"Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason barely recalls the shot that rattled his mask and sent him flopping forward during a morning skate last week.

But he vividly remembers the strange sensation that followed.

"I couldn't get back up," Mason said. "It's hard to explain. You just lose all of your motor skills. You don't know what you're doing."

Mason missed three games, but he was cleared to return to action on Sunday and served as Curtis Sanford's backup in a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

He will back up Sanford again tonight in Vancouver against the Canucks.

"I'm not sure if it was a concussion," Mason said, "but we dealt with it as if it was.

"I just had headaches for a couple of days afterward, but I'm fine now. We did the concussion test, and things are good.""