ST. LOUIS - The Blue Jackets spent most of last night's 4-3 shootout loss serving as crash test dummies for the relentless and contact-craving St. Louis Blues.

But it was the hardest check of the game that altered the outcome.

Jackets captain Rick Nash was leveled by forward T.J. Oshie early in the third period as the Blues rookie traveled 100 feet unimpeded to deliver a thunderous shoulder-to-shoulder hit. The blow knocked the unsuspecting Nash backward and heavily into the boards.

The sellout crowd in the Scottrade Center erupted. Then, the Jackets did the same.

The Jackets' smallest player, Kris Russell, challenged Oshie, and the rest of the team challenged itself. The Jackets responded with two goals from Kristian Huselius and Nash in a 93-second span to tie it.

The outburst was enough for the Jackets to earn a valuable and unexpected point.

"Anytime one of your top players or captain gets hit, it seems to boost everyone else up," Nash said. "It lit our fire and it lit my fire. I'm kind of glad he did it."

The Jackets' rally, which included a strong overtime effort, fell short in the shootout.

David Perron won in it the fourth round with a glove-side shot that grazed the body of goaltender Steve Mason and caromed into the net. Nash was the only Jackets player to score in the shootout. Huselius, Jason Williams and Antoine Vermette were denied by Blues goalie Chris Mason.

The Jackets, who stretched their unbeaten streak in regulation to five games (3-0-2), remained in sixth place in the Western Conference..

"We played two brutal periods but showed our character in the third," Nash said. "It's definitely a positive point."

The teams meet again this afternoon in Nationwide Arena. The Jackets might be without defenseman Rostislav Klesla, who played only one third-period shift because of an undisclosed injury.

Whomever coach Ken Hitchcock opts to dress had better be ready for a more spirited start. At the morning skate, he portended the force of hockey nature that the Blues have become in the past two months.

"If you don't have the stomach for the fight, they will break you down," Hitchcock said.

That succinctly described the first two periods, in which the Blues built a 3-1 lead on goals by Keith Tkachuk, Patrik Berglund and Alex Steen. St. Louis, which is in a virtual eighth-place tie, set the tone with the game's first eight hits.

The Jackets' only shining moment was a wondrous short-handed goal by Vermette as he split two Blues players and beat goalie Chris Mason to tie it at 1-1 midway through the first period.

The Blues just kept taking the body and the initiative. They swarmed the crease of Steve Mason, who allowed a soft goal to Berglund at 13:47 of the first.

St. Louis seemed well on its way until Oshie stepped out of the penalty box at 4:18 of the third and made a beeline for Nash.

"The hit was a wake-up call for everybody," Hitchcock said. "The guy ran 150 feet at him. It should have been a charging penalty."

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Russell immediately went after Oshie and took a double minor for roughing.

"He's a young guy and I'm a young guy," Russell said. "I didn't like what he did."

Huselius made it 3-2 with 12:37 left when he converted his own rebound. For all the Blues' dominance, the Jackets were now only a goal behind.

Nash changed that less than two minutes later when he scored his 35th of the season with a wrist shot from between the circles.

treed@dispatch.com