St. Louis @ Columbus preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 25, 2018 ) Columbus 7, St. Louis 4

The Columbus Blue Jackets are mired in their longest losing streak of the season, a slide they will look to end when they host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets have dropped four in a row, including three straight one-goal decisions, after returning from the All-Star break with a 5-4 home loss to Buffalo and a 4-3 setback at Winnipeg on Thursday night.

Coach John Tortorella was satisfied with his team's effort at Winnipeg after berating the players following the loss to the Sabres, but Columbus needs to get back on track after falling into fourth place in the Metropolitan. "Our division is tight," defenseman Zach Werenski said. "It's been tight every year since we've been here. We know every game is important and every point is important." The Blues earned points in six of eight games (5-2-1) during a road-heavy slate leading up to the All-Star break, capped by a 5-1 win over Anaheim in their last game. “I feel like we’re building something really good inside here, especially after the last game,” star forward Vladimir Tarasenko said. “Now we’re ready to make a push and keep it in the right direction."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Ohio (Columbus)

ABOUT THE BLUES (22-25-5): One of the reasons for St. Louis' resurgence is the play of rookie netminder Jordan Binnington, who has supplanted Jake Allen as the starter and is expected to get the nod against Columbus. "Right now, he's played really well," interim coach Craig Berube said of Binnington. "He's got one overtime loss. He's winning games and he's doing what he has to to win games." Although forward David Perron was placed on injured reserve Thursday, Zach Sanford and Tyler Bozak returned to the lineup in the final contest before the break and rookie Robert Thomas could be back Saturday after missing seven games with a shoulder injury.

ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (28-19-3): Columbus received a blow prior to Thursday's game when leading goal scorer Cam Atkinson had to be scratched during warmups after taking a puck to the mouth, which pushed back one tooth and required four stitches to close a cut. Boone Jenner already had been ruled out with an infected cut on the ankle that will sidelined him for one to three weeks while fellow forward Anthony Duclair was benched after just one shift. Atkinson, who has scored 28 goals, is expected to be back Saturday, providing another dangerous weapon for a revived power play that has converted in three straight games and six of eight.

OVERTIME

1. Blue Jackets F Artemi Panarin has seven goals and 12 points over the past eight games.

2. Blues C Ryan O'Reilly has three goals and eight assists during a seven-game point streak.

3. Columbus killed off 25 of 26 opposing power plays in January.

PREDICTION: Blue Jackets 3, Blues 2