The hot topic on-line, on the radio and at the rink today seems to be this question: When was the last time the Blues played a regular-season game that meant as much as tonight’s meeting with Columbus?

If you’re talking about do-or-die, playoff implication, must-win games, you’d have to go back to April 3, 2004. The Blues needed a win in Nashville to extend their playoff streak to 25 consecutive years. They did with a 4-1 victory over the Predators.

I tried to copy a link to Derrick Goold’s game story from that night, but it didn’t work, so here is the story in its entirety.

By Derrick Goold

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Decisive and cool when an error could have doomed them, the Blues outlasted Nashville’s early spunk. Savagely gritty when the game was its tightest, they seized the lead. And calculatingly defensive when they needed to lock down the win, they owned the third period.

The Blues secured a 25th consecutive playoff berth by flexing their playoff readiness in Saturday’s game against Nashville that had all the trimmings, grindings and gravity of the postseason. Brian Savage netted the playoff-clincher 2 minutes, 43 seconds into the third period and the Blues piled on two empty-net goals for a 4-1 victory. The Predators scored on their first shot, but goalie Chris Osgood made 16 consecutive saves while the Blues checked and hustled and hit and scrapped and banged their way to a playoff berth.

The franchise’s signature streak endures.

“We absolutely didn’t want to be known as the team that didn’t make the playoffs for the first time in 24 years,” Osgood said.

“Look at the way we’ve played for the last month. That says it all right there. We had desperation. We had urgency. And now we’ve become the old Blues team I remember playing against (in Detroit).

“And we’ve done it at the right time. I think, we’re peaking.”

The Blues (39-29-11-2) will enter the playoffs as the seventh seed in the Western Conference, regardless of the outcome of their season finale Sunday in Minnesota. They will face the Pacific Division-winning and second-seeded San Jose Sharks in a best-of-seven series most likely starting Thursday in San Jose, Calif.

Saturday’s win also extended the longest postseason appearance streak in North America’s major pro sports. The Blues’ 25-year run of playoffs is now the third longest in NHL history.

“This team has battled,” said coach Mike Kitchen, who was given the game puck as a memento from his first playoff berth as a head coach. His team has permitted 18 or fewer shots in three consecutive games. “We got stronger and stronger, and now you can just see - they believe in themselves.”

That belief steeled them through a rickety start Saturday.

Only 71 seconds into the game, Nashville took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Scott Hartnell. By that time, the Blues had already iced the puck twice to escape the Predators’ first-minute flurry. Hartnell’s goal came after Blues defenseman Eric Weinrich whiffed on the puck and created a turnover near the blue line. Greg Johnson keyed an instant 2-on-1 and made a crafty pass to set up the goal.

The Predators, needing a win to claim the franchise’s first playoff berth, were spurred by the goal - and a raucous Music City crowd.

The Blues calmly regrouped and did so using a new trick, a faceoff whiz.

Because they can rely on Mike Sillinger to win crucial draws, the Blues could ice the puck. They could quickly kill Nashville’s spin-cycle possessions by just whipping the puck out. The Blues iced the puck eight times in the first period. Sillinger won five of the seven defensive-zone faceoffs he took as a result of icings in that period.

“There’s nothing wrong with making that play,” said Chris Pronger of the icings. “It’s only a faceoff in our end. It’s not a goal. It can be worth it to kill their play.”

After the Blues took hold of the momentum via fierce defense and Petr Cajanek’s tying goal 10:09 into the first, Osgood mopped up mistakes. He stopped Hartnell on a breakaway created by a bad bounce. Late in the second, Mark Eaton’s spinning, backhanded pass dizzied Bryce Salvador and found Adam Hall for a point-blank shot. Osgood lunged and made the stop.

That shielded the 1-1 tie until early in the third when Scott Mellanby plumbed the corner, won the puck and got it to Doug Weight for a crafty pass to Savage at the crease’s lip. Dallas Drake and Pronger added empty-net goals to artificially inflate what really was a taut nail-biter.

