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Blues keep rolling, top Blue Jackets

Sat 13th, March 2010

Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Andy McDonald had a goal and a pair of assists, and Chris Mason stopped 24 shots, as the surging St. Louis Blues topped Columbus, 5-1, at Nationwide Arena.

Alexander Steen, B.J. Crombeen, David Backes and David Perron also scored for the Blues, who have won seven of their last eight games. They have 73 points, which is five behind Detroit for the final postseason slot in the Western Conference.

"I think the difference in the game was the second period," Mason said. "I thought we had a great second period. We took the play to them with a lot of shots. We had some good shots on the goal there."

Jakub Voracek had the lone goal for Columbus, which lost for the sixth time in eight games. Steve Mason made 31 saves in defeat.

"We have to keep stepping up as individuals," Columbus left wing R.J. Umberger said. "We chased all game and they had puck possession and we could not get it at all. It wasn't like we were passing up opportunities to shoot this time, we just didn't have the puck at all. It's tough to play like that."

The Blue Jackets won their previous two games, but after a scoreless first period, St. Louis netted a pair of goals in a 1:39 span of the second. McDonald scored at 11:20 on a shot from the slot. A short time later, Backes' wrister from the right circle beat the netminder high to the glove side.

Perron put in a power play score with a minute left in the second with a successful wrister from the right circle, and it became 4-0 at 6:15 of the third on a Steen man-advantage goal.

Voracek's 11th of the season, with 5:41 left in the third, broke the shutout, and Crombeen scored into an empty net with 1:34 remaining. Crombeen's goal was short-handed as Barret Jackman was handed a four-minute penalty for delivering a high stick to the face of Voracek.

Game Notes

St. Louis finishes its six-game road trip at Minnesota on Sunday. The Blues haven't played at home since before the Olympic break, February 13 against Washington...The Blues are an impressive 20-10-4 as the visitor this season...Blue Jackets leading scorer Rick Nash missed his third straight game because of a lower-body injury.