Well, most of us agreed that we liked the new forward combinations, but who would have bet that the Note would put a nine-spot on the Thrashers? Granted the Thrashers played the night before and these weren’t regular-season rosters, but even so, the Blues had some spectacular goals and everybody got in on the action.

David Perron: 3. goals, 1 assist

Brad Boyes: 2 goals, 2 assists

Lee Stempniak: 2 goals, 1 assist

Patrick Berglund: 1 goal, 1 assist

Paul Kariya: 1 goal, 1 assist

Andy McDonald: 5 assists

Alex Pientragelo: 2 assists

Steve Wagner: 1 assist

Chris Porter: 1 assist

Jeff Woywitka: 1 assist

Blues coach Andy Murray on the game . . .

“It’s just one of those nights,” Murray said. “I think we can make some decisions (based on a lopsided preseason game), but we also realize that (Atlanta’s) top line wasn’t here. And their top goalie (Kari Lehtonen) wasn’t here.”

Nonetheless, the Blues got a look at some new line possibilities. In case you missed Friday’s Morning Skate blog, these were the lines against Atlanta:

Stempniak-McDonald-Boyes: These three combined for 12 points, including 5 assists from McDonald.

“There were a lot of positives, but you certainly don’t want to get too excited about that,” McDonald said. “You look at the lineup we had dressed and the lineup they had dressed . . . we just want to take some positives from it and realize we’ve still got a lot of hard work ahead of us. There’s a lot of confidence in this room about our ability.”

Kariya-Berglund-Perron: These three combined for eight points, highlighted by Perron’s hat-trick.

“We’ve still got some guys that can score some goals that didn’t play tonight,” Perron said. “It’s exciting to see. Obviously we’ve been working really hard over the summer. We’re all ready for the season now.”

Berglund has been very impressive in a couple of preseason games. His wingspan is huge and he is doing a great job of keeping the puck away from defenders before finding an open teammate.

“We got a lot of space out there and we played a pretty good game,” Berglund said. “Our game plan was to put a lot of shots on goal, and put some pressure on the net. I think we did . . . so far, so good. I feel a lot stronger out there. I’ve always been good protecting the puck, but now when I got the size and the weight, it feels much better.”

Both Perron and Berglund are excited to play with Kariya.

“It’s the highlight of my career,” Berglund said. “He’s the best and it’s really nice to learn and see how he plays. When he gives me advice, it really helps me out there.”

Tkachuk-Oshie-Backes: Although they didn’t get on the scoresheet, they had plenty of offensive chances. Oshie made a terrific play, where he stepped in front of a pass in the offensive zone, stole it and fired a shot on net that missed. Oshie and Backes were also hitting everything in sight.

King-McClement-Porter: Porter was originally credited with a goal that later went to Perron. As Murray detailed Friday, McClement is in great physical condition and looks strong as a fourth-line center. King did his part, taking care of Atlanta’s Garnet Exelby, who wanted no part of that fight. But King also had good puck possession, continuing to prove that he has more skill than he’s given credit for.

I’ll dissect the power play more later, but the unit was 3 for 8 Friday and looks completely different. The Blues are using five forwards, with Stempniak and Kariya at the point. Lots of movement and lots of shots so far.

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The Blues have reduced their roster to 34 players after re-assigning four players on Saturday morning. Defensemen Alexander Hellstrom and Jim Jackson and goalies Marek Schwarz and Ben Bishop are heading to Peoria.

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The Blues are playing in Dallas tonight at 7 p.m. Chris Mason is expected to play the entire game in goal . . . Manny Legace will play the entire game Monday in Toronto.

JR