ST LOUIS, Mo – The Blues had one of their most successful weeks of the season this past week.  By defeating Columbus, Minnesota, and the New York Rangers, the St. Louis Blues were able to create themselves a winning streak by outscoring their opponents 9-2.

Schedule Results of the Past Week:

January 12, 2010
Blues 4, Columbus 1 (19-19-7)
St. Louis, Missouri – Alex Steen scored his eighth and ninth goals this season to lead the Blues past Columbus.  Brandon Crombeen opened up the scoring very early with a wrist shot to put St. Louis up.  However it would be Alex Steen’s power play goal followed by Jay McClement’s seventh of the season a mere 45 seconds apart to end the first period that would set the Blues up for the win.

1st Period

01:54 STL Brandon Crombeen (3) - Assists: J. McClement (9)

16:14 STL PPG - Alex Steen (8) - Assists: C. Colaiacovo (11) & P. Berglund (7)

16:56 STL Jay McClement (7) - Assists: B. Jackman (8) & B. Boyes (22)

2nd Period

05:38 CBJ PPG - Fedor Tyutin (2) - Assists: A. Stralman (16) & R. Nash (23)

3rd Period

19:50 STL EN - Alex Steen (9) - Assists: J. McClement (10) & D. Backes (16)

Goalies

StL – Chris Mason (W, 26/27)

CBJ – Steve Mason (13/13)

CBJ – Mathieu Garon (L, 6/9)

January 14, 2010

Blues 1, Minnesota 0 (20-19-7)
St. Louis, Missouri – The St. Louis Blues shut out Minnesota for their third straight win.  Chris Mason earned his first shutout of the season stopping a mere 19 shots on net for his 14^th win.  T.J. Oshie scored the lone goal in the third period, 26 seconds after the opening puck drop.  Minnesota netminder Josh Harding may have taken the loss, but worked almost twice as hard to keep his team in the game as St. Louis would fire 37 shots on goal.

1st Period

none

2nd Period

none

3rd Period

00:26 STL T.J. Oshie (9) - Assists: R. Polak (7)

Goalies

StL – Chris Mason (W, 19/19)

MIN – Josh Harding (L, 36/37)

January 16, 2010

Blues 4, New York Rangers 1 (21-19-7)

St. Louis, Missouri – Roman Polak, Alexander Steen, and Keith Tkachuk led the St. Louis Blues over the New York Rangers for the Blues fourth straight win.  Chris Mason continued his fashionable play allowing one goal on 21 shots while collecting the win.  Mason finished the weekend on a very stellar note allowing two goals in three games and collecting his first shutout of the season.

1st Period

14:07 STL PPG - David Perron (13) - Assists: K. Tkachuk (15) & A. McDonald (14)

2nd Period

07:37 NYR Brian Boyle (4) - Assists: A. Voros (2)

3rd Period

00:45 STL Roman Polak (3) Assists: A. Steen (9) & J. McClement (11)

08:31 STL Alex Steen (10) - Assists: R. Polak (8) & B. Jackman (9)

19:47 STL EN - David Backes (10) - Assists: T. Oshie (14) & K. Tkachuk (16)

Goalies –

StL – Chris Mason (W, 21/22)

NYR – Chad Johnson (L, 21/24)

Upcoming Weeks Schedule:

January 18, 2010 at Columbus

January 20, 2010 at Montreal

January 21, 2010 at Ottawa

January 23, 2010 verse Anaheim

Team News: The Blues optioned Derek Armstrong back to Peoria this week as Keith Tkachuk and Paul Kariya returned from injuries.  Also being sent to the Rivermen was D.J. King who will begin his injury rehab.  Former Blues Curtis Joseph announced his retirement this week at the age of 42.  Joseph was a fan favorite in net for the Blues from 1989-1995.  The former netminder retires with 445 career wins third all time.  He is also tied for first with Gump Worsely for the all time loss mark with 352.

Blues Clues:

Over the last three games the Blues have scored nine goals while limiting their opponents to two.  The result is three wins for those efforts.  Maybe, just maybe, Davis Payne knows something.  St. Lunatics everywhere certainly hope this is the beginning of great things to come.

Quote of the Week: from goalie Chris Mason on changing his approach to his play: "The last month, we talked about getting extra saves.  I wasn't doing it the last month. Games are so close, and every game we seem to play is a tight game. Those saves make a difference and it was nice to be able to make them and keep the guys in."

You may contact the author at:  John.Strathman@prohockeynews.com