It’s pretty rare for the Blues to be in the same city for three days on the road. But that was the case on this trip for the Blues, who have been in Phoenix since Saturday night, arriving hours after their 5-4 OT loss to Dallas.

The past couple of days, several players have said how much they’re enjoying some down time with each other. They’ve really had a chance to relax and put the Dallas loss behind them. But now they’re ready to play.

“It seems like it’s been a week, but you get to have a couple of practice days where you get to enjoy yourselves,” Blues defenseman Barret Jackman said. “You’re not worried about your meals or a game. It’s been a good mental break for us. But we want to play . . . we’re ready for business tonight.”

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I wrote in today’s Post-Dispatch about how the Blues need to play with an even-keel attitude tonight. Well, head coach Andy Murray certainly wasn’t using my material, but that was the message he delivered to the players this morning.

“We just need to go out and play,” Murray said.

On the board in the Blues’ locker room this morning were these words: “Play REAL good from start to finish.”

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Phoenix is 3-1 in its last four games, but the Coyotes are coming off a 6-1 loss to Los Angeles Saturday. They know how much this game means to the Blues, who are in 9th place in the West with three games remaining.

“That gives us a little bit more motivation,” Phoenix defenseman Zbynek Michalek, who leads the NHL with 262 blocked shots, told the Arizona Republic. “We can take two points out of them. It’s a big game for them.”

Blues goalie Chris Mason emphasized that the club can’t take the Coyotes lightly, even though the Blues are 3-0 against them this season.

“We really have to remember where we were at certain points in the season,” Mason said. “I don’t think any team has a right to underestimate any team in this league. Teams are just too good. At one point, every team in this conference was involved in a playoff hunt. There’s so much at stake. We lost a point that we felt we should have had in Dallas. But that game is over with. (Phoenix) is young and has some energy. They’re playing good right now. These are dangerous teams, so we have to be ready. That’s the only way I can put it.”

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No lineup changes tonight. Keith Tkachuk is OK after crashing into the goal post in practice yesterday.

Tkachuk had a funny line at practice today.  Some fans are familiar with Andy Murray’s practice ritual, where he blows his whistle from a corner of the ice and the last player to get to the circle has to skate an extra lap.

Usually, it’s the young players who get burned by Murray. But today Tkachuk got caught being last and had to skate the lap. When he returned to the team huddle, Tkachuk said: “I practice three days in a row (including Sunday’s optional practice), and that’s what you do to me.”

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While the ice was being re-surfaced for the Blues’ practice this morning, rookie T.J. Oshie was putting on a show for his teammates.

Oshie was juggling the puck with his stick. But he wasn’t just repeatedly knocking it in the air with his forward. No, Oshie scooped the puck up with his BACKHAND, flipped his stick and caught it on his FOREHAND, popped the puck in the air again, let it drop to his SKATE, kicked it back up with his SKATE and caught it with his FOREHAND.

If Tiger Woods would have been watching, his jaw would have dropped.

“The kid has got some amazing hands,” Jackman said. “I even caught myself in the dressing room trying a few of his moves . . . I failed miserably. He’s got some of the best hands I’ve seen, and some neat tricks.”

Click here to look at Oshie’s juggling act when he was in high school.

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Odds and ends:

- Brad Boyes has 69 points. With one more point, he’ll become the Blues’ first 70-point player since Tkachuk in 2003-04 (71).

- The Blues have never swept a season series against the Phoenix Coyotes. They haven’t won four games against the Coyotes in one season since 1995-96.

- Jay McKee has registered a plus or even rating in 29 of his last 36 games and is a combined plus-11 in that stretch.

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Trivia:

Blues owner Dave Checketts and Blues President John Davidson were asking themselves yesterday in practice . . . On the Blue Note, how many “points” flair out on the wing of the note? NO CHEATING!

The answer:

6

JR