ST. LOUIS — On Saturday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets secured their fourth consecutive victory by defeating the St. Louis Blues 2-1. The game featured goals from Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger, while Jet Greaves fell just shy of achieving his first career shutout.
Fantilli opened the scoring for Columbus with his third goal of the season, finding himself in front of the net where Kirill Marchenko fed him a pass with just over four minutes remaining in the first period. This marked a pivotal moment, setting the tone for the Blue Jackets’ game.
Sillinger, returning from an illness that sidelined him for the last match, increased the Blue Jackets’ lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal that came 3:09 before the end of the second period. The Blue Jackets had shown resilience, looking to improve their underwhelming road performance.
As the game approached its final moments, Colton Parayko managed to score for the Blues with only 10.5 seconds left, just as Greaves aimed for his shutout. Greaves, who had been recalled from the American Hockey League, made 31 saves during the contest—his 15th start in the NHL.
On the other end, Blues goalie Jordan Binnington stopped 28 shots before being pulled in favor of an extra skater with about four minutes to play, as the team sought to claw back into the game.
Before this matchup, both the Blue Jackets and Blues had been averaging an impressive 4.8 goals across their last five games, with Columbus having achieved a notable 6-4 victory over St. Louis in their previous encounter last week.
From the game, a critical moment emerged roughly midway through the second period when Greaves made two crucial saves. He first denied Robert Thomas’ one-timer from the right circle and moments later prevented Brandon Saad from finding the back of the net after he outmaneuvered the defense—these saves helped maintain Columbus’s 1-0 lead.
In terms of defensive performance, the Blue Jackets effectively collaborated, blocking 23 shots to support Greaves during the game.
Looking ahead, the Blues are set to begin a back-to-back series of home games against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, while the Blue Jackets will welcome the Philadelphia Flyers to their rink.
