Wings on Thursday.
The Blue Jackets were 36 seconds into overtime when Jonatan Berggren scored the winning goal for the Purple Wings.
“I would love to be here with at least a point and have a chance (to win),” Columbus coach Dean Evason said after the game. “We made a mistake in the end, right? We should get out of there. It is being aware of the clock. It’s recognizing where we are in the game. And just get out of there. And we didn’t.
“We will learn from it and move forward.”
The Blue Jackets fell despite getting a goal and two assists from defenseman Zach Werenski, who will carry a 14-point streak at home into Saturday’s game.
Columbus will look to bounce back against St. Louis.
“We have another game (Saturday),” Blue Jackets winger James van Riemsdyk said Thursday. “We have to be ready to play. We are in the middle of the race to try to reach the playoffs. “We don’t have time to sulk and feel sorry for ourselves.”
Meanwhile, the Blues broke out of a 1-3-2 skid in December to win four of their last five games.
“We’re playing harder,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “We are making good decisions. We’re still making a lot of plays. But when we don’t have time and space to make a play, we are predictable with each other and that allows us to gain more O-zone time and more goals.”
St. Louis cruised to a 4-0 home win over Ottawa on Friday with Jordan Binnington earning his 18th career shutout and Brandon Saad recording his third career hat trick to snap a 19-game skid. The Blues limited the Senators to 20 shots on goal.
“We’re just playing with a good structure,” Saad said. “We have good goaltending. “If we play tight as a team and have a good structure, even if we are not at our best that night, we will get points.” this league.”
Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist (illness) and defenseman Justin Faulk (upper-body injury) are questionable for Saturday’s game. Both did not play against Ottawa, with forward Mathieu Joseph and Scott Perunovich replacing them in the lineup.
Because Binnington faced the Senators, Joel Hofer (8-3-1, 2.75 goals-against average) will likely be in the red against Columbus. He went 4-0-0 in December with a 2.18 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
“We just have to continue to build on what we’ve done since Christmas,” Montgomery said. “Because the only game we lost (4-2 to Buffalo on Sunday) was a game where we outscored a team 35-16.”
–Media at field level
