Scottie Upshall scored in the third period to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 14th goal for the Blues (15-6-3), who were 3-3-2 over their last eight games. Alexander Steen added an empty-netter, and Jake Allen made 23 saves.
Ryan Johansen scored and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets (10-15-0), who had won three of four and six of their last eight.
Columbus jumped in front at 14:46 of the first after St. Louis failed to clear the puck from the defensive zone. David Savard banked it off the end boards and Johansen poked it past Allen for his sixth goal of the season.
Johansen’s goal, which was originally credited to Boone Jenner, gave him a team-high 12 points in November.
The Blues tied it early in the second period after Jenner was sent off for tripping.
After hitting the post earlier on the power play, Tarasenko then slipped a wrist shot past Bobrovsky from the left circle at the 2:09 mark, assisted by Kevin Shattenkirk and Steen.
The Blue Jackets killed off a 5-on-3 power play for 1:13 late in the second, and the teams were tied at 1 after two periods despite the Blues outshooting the Blue Jackets 18-8 in the second.
Upshall put the Blues ahead with 13:58 remaining on a wrist shot from the edge of the left circle that beat Bobrovsky high on the glove side. The goal, assisted by David Backes, was the fourth of the season for Upshall.
NOTES: Tarasenko also assisted on Steen’s ninth goal at 19:05. … Columbus C Brandon Dubinsky was suspended one game by the NHL for his cross check on Sidney Crosby in Friday’s game. … Columbus F Markus Hannikainen made his NHL debut. He suffered an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return. … Shattenkirk’s assist extended his point streak to eight games. … The attendance of 19,927 was the fifth sellout of the season for St. Louis.
