Blues end road skid with 3-1 victory

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Columbus seemed to be the least likely place for the Blues to finally put together a good road game.

Pavol Demitra scored two goals as St. Louis came from behind to snap a five-game road losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

The Blues won their first game at Nationwide Arena in five tries and extended their overall win streak to three games.

"The games here, we haven't played how we wanted," Demitra said. "But we got ready tonight and played 60 minutes of hockey and came out with the win."

Demitra, a center, has five goals in the last three games, including two against Ottawa on Tuesday.

The loss -- the Blue Jackets' first in regulation in their last seven home games -- snapped Columbus' six-game home points streak, tied for longest in franchise history.

"Everyone seems surprised when we come in here and don't beat them," Dallas Drake said. "They work very hard."

After David Vyborny's goal midway through the first period, St. Louis goaltender Brent Johnson stopped the next 13 shots he faced. Columbus had only one shot in the final 10 1/2 minutes.

"It's great when you have guys blocking the puck and standing in front of shots," said Johnson, who's won three straight. "Those guys really had my back."

Trailing 1-0 late in the first, Demitra scored on an easy tap-in with seven seconds left to make it 1-1. Mike Keane's shot caromed off the end boards to Drake, who sent a quick pass from the left corner to Demitra, alone at the side of the crease.

"That was a big goal for us," Demitra said.

Early in the second it was Demitra again -- along with Sergei Varlamov's forechecking -- that created the winning goal.

Blue Jackets defenseman Jamie Pushor and Deron Quint were caught side-by-side on the right half boards. The puck was poked loose and Demitra skated uncontested through the top of the crease and roofed a shot over a stretched-out Tugnutt to give the Blues a 2-1 lead at 3:30.

"We seemed to play pretty well out there at times," Columbus coach David King said. "But defensively we didn't have enough polish out there."

Columbus, which came into the game with the worst home power play in the league, failed to convert on six opportunities -- two in each period.

The Blue Jackets nearly allowed St. Louis to break the game wide open with three short-handed breakaways in the second and third periods. Tugnutt stopped Drake twice and Rostislav Klesla tripped-up Scott Young on a half-breakaway leading to the Blues' only man-advantage.

Vyborny, who did not play the final two periods because of a hip-flexor injury, opened the scoring at 11:04 of the first.

He scooped up a loose puck at the St. Louis blue line, skated around defenseman Chris Pronger down the right wing, and then waited for Johnson to commit before cutting across the crease and lifting it over the goaltender.

Blake Bellefeuille was credited with the lone assist, his first career NHL point in his second game.

Young scored into an empty net -- his fifth of the season -- with 1:11 remaining to make it 3-1.

"It certainly feels a lot better to win knowing we gave away late leads in two games here," said St. Louis coach Joel Quennville.

One of those loses was a 4-3 overtime loss on Nov. 13 that started the Blues road skid.

NOTES: The Blue Jackets' lost another forward to an injury in the first period who did not return. Robert Kron went off and was diagnosed with a strained knee. ... Forward Geoff Sanderson, Columbus' leading scorer last season, has missed nine of the last 12 games with a back contusion. ... The announced crowd of 18,136 was the Blue Jackets' 30th consecutive sellout. ... Former Norris Trophy winner Al MacInnis returned to the line-up for the Blues after missing four games with a bad ankle.