Heading into the 2007-08 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets had recorded just 22 shutouts in their six NHL campaigns, and never more than five in a single season. The Blue Jackets, who recorded just four shutouts in all of 2006-07, set an NHL record with their fourth in October Thursday night.

Since the NHL began scheduling October games 65 years ago, at the start the 1942-43 season, no team had blanked its opponents more than three times for the month. The much-improved Blue Jackets, who are 5-3-1 on the season, had become the 26th team since 1942-43 to record three October shutouts before Thursday night’s 3-0 win over St. Louis.

Goaltender Pascal Leclaire, who has bounced back from an injury-plagued 2006-07 season that put his No. 1 job on the line this fall, has been in net for all four shutouts. When knee and leg injuries limited Leclaire to 24 games a year ago, Finnish import Fredrik Norrena took over, played well and posted the first winning record in Columbus history. But it’s been Leclaire carrying the load in the early going.

"He's on the mark," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said of his starter after a recent win, though the inspired play of the Blue Jackets in their own end also is a credit to the defensemen: Adam Foote, Rostislav Klesla, Ron Hainsey, Jan Hejda, Kris Russell and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen.

In the course of blanking the Stanley Cup champion Ducks, 4-0, on Oct. 5, the Blue Jackets held Anaheim without a shot for the first 16 minutes of the game. By then, they had rifled 14 shots on net and scored twice. Leclaire faced 32 shots in shutting down Phoenix on Oct. 10, though he was seldom tested. The same was true in last Friday’s 3-0 win in Buffalo.

Thursday night’s victory marked the first time the Blue Jackets were outshot when shutting out an opponent, as Leclaire stopped a season-high 36 shots in blanking the Blues. What was most memorable about the game, however, was a between-the-legs goal scored by Rick Nash. The Blue Jackets star tallied a goal in his fifth straight game when he stretched to play the ricochet of a slap shot off the boards from the side of the net. He pulled in the puck and then lifted it between his legs and high into the top of the net.

Columbus goes for its sixth win of the season on Saturday, when the team squares off against San Jose at home. The Blue Jackets didn’t win their sixth game a year ago until Nov. 25.