I’ve been going over line combinations in my head throughout training camp and I always found something that sort of made sense. But I never thought, “That’s it!”

Well in tonight’s preseason game against Atlanta, you might be saying to yourself, “I like it.”

Before I give you the lines, one thing to keep in mind . . . Dan Hinote, Yan Stastny and Cam Janssen are not playing tonight. When the season starts, they will be in the lineup regularly, so I’m not leaving them out of the equation when I say these lines make sense.

Kariya-Berglund-Perron

*This line puts together an interesting combination with Kariya and Berglund and it also moves Perron to the right side, where he prefers to play. Perron played a lot on the left side last year.

“We need somebody with speed to play with Berglund because he’s a puck-control guy that needs somebody with speed,” Blues coach Andy Murray said. “Kariya-Berglund-Perron have had some chemistry.”

Tkachuk-Oshie-Backes

*This allows Tkachuk to play on the left wing, where he wants to play. It allows Oshie to play center, which was his position in college and where he truly wants to play. And it keeps Tkachuk together with Backes, which the Blues like.

“That could be a line that you could match up against other teams’ top lines,” Murray said. “They’ve got a grit element, where they’ll check hard.”

After saying Oshie would start his career at wing, are the Blues thinking about him as a center now? 

“Yeah,” Murray said. “We played him at center first game, and we’ll play him at center tonight. There will be situations where Keith will take face-offs and he’ll be center. There will be certain situations where Keith is down low, playing in the defensive zone, and Oshie is playing high. The good part about it is they’re interchangeable.”

Stempniak-McDonald-Boyes 

*This allows Stempniak to play with some offensive players, giving him the best chance to get out of his funk from last season. It also keeps Boyes together with McDonald, whom he played with last year.

“We want Stemper to have a better year than he had last year,” Murray said. “I think the line of Stempniak and McDonald and Boyes has been pretty good.”

King-McClement-Porter

*King and Janssen may split time at left wing on the fourth line. Jay McClement would be the regular center on this line. I know Stastny is a center, but the Blues would have options with Hinote, Stastny, or Janssen on the right side. I think Porter will start the year in Peoria, but will have some chances to play with the Blues.

“You know a guy that’s had an extremely good camp is Jay McClement . . . he’s a horse out there,” Murray said. “His conditioning level has improved so much. He’s No. 2 on our team. He squated, I think, 465 pounds. There’s defensive linemen that don’t do that. I think he could be the Ryan Johnson of last year. Ryan played a lot of minutes for us because he was killing penalties. He’s also a guy, when needed, he could elevate his role. As long as Jay does a good job as the energy-line center . . . that’s his first priority . . . then he creates other possibilities for himself. He’s played one preseason game, but it’s more than that . . . it’s how he’s looked in the conditioning tests and how he’s carrying himself right now.”

The one thing you’ll notice about these combinations is that Kariya and Boyes aren’t together. Remember, Kariya assisted on 27 of Boyes’ 43 goals last season.

“They were successful from October to December,” Murray said. “I would say there was a degree of success there. We know we can go back to that. We’re trying to create some balance. If we had gotten 105 points and Paul Kariya ended up with 80-something points, and Brad Boyes had what he had, and Stemper had a good year, and so on . . . we probably wouldn’t be changing. I’m not saying we are going to do this, but there’s some thought to it. I don’t just throw them out there.”

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Defensive pairings tonight:

Jackman-Pietrangelo

Wagner-Brewer

Woywitka-Strachan

Here’s a link to Tyson Strachan’s career on Hockeydb.com:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=72630

“He’s an interesting kid,” Murray said of Strachan. “He was drafted (by Carolina in 2003) and then not signed. Then he played in the East Coast Hockey League. I first saw him play against my son (Brady) when he played for Vernon of the BC Junior League. His job was to be on the ice when Brady was. I remember those battles. Then he went to Ohio State and had a pretty good career there. Didn’t play as well in his senior year and didn’t get signed. Last year, he wasn’t invited to any NHL camp and went right to Las Vegas. We brought him to Peoria after Christmas. In the games I watched in Peoria, I thought he was as good as any defensemen we had. I think he needs to learn how to train properly, but . . . he’s positionally good. He’s a big guy with a righthanded shot . . . we’re kind of looking for a guy like that right now.”

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Alex Pietrangelo will play his second preseason game, after netting two assists Tuesday night.

Here’s a quick story involving Pietrangelo: Murray was all over the 18-year-old’s case a few days ago. According to Murray, he was “barking” at Pietrangelo about his lack of intensity in practice.

“When I went to the blackboard, Walt and Paul and Jacks and Brew . . . they’re all kind of sitting there chuckling,” Murray said. “They finally said, ‘Boy are Erik Johnson and David Perron ever happy that Alex is here’.”

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Jonas Junland (shoulder) skated today, which was the first time since injuring his shoulder Monday. The Blues are saying Junland will miss up to two weeks.

“Jonus had a tremendous beginning to the training camp,” Murray said. “From Traverse City on through the beginning of this camp, he played very, very well. I thought he was exceptional at the beginning of the game (Monday) night until he got hurt. He’s another player that is a good puck-moving defenseman that had made a great early impression. We’ll get him back healthy again and he’s another candidate to play for us.”

How does Junland’s injury affect his chances of making the team out of camp?

“I think it’s how he plays when he gets back that will make the difference,” Murray said. “Life is all about making good first impressions and Jonus made a great first impression with us this year. He came over at the beginning of August to train off-ice and I think it’s helped him a great deal. You can tell he’s played in a man’s league.”

JR