My 3 Stars of the Game

1. Cam Atkinson, CBJ. 1 goal, 1 assist, generally wreaked havoc around the ice.
2. Sergei Bobrovsky, CBJ. After the Shattenkirk goal just 1:16 in, he was solid and kept the Jackets in long enough for the rest of the team to get going.
3. Ryan Johansen, CBJ. Showed flashes of why he went #6 overall just a couple seasons ago.

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Good/Bad

It was mostly bad. Shattenkirk's goal was a seeing-eye wrister that rang off the far post and in - the kind of goal you need every so often (but his late-game penalty was just dumb; see below). Jackman's stick save on the Umberger wrap-around is going on highlight reels for years to come. Stewart had real jump throughout the game and was trying to make something happen. The 4th line continues to look solid.

Then, there was most of the rest of the game. Let's go some of it in bullet-point order:

-- Allen got caught over-committing twice last night; Jackman bailed him out the first time on the Umberger wrap-around, but Johansen buried the opportunity on the 2nd. The over-commit thing was something Allen was doing in his first call-up, but he had really toned that down the last few games.

-- Shattenkirk's double-minor late in the 3rd. What in the hell was he doing throwing on the brakes well short of the boards, then bracing for the inevitable hit? That's exactly the kind of thing that NHL players aren't supposed to be doing, and there's #22 looking like he's wanting to get checked awkwardly into the boards. We'd all bitch about it if someone on the other team did that kind of crap.

-- Odd-man rushes. Did anyone keep count of them last night? There was a handful - and more importantly, Columbus did a fantastic job of camping out in front of the net unmolested much of the night.

-- Berglund. Defensively, he looked OK; offensively, he looked impotent.

-- God love Vladimir Tarasenko, but he's got to start finding open space on the ice to get shots off. I like the fact that he's willing to go toward the front of the net, but no one is respecting his shot away from the net right now. If he fixes that and puts in a few goals, opposing teams will start playing him out high tighter - and that should open up room for his teammates as a result.

-- Speaking of the offense, I felt like there was a lot of "I'll go dig" and not much "I'll drive to the net and generate a shot." It's like everyone wants to be a foreman, and no one wants to work. (More on this below.)

-- Finally: I talk about shot quality a lot. Some people think it's not that important; I think it says a lot about defense (where are they coming from?) and goaltending (what's the goalie doing when he gets those shots?). Last night, the Blues had 9 of their 32 shots on goal come from 25 feet or less out; the Blue Jackets had 10 of their 19 come from 25 feet or less out. Take that to "15 feet or less away" and it's Columbus 8, St. Louis 6 (and that includes the Atkinson deflection on the 1st goal, but doesn't include the saved Umberger wraparound).

For perspective: in the Detroit game on Sunday, the Red Wings had 28 shots on net. Exactly three (3) of them were from 25 feet or less away, and only one (1) was from 15 feet or less away. When you constantly let the opposition fire away from in close, you shouldn't be surprised when they start scoring on some of those chances. It's why I don't care about the number of shots allowed, I care much more about where those shots are coming from.

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Miscellaneous

-- The Blues loss and the Blackhawks win over the Red Wings gives Chicago the Central Division title - but that was pretty much assumed after the halfway point of the season.

-- We're now into the "7 of the final 8 at home" part of the schedule. Yes, the 'Note is only 9-7-1 at Scottrade this season, but this is prime time to make progress in the standings. The only playoff teams in that stretch are Chicago (twice) and Vancouver; the only road game is in Colorado (who we get twice in the stretch drive). The only back-to-back games are Phoenix/Dallas on Thursday/Friday.

-- Elliott gets the start in net for the Blues at home on Sunday vs. Chicago. Let's hope he plays better than his home stats this season (1-3-1, 4.78, .784).

-- If Elliott does play well on Sunday, what do you do down the stretch with the goaltending? Do you ride Elliott while he's hot, or do you alternate goalies to keep both guys fresh and see if one plays themselves in/out of the starter's role for the playoffs?

-- A more interesting question: do you consider playing both goalies come playoff time depending on location, or do you tab one guy as the #1 as ride him until he breaks?

-- I'm less concerned about the Blues having only scored 5 goals in the last 4 games as I am the fact that the forwards just look out of sync right now. It's not like you can look at the last few games and say, "man they've had chances - they just need to bury them." No, I don't think T.J. Oshie being out of the lineup affects the offensive chemistry that much - especially since in the first 3 games after he went on IR, the Blues put up 10 goals. Getting the PP back on track (it's 3-for-40 over the last 15 games) would really help, but getting guys to be on the same page and effectively moving the puck would help much more.

-- How inconsistent has the Blues goaltending been this year? Elliott and Halak have 3 shutouts each; they're also the only goalies with 2 or more shutouts and a save percentage under .900. The Blues as a team have 7 shutouts ... and a team save percentage under .900.

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Days to the end of the regular season: 14

The Blues now sit solidly in 6th in the West, 1 back of the Sharks and 2 back of the Kings - but 2 points clear of the Wild and 3 ahead of the Red Wings, and almost certainly holding the first tie-break (ROW's) and definitely holding the 2nd tie-break (head-to-head) over both of them. Barring a collapse to 8th, the Blues will probably be doing the cross-country thing in the 1st round. Vancouver in the 1st round if the Blues finish 6th? That wouldn't be the worst pairing to open up, would it?

The really ideal one might be San Jose, but that requires the Sharks and Blues to go 4/5 in some order and the Kings to slip to 6th; not impossible, but I think it's unlikely. That way, there's a chance to avoid Chicago in the conference semis (which would probably be a lock if the Blues won in the opening round as a 6-seed, especially if the Blackhawks draw the Red Wings to open up).

Remember when I said a few days back that a gap had opened up between 8th and 9th in the West? That gap is all but gone right now. Detroit holds a 2-point lead on Dallas, Phoenix and Columbus but the Stars hold a game in hand on the other 3 teams. Edmonton probably needs to go at least 7-1-0 from here on out to have a chance - which means they're effectively out of the chase.

In the East, it's 7 teams chasing 6 remaining spots - and Winnipeg is in trouble there. At the same 44 points as the Rangers and with more ROW's, they've also got 2 more GP than the Rags and one GP more than the Islanders (who are 2 up in points) and the Senators (who are 4 up in points). Their best bet is probably going to be to win the Southeast - and even there, they're 2 points back of the Capitals with one more GP.

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Tomorrow: Blues/Blackhawks, 11:30am on NBC.