The Blues’ home opener couldn’t have gone much worse.

Rain marred the pre-game pep rally and the unveiling of the Al MacInnis statue. The Blues fell to the Thrashers 4-2 after taking a quick 1-0 lead. Defenseman Barret Jackman suffered an ankle injury.

And numerous fans were injured in an escalator collapse at Scottrade Center. That is NOT how the franchise hoped to start this season.

The visiting Kings will offer a stiff test tonight at Scottrade Center. They scored 15 goals while winning two of their first three games.

Their rebuilding program may finally be paying off. GM Dean Lombardi is following the same blueprint used successfully by the Blues. He has accumulated a lot of young talent.

Is this the year they finally take a big step? Andy Murray’s old team appears talented on paper, but coach Terry Murray will need to instill tighter team defense and get better goaltending from Jonathan Quick and Erik Ersberg.

“I really like what they’ve done and the way they’ve done things,” Sharks defenseman Rob Blake told the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve been in L.A. most of my career and I’ve seen teams go this way and then someone comes up with another plan and they go a different direction. They’ve finally allowed Dean to continue with a plan. . . .

“They have a very solid lineup and they’ve been built the right way, around a young nucleus.”

Speaking of young, it will be nice to see if Alex Pietrangelo can make an impact in the wake of Jackman’s ankle injury. He still has junior eligibility left and the Blues can play him nine games before deciding his fate for the rest of the season.

Andy Murray loves rugged defenseman Tyson Strachan, who is back from Peoria to take Jackman’s roster spot. If Strachan makes the lineup ahead of Pietrangelo, he will add some toughness.

Also playing well at Peoria is offensive defenseman Jonas Junland, who scored his third goal of the season during a 4-3 victory over Milwuakee.

Hockey Guy is not convinced the Blues have enough puck-moving defensemen in their lineup, even with Erik Johnson’s return. In particular, Carlo Colaiacovo still has more to prove.

AROUND THE RINKS: The Red Wings lost Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler to free agency, so they didn’t need to lose Johan Franzen to a serious knee injury, too. He could miss four months of the season . . . By adding Hossa in free agency, the Blackhawks will face some salary cap challenges in the near future. Teams will be eyeballing that deep Chicago defense as the franchise decides which players it can afford to keep over the long haul. Brian Campbell, with an oversized contract, will be subject to much speculation as a result. As for that Brendan Shanahan chit-chat, adding him would be a nice PR move for the Note but you have to wonder what that move would do to the team’s strong on- and off-ice chemistry . . . After watching Ilya Kovalchuk play Thursday night at Scottrade, you can see why Atlanta is making every effort to lock him up with a new deal. He seems to like Atlanta, so he would if he can get Vincent Lecavalier money.