I flew into Detroit this afternoon and missed the morning skate, but I have a few tidbits today . . .

Despite Chris Mason’s recent success, the Blues are going to start Manny Legace in net tonight against Detroit.

Legace has not played since leaving in the first period of the Blues’ 5-4 win over Boston on Jan. 19.

I alluded in my article this morning that some in the Blues’ organization were upset with Legace for choosing to play in that game with a sore groin, and I think it was part of the reason Mason got back-to-back starts after the All-Star break.

Granted, Mason earned a shutout in Chicago before the break, played well against Ottawa Thursday and then picked up another shutout against Philadelphia Saturday, but I believe the club’s disenchantment with Legace played a role in Mason starting the string of games.

So why start Legace tonight? The fact that the Blues are playing the Red Wings, whom he’s had success against, and the team having back-to-back games tonight and Tuesday is the only reason, to me, Legace would start tonight.

Mason is 3-1 with two shutouts in his last four games, and in the month of January, he had the best goals-against average (1.17) and save-percentage (.942) in the NHL.

I don’t know how you take Mason out of the net with those numbers? The Blues have been hoping for one of their goalies to get on a roll this year, and Mason has finally done that. And now you take him out?

If the Blues were playing let’s say Vancouver tonight and had the day off tomorrow . . . I gotta believe Mason would be in net tonight.

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Still no word on whether defensemen Steve Wagner or Andy Wozniewski will be in the lineup tonight.

John Davidson says the team has a couple of defensemen who are banged up and might not play, but those will be game-time decisions.

I’m told all eight defensemen were on the ice this morning.

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Here’s a quote from Detroit coach Mike Babcock about the Blues this morning:

“We’re playing a St. Louis team that’s playing really well,” Babcock said. “When I watched the two games in the pre-scout, (the Blues were) very competitive, working real hard. I was real impressed with the Oshie-Berglund-Perron line . . . they really competed hard. Backes looked good up front. To me, we’ve got our hands full tonight.”

In my injury report in today’s Post-Dispatch, I failed to mention that Henrik Zetterberg will miss tonight’s game with back spasms.

Click here to read more about the Red Wing’s morning skate today. 

JR