On their walk to Nashville’s rink Saturday, the Blues were serenaded with cheers from the droves of Blues’ fans that made the trip. Nashville’s main street, Broadway, hummed with the import of the game. The win certainly had a playoff feel.

“We put ourselves in a pretty deep hole, but we played our way out of it,” Weight said. “We couldn’t be playing better going into the playoffs. We couldn’t be playing better than we are right now.”

Tell me about your nerves going into that game. How do they compare to the nerves tonight?

********

How loud will it be tonight at Scottrade Center, where the Blues will have their 29th sellout of the season?

Patrik Berglund: “It’s going to be insane. I haven’t been in the playoffs with the Blues before, but we’re real close right now, and I think the whole city is pumped up. You’re going to remember it for a long time. I was sitting home last night and I just thought about the game. I just saw all the people in the crowd, cheering and screaming. This place is going to explode tonight and it’s going to be really fun to be a part of it.”

Jay McClement: “It’s been great all year, and I think you can kind of see over the last couple of months, it’s been building. The last time in here was a lot of fun. Tonight will probably be the loudest we’ve seen since I’ve been here in four years. A lot of people are excited about it. It’s up to us to come out and play well.”

Alex Steen: “I don’t think people around the league realize what a good building this is to play in. It kind of falls under the radar. It’s one of the louder buildings I’ve played in. I know Montreal gets a really good atmosphere on Saturday night when they play the Leafs. I think it’s louder here than it is in Toronto. Here, everybody is so passionate and I think the situation we’re in now, everybody is starting to cook in St. Louis. The whole city is buzzing. I think it’s going to be a great feeling tonight.”

********

There are many things that could happen tonight with the playoff picture, but let me try to boil it down for you:

Tonight’s games: Blues vs. Columbus, Minnesota vs. Nashville, Anaheim vs. Dallas

- If the Blues win and Nashville loses, the Blues are in the playoffs.

- If the Blues win and Nashville wins, the Blues must earn at least a point Sunday in Colorado to make the playoffs.

-If the Blues lose and Nashville wins, the Blues can still make the playoffs, but Anaheim must lose tonight against Dallas and Saturday at Phoenix.

So, when the Blues leave the rink tonight, they could be IN the playoffs, OUT of the playoffs, or will have wait until Sunday to find out.

********

Are the players nervous?

“We’ve been playing for so long, I don’t think we’re nervous at all . . . I’m not,” Berglund said. “We need to go in there, be focused and do your job. If you do it, everything is going to be fine. Do the things your good at, play solid and everything is going to be fine.”

Blues coach Andy Murray said the morning skate today felt like any other this season.

“That’s the most important thing, that we keep it business as usual,” Murray said. “Trying to do different things or special movitations or try to calm them down . . . we just need to go play and play good.”

******** 

There is some debate about whether Scottrade Center should put the Minnesota-Nashville score on the Jumbo-Tron tonight.

That game started 30 minutes before the Blues-Columbus game and theoretically should end sooner. Let’s say hypothetically that it’s announced at Scottrade Center that the Predators have defeated the Wild 3-2. Meanwhile the Blues are tied 2-2 or losing 2-1 in the third period against the Blue Jackets. Wouldn’t it be natural for the players to tighten up if they saw the score?

“I don’t think they should (put the score up),” Berglund said. “The only thing we can do is win our game. We can’t sit down there and look up on the board and see that Nashville is up one or two goals. It doesn’t matter for us because we just need to win the game, and then we need to go to Colorado and win.”

Murray might have the final call on the Jumbo-Tron debate.

“To me, does it really matter,” Murray said. “We’ve been about taking care of our business. Does it matter what’s happening in the other game? Not really. The last time I checked, if we win our games, we’ll be playing hockey next week. If we don’t win our games, we won’t be. I don’t know if the scoreboard makes a difference. We haven’t done it differently before . . . why would we do it now? I’m not saying I wouldn’t (keep the score from being shown). But I haven’t decided that yet.”

********

I’ll have more later in the day, including the view from the Columbus locker room. Before I wrap up, take a look at TSN’s ranking of the top 10 shootout goals this season. Check it out and see if any of the Blues made the cut.

http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip159770#clip159770

JR