COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The St. Louis Blues take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday at Nationwide Arena to close out the season series between the two teams.The Blues (7-5-3) dropped a 3-1 decision to the Central Division-rival Nashville Predators on Thursday. They have only scored twice in their last two games, with the paucity of goals beginning to be an issue that needs to be addressed.I think after a while you start living on one goal, youre not going to win many games, coach Ken Hitchcock told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.The Blues have scored one goal or fewer in eight of their 15 games this season and two goals just twice in the last 12 games. St. Louis has allowed six more goals than it scored.We had chances to score more than one goal, left winger Jaden Schwartz said to the Post-Dispatch. We couldnt find a way and only end up scoring one. Its tough to keep winning when you only score one or two goals.In addition to low goal-scoring, the Blues are taking too many penalties. Theyve taken two too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties in the last two games, and are getting called for delay-of-game penalties for flipping the puck into the stands as well.Scoring goals is hard and its a matter of sacrificing your body, St. Louis right winger Scottie Upshall said. Its a matter of going to the net and winning puck battles, things weve been good at doing. Right now, were taking the easy way out.The Blue Jackets (6-4-2) are coming off a 5-2 loss at the Boston Bruins on Thursday. Boston scored four goals in a span of 4:01 in the first period, chasing goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky after making five saves on nine shots.Uncharacteristically, Columbus committed numerous unforced turnovers and saw errant passes by both the forwards and defensemen.It was forwards, it was defensemen ... and the worst part is we hang out Bob in a game like that when hes been playing so well, Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said to the Columbus Dispatch. We hung him out to dry.The Blue Jackets are hoping the loss at Boston can be marked as an aberration, and not a precursor of a deeper issue. They have been playing consistent hockey and getting some fortuitous puck bounces through the 11 games played prior to Thursdays contest.Were out of the game pretty quickly, coach John Tortorella told the Dispatch. We havent been in very many of those games this year. We take our medicine (in Boston), regroup on Friday (an off day) and start again on Saturday.Columbus has offensive firepower with center Alexander Wennberg, rookie defenseman Zach Werenski and left wingers Foligno and Brandon Saad all with double digits in points. The Blue Jackets have scored nine more goals than theyve allowed this season.Wennberg has a league-leading 13 assists in 12 games entering play on Friday. He also leads the team in points (14), with Foligno leading Columbus with five goals. Werenski has three goals and eight assists and Saad has four goals and six assists.Among NHL rookies, Werenski is second in assists and third in points entering play on Friday. Buy Asics Shoes Cheap . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. Asics Shoes Clearance Sale .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.cheapasics.net/ . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. Asics Outlet Store Online . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Asics Shoes Wholesale . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. DENVER -- The Patriots earned a first-round bye in the playoffs -- a valuable week off that will let the players rest their legs and the coordinators schedule their job interviews.Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia have been considered among the best minds in football for a while now. The jobs theyre doing this season -- their latest gems came in a 16-3 victory over the Broncos on Sunday -- have only bolstered their standing.McDaniels best work of 2016 came at the beginning, when he was preparing the offense to go the first four games without Tom Brady while the quarterback served his Deflategate suspension. Using backup quarterbacks, New England won the first three and scored 81 points. From there, the Patriots offense has adjusted, as usual, amid a slew of injuries, including that to All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski.Patricia is being lauded for virtually revamping the defense on a near-weekly basis. He has dealt with personnel shuffling -- including the offseason trade of Chandler Jones, the early suspension of Rob Ninkovich and the Jamie Collins trade in midseason- but has also managed to give his defense, devoid of big stars, completely new looks almost every week, depending on the opponent.The Patriots (12-2) enter the final two weeks of the season with the best record in the AFC. They won their eighth straight division title and have already guaranteed themselves a bye in the first week of the playoffs.Patricia and McDaniels would be available for interviews during that off week, if they choose. Last month, when the NFL Career Development Advisory Panel put out a preliminary list of head-coaching candidates, it left McDaniels off the list. That came in the wake of reports that the 40-year-old coach was more interested in replacing head coach Bill Belichick someday than starting over elsewhere.In an un-Patriots-like move, McDaniels went out of his way to say hed love another crack at a head coaching job. Currently, there are openings in Los Angeles and Jacksonville. In his first shot at being a head coach, McDaniels started 6-0 in Denver, but was fired early in his second season after losing 17 of the next 22. Lowlights of his tenure included a videotaping scandal and his draft pick of Tim Tebow -- one of many personnel moves that caused problems and ultimately didnt work out.There are only 32 of those (jobs) in the world, he said. Theyre opportunities that dont come allong very often, and if you would ever be so fortunate and blessed to have another opportunity to do it .dddddddddddd. it would be an opportunity that I would look forward to.His latest triumph, on a frigid day in Denver, was more the product of subtle tactics than any single huge stroke of brilliance. New England stayed patient with its running game, and though Brady threw for only 188 yards, the running backs gained 137. The Patriots didnt lose the ball and created three turnovers.It makes you more difficult to defend when you dont have to force the ball to one thing or use one portion of the offense to move it, McDaniels said Monday.For the last two games on defense, the Patriots have figured out how to pressure the quarterback using only three or four rushers. Patricia is a master of bringing pressure from every angle. New England made Denvers offense one-dimensional in two ways: limiting the running game to 57 yards and taking Denver receiver Emmanuel Sanders almost completely out of the game (3 catches, 48 yards). The Patriots have allowed the fewest points (233) in the league.Asked about the defenses preparation on a short week, after a Monday win over Baltimore, safety Devon McCourty said: You could tell. Guys were talking. Guys were communicating. Were trying to get to our (scout) offenses the best we can so when we get out here on Sunday we can just fly around, and I think thats what you saw out there today.McDaniels could have an edge in Los Angeles or Jacksonville because those teams might be looking for an offensive mind after years of being coached by former defensive coordinators. Patricia could be the hot candidate for any other job that comes open, given his uncanny ability to morph his defense from week to week.To hear Belichick tell it, any team would be fortunate to get either coach.They should absolutely be on any head coaching list, he said recently. I cant imagine that there are many other coaches that could present a resume equal or comparable to theirs. Theyve done a great job here for a sustained period of time, so a great track record. I personally think that a list of head-coaching candidates that didnt include them would be incomplete.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '