Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice and Dylan Holloway recorded three assists as the St. Louis Blues erased a two-goal deficit and defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Saturday night at Enterprise Center.
The Blue Jackets struck quickly in the first period. Valeri Nichushkin opened the scoring at 16:10 on a deflection assisted by Sean Monahan and Erik Gudbranson. Kent Johnson made it 2-0 late in the frame, wiring a wrist shot at 19:48 with helpers from Adam Fantilli and Zach Werenski.
St. Louis answered with a decisive second-period surge. Jake Neighbours cut the deficit to 2-1 at 6:10 on a slap shot set up by Justin Barron and Holloway. Snuggerud then tied the game at 9:02 with a deflection off a Philip Broberg shot, again assisted by Holloway, before scoring the go-ahead goal at 12:32 on a wrist shot from Robert Thomas and Holloway. The Blues outshot Columbus 12-3 in the middle frame to seize a 3-2 lead.
Cole Sillinger evened the score at 3-3 at 6:51 of the third period with a wrist shot assisted by Charlie Coyle and Carson Soucy. Jonatan Berggren restored the Blues’ advantage at 9:33, finishing a setup from Mason McTavish and Colton Parayko. Pavel Buchnevich sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 19:17.
Jordan Binnington started in net for St. Louis, which improved to 2-2-1. Jet Greaves was between the pipes for Columbus (2-2-0). The Blues, coming off a 3-2 overtime home loss to San Jose on Thursday, snapped a brief skid with the comeback victory in front of the Enterprise Center crowd. Holloway’s three-assist night and Snuggerud’s two-goal performance powered the offensive outburst that turned the game.
