"With their losses mounting and the season slipping away, the Blue Jackets are taking a new approach to their goaltending.

Before practice yesterday, coach Ken Hitchcock informed the club that Steve Mason no longer is the club's undisputed No. 1 goaltender.

Mathieu Garon will start at 9 tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes. If he plays well, Garon will keep playing, too, not resort to the backup role he's held up to this point.

"Win and you're in," Hitchcock said. "That's just where we're at now. If a guy wins, he gets to keep going.

"We can't wait any longer to get going."

Mason allowed three goals on five shots and lasted only 4 minutes, 15 seconds in Saturday's 5-2 loss to Colorado. It's the fifth time Mason has been pulled in 28 starts.

As has been the case so many times this season, Mason wasn't guilty of allowing poor goals as much as he didn't make clutch saves when every other aspect of the Blue Jackets' game fell apart.

Last season, he masked a lot of deficiencies by making big save after big save.

"You'd like to have all the goals back," Mason said. "Any goalie hates letting in goals."