(Betting Express) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to get back on the winning track tonight, when they welcome the St. Louis Blues for a Central Division battle at Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets had won four straight games before dropping a close one in Anaheim on Thursday. Mathieu Schneider scored the lone tally in the shootout and the Ducks defeated Columbus, 2-1, at Honda Center.

In the second round of the shootout, Schneider skated in on net and flicked a shot that trickled between the pads of Fredrik Norrena. Jean-Sebastien Giguere then made saves on Rick Nash and David Vyborny to win the contest.

Nikolai Zherdev scored a goal while Norrena made 33 saves in the loss for the Blue Jackets, who collected a point for the fifth straight game. At 7-3-2, Columbus is still off to its best start ever to a season.

Columbus, which is 4-1-1 as the host this year, is home for just one game tonight before beginning a three-game road trip in Chicago on Wednesday.

The Blues have dropped two of their last three contests and are coming off Saturday's setback to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. Patrick Sharp scored a pair of short-handed goals, including one with 2:21 left in the third period, as the Blackhawks edged St. Louis, 3-2, at the Scottrade Center.

David Perron and Paul Kariya scored for St. Louis, which has alternated losses and wins over the last five games. Manny Legace had 19 saves in the loss.

Tonight marks the start of a brief two-game road trip for the Blues, who are 3-2-0 as the visitor this season. St. Louis will also visit Chicago on Friday evening.

Columbus earned a 3-0 home win over the Blues in the first meeting of the year between the teams on October 25. The Blue Jackets have taken three straight and seven of the last 11 encounters.

St. Louis has dropped two straight and four of its last seven tests at Nationwide Arena.