Columbus Blue Jackets impress despite preseason loss to St. Louis Blue…
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It didn’t produce a win, but the Blue Jackets took an impressive stride Tuesday night during a preseason road game in St. Louis.
Getting two goals from Emil Bemstom and two assists from Alexandre Texier, the Jackets pushed the St. Louis Blues to the final horn in a 3-2 loss at Enterprise Center. Despite the Blues dressing much of their projected NHL lineup, Columbus controlled the puck and dominated the final two periods.
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The Blue Jackets (1-1-1) outshot the Blues 32-12, including 21-4 combined in the second and third periods, but they couldn’t finish enough scoring chances against backup goalie Malcolm Subban (20 saves). Bemstrom racked up a game-high six shots on nine attempts and has two goals, one assist and three points in his first two preseason games.
After the Blue Jackets’ morning skate in Columbus, coach Pascal Vincent said he wasn’t satisfied from his team’s “pace” of play while splitting a home-and-home preseason doubleheader Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He watched those games from a suite, but ran the bench Tuesday in St. Louis.
“I’m looking for a team that’s going to have a lot of pace, and what I mean by that is the tracking, the net drive, those 1-on-1 (battles), 50/50 races, it’s not there yet,” Vincent said. “That’s fine, but we need to create that culture, that once you step on the ice that’s how we do it. That’s going to be part of our DNA and that’s it.”
The Jackets’ performance against St. Louis was a stride in the right direction, and they’ll now get three days to iron things out in practices before traveling Saturday to face the Buffalo Sabres.
Columbus Blue Jackets at St. Louis Blues key moment
Late in the first, the Blues turned a 1-1 game into a 3-1 lead on back-to-back goals by Isaac Ratcliffe and Oskar Sundqvist. Ratcliffe poked a loose puck home for a 2-1 lead during a controversial goalmouth scramble and Sundqvist capped the ensuing power play…
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