Around the SBN network we receive a lot of emails and reminders and suggestions and gameplans about our to "optimize" our search engine hits. Our headlines, you see, should really be as broad as possible in terms of common serach terms, but also as specific as possible to garner as many views as possible from people looking for results about our team and the team they just played.

No word on what we should do when we immediately offend them and they click away within seconds of seeing what a poor attitude we have. But that may just be specific to us.

So, if I wanted to SEO this game, our headline would look a little more like this:

Your St. Louis Blues Maintain Hold Of First Place In Entire NHL With Dominant Win Over Struggling Rick Nash (Who Was Not Traded At The Deadline But Has Requested A Move And Has A List Of Teams He Will Go To) And The Columbus Blue Jackets As The Note Complete A 3-0 Homestand And Head Out For Season-Long Seven-Game Road Trip Detroit Red Wings Chicago Blackhawks New York Rangers Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby Los Angeles Kings Toronto Maple Leafs All Surprised. Trade Deadline.

Which seems reasonable.

The French would call them "boul-aisse" but would not know what to do with them. Bullets:

• I asked our own averageJoe tonight if he was changing his stance on T.J. Oshie this year because the kid has been meeting expectations. His answer? "I'm softening my stance on a LOT of guys this year." Seems fair. Everyone is doing what they're supposed to do and it's fun to watch. Oshie is doing not what we expect, but more what he has probably always expected.
• Another guy who is doing what is expected of him is Chris Porter. Long a target of our little website for his lack of NHL skills, Porter has figured out what he does for this team and he is doing it well. The Blues no longer have a "please don't be a minus" fourth line, they have a fourth line that does exactly what they're supposed to do but also can be thrown out, as they were tonight, to strangle the life out of a team down by several goals. They can hit, hustle and bang, yes, but they can eat up minutes in the third period, letting Coach Cock rest his top line guys and run the other team ragged. Huge to have that at your disposal as a coach.
• Andy McDonald is about to get a lot of press for the dynamic element he brings to this team, so I'll leave that alone for now. What I do want to mention is that when lunkhead Columbus guy takes a high shot at David Perron and then throws a high elbow at McDonald, little Happy Meal doesn't take it and go off the ice, he throws a crosscheck into the guy's back as he leaves the ice. Good for him. Teams are going to target guys just back from concussions and try to intimidate them. If those guys let bitches know they won't take it, it'll dry up.
• Speaking of David Perron, he continues to be great at home. He has 24 points in 26 games at home this year. Onthe road he has nine points in 18 games. That can't all be advantageous matchups based on who has last change, so it's time for Frenchie to figure out how to get loose and get effective on the road.
• I wound up talking to a drunk guy in the hall tonight who was going on and on about the Blues defensemen and how good each one of them was. I disagreed with almost none of his points.

Ok, it's time for me to shut it and time for you to start it. Get those comments going, yo. Post-game interview below: