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Blue Jackets-Blues Preview

Apr 4, 2010 - 5:47 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Columbus (32-34-13) at St. Louis (38-31-9), 8:00 p.m. EDT

With his team trying to rally for an improbable playoff berth, St. Louis Blues goaltender Chris Mason has likened the past couple of weeks to a roller-coaster.

A loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets would likely end St. Louis' ride.

The Blues will try to avoid that defeat and keep their faint postseason hopes alive Monday night against the visiting Blue Jackets.

St. Louis had its three-game win streak snapped Thursday in Nashville but bounced back with a 2-1 home win over Dallas on Saturday night. After sitting out a game with an upper-body injury, defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo scored the go-ahead goal in the third period.

Mason stopped 24 shots for the Blues (38-31-9), who are tied for 10th in the Western Conference and will need plenty of help to reach the playoffs for the second straight season.

"There's been points here in the last 10 games where we lose and we think, 'Oh, the season is done. We're this far out,'" Mason said. "Then we put a good streak together and win three games in a row, and all of the sudden, we're right back in it. Then we lose a game, and all of the sudden, you're right back out again.

"We win tonight and things just get more interesting. Basically, what I'm trying to say is you can never quit, and this team has never quit."

The Blues have displayed that fight by winning 13 of 19 since Feb. 8, and they've outscored opponents 11-5 during a season-high four-game win streak.

St. Louis won its final five games at the Scottrade Center last season, including back-to-back victories over Columbus, to help end a five-year postseason drought. The Blues, though, are 2-2-1 against the Blue Jackets (32-34-13) this season after winning 10 of the previous 12 matchups.

They've also split two home games with Columbus. The Blues scored three first-period goals in a 4-1 victory Jan. 12, but couldn't take advantage of Andy McDonald's tying score with 1:35 remaining in a 3-2 overtime loss later that month.

That win snapped the Blue Jackets' eight-game slide in St. Louis.

While the Blues are trying to make a late charge toward consecutive playoff appearances, Columbus has known its fate for more than a week. The Blue Jackets, though, have stayed competitive since their postseason elimination March 26.

They earned five points in three games before suffering back-to-back losses in their most recent two contests - both by one goal. Columbus gave up three goals to Washington in the first 14 minutes in a 3-2 loss Saturday night, including two on the only four shots Mathieu Garon faced.

After replacing Garon, Steve Mason stopped 22 shots while keeping the NHL's top offense off the scoreboard for the final 46 minutes. Columbus got within one with 8:43 remaining on Antoine Vermette's fifth goal in seven games.

"The disappointing thing was I thought we played well enough to win the game," interim coach Claude Noel said. "We had good enough chances."

R.J. Umberger, who had a career-high six-game point streak snapped in Saturday's loss, has three goals and three assists against the Blues this season.