Blues end 11-game losing streak

St. Louis beat the Blue Jackets 2-0 to snap an 11-game skid.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- The St. Louis Blues' lost month is finally over.
Lee Stempniak had a goal and an assist in the third period, and Curtis Sanford posted his second career shutout in a 2-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night that ended the Blues' franchise-record 11-game losing skid.
"It's a big relief to have the streak over," Blues coach Mike Kitchen said. "That's been hanging over our heads for a long time now. Even though it wasn't one of our better games, we got rewarded for it."
Fedorov's debut
The game was also Sergei Fedorov's debut in a Blue Jackets uniform. Fedorov was acquired in a trade with Anaheim on Tuesday.
Scott Young added a goal for the Blues, who hadn't won since a 3-2 victory over Anaheim on Oct. 19 -- a 28-day drought.
"To get out of a streak like that, where everything is snowballing -- every time you make a mistake it's in the net, everybody's squeezing their sticks -- you need an ugly win and a big effort from a goaltender," Blues center Doug Weight said. "Sandy came in and made some great saves and put us in position to win.
"Now we can breathe and start playing 20 minutes at a time."
Stops 36 shots
Sanford, spelling starter Patrick Lalime, stopped 36 shots in only his 10th NHL game.
Stempniak, who scored the Blues' only goal a week earlier in a 3-1 loss at Columbus, broke up the scoreless game with 7:47 remaining.
Blue Jackets defenseman Bryan Berard's blind pass from the blue line went to Stempniak, who was all alone coming in from the left wing on goaltender Marc Denis with Jan Hrdina trying to cut him off. Stempniak coasted in front across the crease, faked and then flipped the puck past Denis.
The unassisted goal was Stempniak's third of the year.
"It's great for us to get out of it," Stempniak said of the losing skid. "We knew this was the type of game it was going to take -- a low-scoring game and sort of just staying with it."
Insurance goal
Young added an insurance goal with just 3:17 left, stretching out his arm with his stick to redirect Stempniak's centering pass.
Columbus, which has lost seven of eight, outshot the Blues 36-16 and had numerous prime scoring opportunities. The Blue Jackets were 0-for-5 on the power play, running their man-advantage drought to 21 straight.
Their best scoring chance came early in the third period. Jason Chimera skated out after serving time for a hooking penalty and found the puck on his stick at the blue line with no one between him and Sanford. He moved in and faked, but his shot was kicked away by Sanford.
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