COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Blue Jackets have finally started to win, and their big off-season acquisition - right winger Brandon Saad - is paving the way.

Saad scored twice, including the go-ahead goal early in the second period, and the Blue Jackets claimed a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues before 12,161 in Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets, who started the season with eight straight losses, have won three in a row and five of their last seven games.

"As out of synch and as tough as it was early in the season, now it's really starting to feel like we're building toward something," said Saad, who shares the club lead with nine goals.

"For me to come over here (from Chicago) as the new guy and be able to contribute, it feels really good."

Defenseman Cody Goloubef also scored for the Blue Jackets - his first goal in 61 games - and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had 19 saves.

"You can see the guys are starting to feel pretty good about themselves," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said.

The Blues' only goal was scored by defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. St. Louis goaltender Brian Elliott finished with 35 saves, 20 in the second period.

"We didn't have any energy," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We were the second-place team all night. We were second to pucks all night, and you're never going to win that way."

St. Louis (12-6-1) lost for the third time in four games after starting the season 11-3-1. But that's not all they lost.

Blues center Jori Lehtera was taken to an area hospital after being inadvertently struck in the neck by Saad's stick when the two got tangled near a corner.

Saad's stick blade appeared to strike and then scrape across Lehtera's throat before he hit the ice. After a minute on the ice with a trainer, Lehtera skated off under his own power.

Hitchcock said he didn't have an immediate update on Lehtera's condition.

The Blues took a 1-0 lead only 7:36 into the first period, when left winger Magnus Paajarvi made a drop pass in stride to Shattenkirk, who stepped into a slap shot for his first goal of the season.

The Blue Jackets responded later in the period.

Goloubef, whose only previous goal came on Feb. 11, 2013, scored off a rush from the left circle. His wrister ticked off Elliott's glove and slowly dropped into the net.

"That's a long time," Goloubef joked. "When I saw (Elliott) get a piece of it, I was like, 'Oh, come on.' It was good to get a bounce.

"Coach has been telling all of us to shoot more. I don't get many looks like that, so it was good to convert it."

The Blue Jackets dominated the second period, outshooting the Blues 21-3 and spending almost the entire period in the Blues' zone. Despite the tilted ice, though, the Jackets only scored one goal in the period.

At 4:10 of the second, Saad scored off a backhander from just below the right faceoff dot to put Columbus up 2-1.

The Blues leveled the ice in the third period in search of the equalizer, but a late penalty by St. Louis center David Backes -- he crosschecked Blue Jackets right winger Rene Bourque from behind -- put the Blue Jackets on the power play.

Saad hit an empty net with 33.7 seconds remaining to cap the scoring.

NOTES: RW Jared Boll became the fifth player in franchise history to play in his 500th NHL game with the Blue Jackets, joining Rick Nash, David Vyborny, Rostislav Klesla and Fedor Tyutin. ... Blues RW Ryan Reaves had been a healthy scratch in four of the previous six games, but St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock put him in the lineup with a singular purpose. "We don't want Boll to have an easy 500th game." ... Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen told rookie C William Karlsson to seek permanent residence in Columbus, meaning he won't be sent to the minor leagues. Karlsson, acquired last March in a trade with Anaheim, was the last player to make the club out of training camp.