Yan Stastny had a solid training camp for the Blues. But because of the numbers’ game, Stastny was sent to Peoria in the preseason.

In typical Stastny fashion, all he did in Peoria was work hard. The 27-year-old posted nine points (three goals, six assists) in eight games and was strong defensively. The Rivermen thought enough of Stastny to name him the team’s captain recently.

But in a blink of an eye, Stastny could have been headed to another NHL city. The Blues called him up Monday, but because he’s on a one-way, $500,000 contract, Stastny had to first clear re-entry waivers. He learned on Tuesday that he had cleared and he was free to rejoin the Blues, the team he grew up watching and the team for whom his father, Peter, ended his Hall of Fame career.

“That’s totally out of my hands,” Stastny said of the waiver process. ”I love being back here, it’s home. There’s nothing I could have done about it. If it happened, it happened. But things worked out, so it’s good. I understand that there’s things that don’t work out, things that do work out. No matter where I go, I’m playing the game of hockey, which I love to play. I don’t think my game changes no matter what city I play in, no matter what organization I play in. I went (to Peoria) with a positive attitude and I was having fun. When you get the team playing well, good things happen.”

The Blues were “really concerned” about losing Stastny on waivers.

“Yan Stastny had a really good training camp and was a victim of the numbers game, but he approached it the right way,” Blues coach Andy Murray said. ”He went down to Peoria and was clearly our best player in Peoria. Our coaches recommended him, our scouts recommended him when we’re looking for a replacement player . . . Yan Stastny was the name that was brought to the forefront.”

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With Stastny added to the mix, here are the expected forward combinations tonight against Carolina:

Andy McDonald-Keith Tkachuk-David Backes

Paul Kariya-Patrik Berglund-Brad Boyes

B.J. Crombeen-Jay McClement-David Perron

Brad Winchester-Yan Stastny-Cam Janssen

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Backes played right wing against Dallas on Saturday, which was the first time he’s been there since making the move to center last year.

“I think it’s out of necessity,” Murray said. “When you look at it, we’ve lost three wingers. We’ve lost Alex Steen, we lost T.J. Oshie and we lost D.J. King, so we’ve lost some wingers. Somebody had to move to the wing and David Backes, we know he can play on the right side. Also with those big bodies playing with Andy McDonald, you kind of like that, too.”

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The NHL suspended Dallas’ Steve Ott on Tuesday for his hip check on Blues defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo. What wasn’t mentioned in the league’s statement about the suspension of Ott was his knee-to-knee hit on B.J. Crombeen.

“Obviously, (Ott) plays the game with an edge there, and I’ve played with him, so I know how he plays,” Crombeen said. ”I was coming up the wall and I think he was just coming down trying to finish his check on me. Obviously, we made some contact that I didn’t think was appropriate at that time of game especially. I tried to go after him and sort it out that way.”

Asked if it was a dirty hit, Crombeen told reporters before the suspension was announced: “I’m not going to sit here and say it was a dirty play or not. I’ll let the league decide that. We play them plenty of times, so I’ll have time to try and sort those things out with him.”

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In my article today in the Post-Dispatch, I mentioned how streaky the Blues’ power play has been this season. The power play was 4-for-9 in Sweden, then 0 for its next 10, then 2-2 and now 0 for its last 16.

“The thing that’s missing is the finish,” Murray said. “Brad Boyes had four tremendous chances on the power play in our last game against Dallas and didn’t convert. What you do is you trust your players. You believe that your key offensive players will find their way to score because that’s what they are . . . they’re scorers. Brad Boyes will, in my opinion, end up with 30-40 goals again this year because he’s a 30-40 goal scorer. Michael Jordan doesn’t stop shooting the basketball when he’s 0-for-25. He’s a 50-percent shooter. If he misses the first 25 in a game, I’m sure he feels he’s going to sink the next 25. That’s the type of attitude we need.”

Said Boyes: “We’ve had some good opportunities, but we just haven’t put them in. Regardless if it’s a struggle, you’ve got to score anyway. A lot of times that’s been the difference in tight games. We’ve had a lot of power play opportunities and let that slide, then we give teams opportunties and they build up momentum. It’s tough. We’re getting chances. But at the same time, we’re not scoring, so we’ve either got to create more chances or we’ve got to find ways to put them in.”

Boyes leads the Blues with 28 shots on goal this season, but with only two goals (including an empty-netter), he is shooting 7.1 percent. In 2007-08, when Boyes netted a career-high 43 goals, he shot 20.8 percent for the season.

Boyes’ 7.1 shooting percentage this season is tied with David Perron for the second-lowest percentage on the team, just ahead of David Backes (4.5 percent).

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Speculation is that Alex Pietrangelo will remain in the Blues’ lineup tonight against Carolina. Pietrangelo practiced with Eric Brewer as the seventh and eighth defensemen Monday in practice, but Pietrangelo was back in the top six on Tuesday.

It appears that Tyson Strachan will be a healthy scratch again and that the defensive pairings will remain the same as they were Saturday against Dallas:

Darryl Sydor-Erik Johnson

Mike Weaver-Roman Polak

Carlo Colaiacovo-Alex Pietrangelo

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With Eric Brewer returning soon, and Barret Jackman eventually coming back, too, the Blues will have nine defensemen.

1. Brewer
2. Jackman
3. Johnson
4. Sydor
5. Polak
6. Colaiacovo
7. Weaver
8. Pietrangelo
9. Strachan

Assuming that everyone else remains healthy by the time Brewer and Jackman come back, and that’s a BIG assumption, things should get interesting: How much ice time can Brewer handle initially? Do the Blues keep Pietrangelo? Which veteran could be a healthy scratch?

Right now, the Blues aren’t saying much . . .

“When Barret comes back and Eric Brewer comes back, we’ve added two more good players to our lineup,” Murray said. “The coach is going to have to make some decisions as to who plays.”

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Goalie Chris Mason is expected to start against Carolina tonight. The Blues turn around and face Phoenix at home Thursday night. Murray said this week that it’s not written in stone that Ty Conklin will start every time the Blues play back-to-back games, so tomorrow night’s goalie is not yet known. Murray said he leaves those decisions to assistant Rick Wamsley.

JR