Sidney Crosby  is making  his   first  trip through Western Canada this week, and the locals here are excited. Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins stop in Edmonton (Wednesday), Calgary (Thursday) and Vancouver (Saturday).

The headline in today’s Calgary Herald is:

“Sid the Kid’s Flying Circus . . . The NHL’s hottest ticket is on his way to Cowtown.”

Guess which team also plays in Calgary and Edmonton this week? “We’ll fly under the radar here for sure,” said Blues coach Andy Murray, whose team is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games. “We’re the opening act.”

The Blues’ 8-1-1 mark is the best in the NHL over the recent 10-game stretch. The club is currently fourth in the Western Conference, but with a win tonight,  the Blues  could have the third-most points in the conference (33). Detroit (38) plays  Montreal tonight and Dallas (34) is idle.

Tonight, Murray is going with the same lineup that knocked off Chicago 3-1 Saturday in St. Louis.

Offensively, that means . . .

Kariya-Weight-Boyes

Backes-Tkachuk-M. Johnson

Stempniak-McClement-Mayers

King-R. Johnson Hinote

Backes has played two games since returning from his knee injury. He’s averaged about 15 minutes of ice time in the two games.

“The knee feels great,” Backes said. “Skating-wise, no real major tweaks or anything. Within the battles there’s a little stress, but no inflamation . . .  so I’ve just got to keep going and hopefully the puck goes in the net sooner than later.”

Backes  has played right wing in most of his games with the Blues, but is now playing on the left side.

“I don’t mind it,” he said. “I think there are a few more options coming down the wing in the offensive zone. The main thing is being comfortable on the walls, being able to make plays there with pressure from the defensemen. I guess that comes along.”

Backes said he’s had some scoring chances. “If you look at the chances I’ve created and the chances I’ve had myself, I’ve had an opportunity for two or three goals in two games,” he said.  ”One of those things where I’ve just got to keep going. Points aren’t everything in my game. I have to be hard on the puck and make sure the other team is uncomfortable.”

Murray on Backes: “He’s a guy that’s got to be crashing the net. He’s not going to score a lot of pretty goals. He’s got to be scoring some gritty goals. Gritty vs. pretty.”

There are several players from whom the  Blues  need offensive help. Doug Weight’s situation has been well-documented. Now playing regularly on a line with Paul Kariya and Brad Boyes,  Weight has been setting up the other two for scoring chances, but at some point he has to get the puck in the net himself. Lee Stempniak appears to be coming out of his funk with goals in back-to-back games. The other offensive  mystery is Jay McClement.

McClement is playing tremendous defense (against the opponent’s top line on  most nights),  but he  has just one goal and two assists this season.  He hasn’t had a point in 20 games. If McClement is playing good defensely, do you worry about the offense?

“I think the last three or four games, he’s been really good . . . both ways,” Murray said. “His linemates, Stempniak and Jammer, have scored. I think he’s playing pretty hard. We’re not counting on him to be a scorer for us. By the same token, I don’t want  to take Jay off the hook for producing offense. We expect all of our players to produce. He has some other priorities, but we would also like to see offense from Jay, too.”

The main reason is because the Blues have seen McClement produce in the past. He had eight goals and 38 points last season. “Yes,” Murray responded. “I think he’s  had all kind of chances, and a little  bit like Stemper, it just hasn’t gone in for him.”

David Perron is not  in the lineup and therefore will miss his fourth straight game. The Blues  have to make a decision by Sunday whether  or not they will  allow Perron to play for Team Canada at the  Under-20 World Junior  Championships. He would miss about five NHL games while participating in the tournament in the Czech Republic.

“I think we’re going to analyze that over the next week and decide whether he’s going to play a lot of games for us,” Murray said. “If that may not be the case, then we would certainly make him available for Canada’s team for sure. We wouldn’t have him sitting out and not playing. We’re conscience of that, and we’ll make a calculated decision. We want the best for our team, for Hockey Canada and for David Perron.”

If Perron is out of the Blues’  lineup Friday in Edmonton, there’s a good chance he’ll be headed to the World Juniors. Keep this in mind: I was told  by a reporter who  covers the WJs regularly that when a player is sent by his NHL team to play in the tournament, more times than not they go back to their Junior hockey team after the tournament instead of returning to the NHL. Perron could be the exception, but I’m told that is the trend.

D pairings will remain the same tonight . . .

Brewer/Salvador

Jackman/McKee

Wagner/Backman

I just wrote a story last week about how Erik Johnson was getting better and now he’s been a healthy scratch for the past two games. I’ve talked to the coaching staff to verify what I was seeing was correct, and they said “Yes” he is improving. But Murray did not like Johnson’s play late in the game at Buffalo or  at all  against Minnesota. That’s why he’s sitting.

“We felt that a couple of games his performance was not at a normal level,” Murray said. “We’ve got some guys sitting out. Steve Wagner, we had taken him out . . . we took Jay McKee out . . . we’re just trying to be consistent in our approach. We fully expect Erik when he gets back in there . . . when they went out, they played well when they came back. We’re just taking a consistent approach no matter who the player is. For me, it’s part of process with Erik. To me, it’s the toughest position to play and he’s young. He’s just going to continue to get better.”

Martin Rucinsky (bruised right hand) skated today. He’s eligible to come off the IR Friday at Edmonton, but it’s looking like he won’t play until next week.

Manny Legace is in goal tonight.

I’ll leave you with this gem from Mike Keenan on his team’s recent slide. When asked how the Flames can get back into the playoff picture, he said: “Like the sherpas go up Mount Everest - one step at a time.”

JR