Voronkov scores 2 goals as Blue Jackets beat Blues 6-4
Columbus Blue Jackets' Dmitri Voronkov, left, congratulates Kirill Marchenko on his goal against the St. Louis Blues during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: AP/Jay LaPrete
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dmitri Voronkov scored two goals and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the St. Louis Blues 6-4 on Saturday night.
Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli, Mathieu Oliver and Mikael Pyyhtia also scored for the Blue Jackets, who are 5-2-1 in their last eight. Ivan Provorov and Sean Monahan each had three assists, Zach Werenski had two, and Elvis Merzilikins stopped 29 shots.
Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou and Cam Fowler each had a goal and an assist for St. Louis, and Colton Parayko also scored. Dylan Holloway had two assists and Joel Hofer made 33 saves as the Blues lost for just the second time in six games.
The Blue Jackets twice led by three goals in a wild third period which had eight goals, including five in a 3:40 span. Voronkov capped the flurry at 7:24 to make it 5-2.
Parayko and Schenn then scored 3:22 apart to pull the Blues within one, but Olivier sealed it with an empty-netter with 1:03 remaining.
Takeaways
Blues: Coming off a 4-0 win over Ottawa on Friday, the Blues couldn’t find their skating legs and trailed 1-0 after the first period while being outshot 16-7. They are 1-3-1 in the second of a back-to-back.
Blue Jackets: Columbus has found a productive line in Voronkov, Marchenko and Monahan, who has 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in his past 25 games.
Columbus Blue Jackets' Adam Fantilli, center left, celebrates after his goal against the St. Louis Blues with teammate Dmitri Voronkov during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: AP/Jay LaPrete
Key moment
Pyyhtia scored his first short-handed goal and just his fourth overall in 49 NHL games to give the Blue Jackets a 3-0 lead early in the third period. The Blues scored 70 seconds later on their same power play to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Key stat
Werenski has a 15-game home point streak, the longest for a defenseman in the past 30 years. He has 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) during the span.
Up Next
Blues visit Minnesota on Tuesday, and Blue Jackets play at Pittsburgh.
