Columbus can’t solve St. Louis goalie Allen in seeing winning streak stopped
Alexander Steen (20) scores on Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in the first period. Blues 2, Blue Jackets 1 Winning streaks do not last forever. Saturday, the Blue Jackets found that out once again as goalie Jake Allen turned in a terrific performance as the St. Louis Blues ended Columbus’ 10-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory.
St. Louis, which played Vancouver the night before, won its fifth straight to take the last playoff spot in the West.
“I couldn’t care less that it’s come to an end,” captain Nick Foligno said. “It’s more disappointing that we didn’t get two points. That’s the part that stings.”
Columbus had not lost since March 2 and became just the third franchise in NHL history to have winning streaks of 10 games or more in successive seasons. Last year, Columbus won 16 straight. “It was one of those nights where their goalie played real good,” Thomas Vanek said. “The positives are we have picked up a lot of points. The effort was there. You can’t be mad at that.”
Columbus remains in third in the Metropolitan Division, a point back of the Penguins.
“We played a solid game,” Cam Atkinson said. “The goalie was pretty strong on their end. We had chances all night.”
Allen was a difference-maker throughout, especially early on.
The Jackets had a number of high-end chances in the first period yet went into the break down 1-0.