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Associated Press

The St. Louis Blues have certainly had their share of problems this season, but finding a way to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets at home has not been one of them.

Losers of three straight at Scottrade Center, the Blues look to finish the season undefeated against the Blue Jackets there as the teams get set to close the regular season with a home-and-home series.

St. Louis (31-36-13), which has lost three straight and six of its last seven at home, will miss the postseason for the third straight year. But the Blues have been outstanding at Scottrade Center in three matchups versus the Blue Jackets (34-34-12), outscoring them 14-4 en route to wins in all three contests.

At Columbus, however, St. Louis is 0-3-0 and has been outscored 12-4. The Blues also have lost three straight overall, including 3-2 against Nashville on Thursday night.

St. Louis is 14th in the Western Conference, just four points ahead of last-place Los Angeles.

"We are just trying to win games," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "Our responsibility is to play all 82 games as hard as we can."

St. Louis played without goaltender Manny Legace on Thursday. He injured his hip flexor in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Predators on Tuesday night, and his status for the rest of the season is uncertain.

Hannu Toivonen would start in his place. He is 0-5-2 with a 4.26 goals-against average in his last seven games.

The Blues could use a strong effort in net, having played eight straight one-goal games and going just 2-4-2 over that span.

St. Louis' power play has struggled during that stretch, converting 11.1 percent (3-for-27) of its chances.

Columbus, meanwhile, has lost six straight on the road, scoring on 8.8 percent (3-for-43) of its opportunities with the man advantage. The Blue Jackets lost 3-2 at Detroit on Thursday night as the Red Wings wrapped up the Presidents' Trophy.

Overall, Columbus is 1-5-1 after winning its previous two.

The Blue Jackets got goalie Pascal Leclaire back versus Detroit after he missed the previous eight games due to a concussion. He made 36 saves and was spectacular throughout much of the contest before giving up the game-winner with 11 seconds left.

Leclaire, the eighth overall pick in the 2001 draft, has been a bright spot for Columbus. In his first season as a full-time starter, he has gone 24-16-6 with a 2.23 GAA in 53 games.

Leclaire, though, struggled in his only game at St. Louis this season, stopping 23 of 28 shots in a 5-1 loss on Feb. 17.

The Blue Jackets will look to some of their younger players as they try to end their offensive woes at Scottrade Center.

Against the Red Wings, Aaron Rome scored his first NHL goal. He was one of eight Blue Jackets who played in that game and have spent at least part of the season in Syracuse of the AHL.

The Blues and Blue Jackets will conclude the season Sunday at Columbus.




SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
V. Prospal 48 12 18 3 30
M. Letestu 46 13 14 7 27
M. Gaborik 47 12 15 -3 27
F. Tyutin 48 4 18 9 22
B. Dubinsky 29 2 18 2 20
N. Foligno 45 6 13 6 19
J. Johnson 44 5 14 -5 19
A. Anisimov 35 11 7 -6 18
C. Atkinson 35 9 9 9 18
R. Umberger 48 8 10 3 18
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
S. Bobrovsky 21 11 6 .932 2.00
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