Fatigued Blues lean on Halak in 2-1 win

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An energized Jaroslav Halak carried his tired teammates to another win.

Halak made 33 saves, and David Perron broke a tie early in the third period to help the NHL-leading St. Louis Blues beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Sunday night for their season-high fifth consecutive victory.

Patrik Berglund also scored for St. Louis. The Blues, coming off a 4-1 victory over Columbus on Saturday night in St. Louis, have won nine of 10 to improve to 45-18-7.

"We had no energy. The goalie found a way," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "That's five games in nine nights with cross-country travel, and we hit the wall. We hit the wall mentally. We hit the wall physically. Our goalie stole the game."

Mark Letestu scored for Columbus, which had a four-game winning streak before being swept by the Blues in the weekend series.

Columbus interim coach Todd Richards agreed that Halak just got better as the game went along.

"I thought we created a lot of chances, and Halak was very, very good," Richards said.

Halak, second in the NHL in goals-against average behind teammate Brain Elliott who played Saturday, made several key saves with the Blues holding a late one-goal lead.

Perron gave St. Louis the lead at 3:46 of the third with his 14th goal of the season, skating nearly the length of the ice before beating Curtis Sanford -- making his second straight start while Steve Mason recovers from a hand laceration -- inside the near post with a bad-angle shot.

Columbus finished 0 for 8 with the man advantage, which included two double minors.

"I think they do a good job of making you play quicker than you want to," Letestu said about struggling on the power play. "It was a challenge for us."

After a scoreless first period and another stellar leg pad stop by Halak, and one by Sanford, Berglund put the Blues on the board first, just over a minute into the second period.

Alex Pietrangelo wristed a shot while skating backward inside the blue line that Berglund stopped in traffic then snapped past Sanford.

The Blues couldn't increase their lead on a 4-minute penalty to Vinny Prospal for high-sticking and unsportsmanlike conduct, then Columbus pulled even later in the period.

On a nice rush up the ice, Ryan Johansen dropped the puck to Letestu, who curled to the right dot and ripped a shot past Halak for his eighth at 11:20.

"We made a lot of tired, mental decisions today and we got away with hit," Hitchcock said. "If it was a playoff team we were playing, we might not have gotten away with it."

NOTES: St. Louis, playing the first of a season-high, seven-game trip improved to 16-14-3 while having won six of seven on the road. They are 29-4-4 at home. ... The Blues' streak of four games with a power-play goal ended. They finished 0 for 4. But they haven't allowed a power-play goal in 14 games, killing 47 straight chances against.