St. Louis’ Win Streak Halted by Columbus

Riding the crest of a nine-game winning streak and returning home following a three-game trip, St. Louis Blues Coach Joel Quenneville suspected his team would have a tough time Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He was right.

Andrew Cassels scored twice and Ray Whitney added a goal and two assists as the Blue Jackets beat the Blues, 5-2, Thursday night at St. Louis.

“We said this was a dangerous game coming out,” Quenneville said. “We’re coming off as good as I’ve seen us play. Whether it was a mental letdown or playing five games in eight days, we weren’t as effective.”

St. Louis fell one game short of the club record for consecutive victories set last season. It was the Blues’ first loss since they dropped the season opener to the Ducks. The Blues (9-2-1-0) are off to their best start in franchise history.

After the Blue Jackets got power-play goals from Derrick Walser and Cassels in the second period to take a 3-1 lead, St. Louis cut it to 3-2 on Eric Boguniecki’s second goal with 6:43 remaining in the third period before the Blue Jackets pulled away.

New Jersey 1, Philadelphia 0 -- Jamie Langenbrunner scored with 7:43 left and the Devils won at Philadelphia to end the Flyers’ six-game winning streak. Seconds before Langenbrunner’s goal, New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur stopped Simon Gagne on a two-on-one breakaway.

Phoenix 4, Minnesota 1 -- Shane Doan scored twice during Phoenix’s three-goal first period and the Coyotes won at Phoenix to hand the Wild its first road loss. Wild goalie Manny Fernandez lasted only one period and lost his second consecutive game after a 6-0 start.

Detroit 2, Boston 1 -- Sergei Fedorov’s goal 2:08 into overtime gave the Red Wings the victory at Detroit. Nicklas Lidstrom, who assisted on Fedorov’s game winner, tied it at 1-1 with 9:43 left in the third period with a power-play goal. That goal ended the Red Wings’ scoreless streak of 121:36.

New York Rangers 1, Calgary 0 -- Brian Leetch scored 51 seconds into overtime, off an assist from Mark Messier, to provide the game-winner at New York and give Dan Blackburn his first NHL shutout. Blackburn, 19, stopped 26 shots to earn his 13th career victory.

Montreal 3, New York Islanders 0 -- Jose Theodore made 42 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Canadiens at Montreal. Theodore, who entered with a 4.06 goals-against average, got his 16th career shutout despite Montreal being outshot, 42-21.

Washington 2, Florida 1 -- Jaromir Jagr scored a short-handed goal at 3:56 of overtime and Olaf Kolzig made 32 saves in his first game since a five-game absence because of a wrist injury to lead the Capitals at Washington.

Carolina 2, Buffalo 0 -- Jeff O’Neill and Craig Adams scored for Carolina and Kevin Weekes had 26 saves to record his first shutout as the Hurricanes won at Raleigh, N.C., extending the Sabres’ winless streak to seven.

Chicago 5, Atlanta 0 -- Jocelyn Thibault stopped 17 shots for his second straight shutout and Tyler Arnason and Mark Bell each had a goal and two assists for the host Blackhawks.

San Jose 2, Nashville 2 -- Marcus Ragnarsson scored with 6:07 remaining in the third period to help the Sharks come back from a two-goal deficit at San Jose.