PING! Oshie's Pipe-Ringer Gets Blues A Win.

Whatever you're wearing, go to your room, take it off and set it aside somewhere safe. These clothes are not to be washed, handled or disturbed in any way until Saturday. At some point on Saturday these clothes will be put back on and worn for the Blues' game against the Rangers.

Sorry if that doesn't work for you, but you're a fan, are you not? The hockey gods command it and we must respect it. Streaks are finicky and not one of us is allowed to upset the balance we have struck here.

Of course, it'd help if the Blues would keep playing the tenacious brand of hockey they've been playing over the last three games, too.

Quick hits:

• Call me a fan of the new coach. No, not because the Blues seem to be playing harder for him than they played for Andy Murray all year. And no, not because Davis Payne seems to be loosening the reigns on the skilled forwards a bit. And not even because it seems like he's asking everyone to block shots out there. I like this guy because in the third period, when that ridiculous pair of calls resulted in a 4-on-4, the camera caught Payne talking to himself a bit. I'm something of a great lip-reader when it comes to curse words and I'm with Coach on this one: Fuck that.
• T.J. Oshie may not be known as one of the league's best snipers, but the kid has a scary shot when he gets a second to lay it on. Too bad the puck rolled on him when he had a chance for a backhander later because I think he was about to bury that one too.
• Roman Polak is all that is man. Don't try to dance around him, Marek Zidlicky, because the Czech Roman Polak will make you look silly. Is it just me, or is it hard to believe that this guy is only 23 years old? He plays like a guy who has been in the league a lot longer than his 140 NHL games.
• Chris Mason has his standard amazing save but shockingly his standard soft goal never came. Fear The Beard indeed.
• As a bit of a trash talker myself, I'd kill to know what is being said in those scrums on the ice. I'm sure a lot of it is your run of the mill "Let me know when your husband comes out to play" and whatnot, but I guarantee there are some great ones too. One of my favorite moves is openly laughing at a guy's weak sauce trash talk, mainly because there's no comeback for that. That all said, I'd love to know what James Sheppard tried to say to David Backes in the big scrum after Backes got cheap-shotted by Derek Boogaard after Oshie slew-footed Andrew Ebbett. Sheppard kept going at Backes and was saying something until Backes burst out laughing right in his face. That one had to be great.

Blues play Saturday at home against the Rainjahs and will look to extend the win streak. Have tonight's clothes ready to go again. That's an order.