STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - The Blues now know what traveling in the Eastern Conference must be like. On Tuesday night, they took a little train ride to Linkoping, Sweden, for their final preseason game.

The Blues had a couple of private cars on the train, and the conditions were very cozy for the two-hour trek. The view along the way - farmhouses, acres of bright green grass and rivers - was breathtaking.  

Once in Linkoping, though, the Blues put their game face on. That’s because the night before, the Florida Panthers lost their preseason game, 3-2, in a shootout to a Finnish club. “We were aware of that,” Blues coach Andy Murray said.

Tuesday’s game was at the Cloetta Center, which is a nice facility. The crowd was energetic, but honestly I thought there would be more fans in attendance. You can tell in this video that there are folks in the upper deck, but the lower bowl was fairly sparse. This isn’t the most exciting clip you’ll ever watch, but it’ll give you perspective on the atmosphere. (The Blues come out second wearing their white jerseys).

The Blues won the game 6-0, getting a combined shutout from goalies Chris Mason, Ty Conklin and Ben Bishop, who each played one period. After the game, Blues assistant coach Rick Wamsley joked that years from now, that would be a trivia question: Name the last time three goalies combined for a shutout? Oh, Wammer!

The Blues got two goals from Paul Kariya and one each from David Perron, Carlo Colaiacovo, Alex Steen and Patrik Berglund.

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The Blues finished 4-1-1 in the preseason, counting last night. With the regulars in the lineup the last three games, they 3-0 and outscored their opponents 15-1.

Here’s Perron on how the team is shaping up . . .

Mason also likes the way the team is coming together . . .

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Today is the day the Blues need to cut their roster to 24, which means they’ll have to re-assign one player. The official time that the move needs to be made is noon (St. Louis time), which is 7 p.m. here in Sweden.

The Blues aren’t saying how they’ll get down to 25, but all signs are pointing to them re-assigning Tyson Strachan to Peoria.

(EDIT: Since I wrote this blog, the Blues have indeed sent Strachan to Peoria).

The Blues like Strachan and, in fact, he probably is one of their top six or seven defensemen. However, other circumstances are creating this move. The Blues want to keep Alex Pietrangelo for now, which gives them seven defensemen. Five of those d-men are on one-way NHL contracts and the sixth, Erik Johnson, is not going anywhere.

With 14 forwards, the Blues could trim from that position, but Derek Armstrong has played well in the preseason and they don’t want to risk losing him on waivers by sending him to Peoria. As a side note, the Armstrong issue will have to be tackled again when D.J. King comes off the IR. But for now, he’s on the team and deservedly so.

Blues president John Davidson hasn’t give away any secrets, but his philosophy is clear in his comments: the team doesn’t want to give players away for free when making its roster decisions.

“We’ve got to make sure we manage all of our assets and try and keep everybody . . . because we know not everybody (is going to be healthy) all season long,” Davidson said. ”(Tyson) Strachan and (Alex) Pietrangelo have played well . . . (Derek) Armstrong did a great job coming in here . . . we have to look at all of this. It’s about lines, it’s about pairs, it’s about experience, it’s about everything. We’re in a good place, but it’s going to be tough.”

So despite the way Strachan has played, sending down a player who doesn’t need waivers at this point makes the most sense to the team.

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If you’re a Blues fan, and especially if you’re a fan of T.J. Oshie, take a look at the column written in today’s Post-Dispatch by my colleague Susan Weich. In the column, which you can read by clicking here Weich learns that she isn’t the only one in St. Louis who has named their dog after the popular Blue.

When you’re done reading, be sure to click the video on the right-hand side of the page.

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I’ll have more later, including pictures of downtown Stockholm. Also, don’t forget to pick up a paper on Thursday, or read STLtoday.com for a couple of pages of Blues’ regular-season previews.

JR