NHL Malhotra's effort is a Blues-beater

Now on the Blue Jackets' third line, the 23-year-old had two goals against St. Louis.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Manny Malhotra saw the puck sitting there, 5 feet from the goal line, and could hardly wait.
"I was a little bit eager," Malhotra said after scoring two goals in Columbus' 3-1 victory over St. Louis on Wednesday night. "I saw that rebound sitting there -- just laying there -- and nobody was around so I got really aggressive and dove at it as soon as I could. It worked out."
Todd Marchant added a goal for the Blue Jackets, who had lost their last six meetings with the Blues.
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"That first goal should be on the highlight reel," laughed Marchant. "That was unbelievable -- it was Bobby Orr-esque."
With the score tied 1-1 early in the third period, Malhotra, picked up on waivers from Dallas in November, swooped in from the right wing and wristed a shot that St. Louis goaltender Chris Osgood deflected. The rebound trickled to the slot, and Malhotra was able to beat defenseman Bryce Salvador to the spinning puck by diving. In the same motion, he caught the puck in the curve of his stick and whisked a shot past Osgood, who slammed his stick on the ice in frustration.
Malhotra then added the clincher with 4:55 remaining, crashing the net to take a pass from Jeremy Reich. Reich was playing in his first NHL game and earned his first point.
Malhotra has found a home on the Blue Jackets' third line. He has seven goals for Columbus, one fewer than his career best. The two in one game are a career high.
"Our effort and enthusiasm paid off out there," said the six-year NHL veteran, still just 23.
The win kept interim Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant unbeaten at home (2-0-1).
Payback
Marc Denis had 27 saves for Columbus, which came in just 4-10-3-2 against the Blues and winless in four games this year. The same opponent and the same outcome were getting tiresome for some of the Blue Jackets.
"We kind of wanted this night to be payback," Denis said. "That was kind of fun."
Chris Pronger notched his 11th goal for the Blues, who were unbeaten in three games (2-0-1).
"I didn't feel like I let in three," said Osgood, who had 27 saves. "Points are big right now and we let it slip away."
St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville wasn't happy with his team's effort.
"It's a tough loss for us knowing that we probably didn't deserve to win anyway," Quenneville said.