Blues At Blue Jackets Morning Open Thread: Wasn't There Just A Game?

These last few weeks of the season are absolutely insane. The Blues win 3-0 last night against the Minnesota Wild, and then they turn around tonight and play a Columbus Blue Jackets team who refuses to go down without a fight. Saturday's a day off, and then Sunday the Blackhawks are in town in their fancy red home sweaters so the Blues can auction the roads off for charity.

Oh, and the swap Saturday? It's an 11:30 game for the benefit of NBC, which means that for those of us watching at home, we'll have to listen to explanations regarding why the jerseys are swapped... for the whole game.

But first thing's first. The Columbus Blue Jackets are sitting in 11th place right now, three points behind eighth place Detroit. In their last ten games, the Jackets are 5-4-1: not great, but not terrible. Columbus needs to leapfrog Dallas, Phoenix, and Detroit to get into the playoff picture, and they've played hard enough for people to think that it's actually a possibility. They'll have to get through a recently impenetrable St. Louis defense, who hasn't allowed a goal in three games. Tonight's goalie won't be Brian Elliott, though; tonight's starter will be rookie goalie sensation Jake Allen.

Pop back a little later for some road music, a preview, and an early GDT. Don't forget, we're in Eastern Time here. And sadly, this will be the last time the Blues and Jackets square off as members of the Western Conference. If I believed in wasting beer, I'd pour a li'l out in respect.