Game Three Preview: Flames visit St. Louis

Tonight's matchup will see the Flames visit the Blues in the Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri at 5PM. It’s the first of three games with the two clubs this season, with a match in Calgary on March 17th and a return to St. Louis on April 3nd. For the Flames, it’s the second game of a six-game road trip. They started out by defeating the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2 on Thursday night and will continue with matchups against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, and the Winnipeg Jets next Sunday. The Blues are closing up a two game homestand. They started the season on Thursday with a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers. They aren’t playing again until Thursday, when they travel to Los Angeles to face the Kings.

The last time the Blues played the Flames was on January 9th. Patrik Berglund, Ian Cole, Vladimir Sobotka, Chris Stewart, and Vladimir Tarasenko all scored for St. Louis as Jaroslav Halak turned aside all 33 Calgary shots for the 5-0 win. Karri Ramo stopped 24-of-29 to take the loss. * Box Score * Full Recap

Calgary, playing at home, was shut out for the fifth time in seven contests as the Blues won their seventh straight. Both teams' streaks began on December 23rd with a Flames win over St. Louis. Matt Stajan spoke afterward about Calgary's lack of scoring:

"It [stinks]. We can't score goals in this building, for whatever reason. We have to dig down. Enough is enough. We can't be satisfied just with good chances. We have to score. It's the NHL — you can't win in this league if you don't score.

See St. Louis Game Time for your Blues fix.

Mason Raymond paced the Flames with a hat trick in their last game, a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Joe Colborne assisted on all three of Raymond's markers, Jiri Hudler scored a goal and an assist, and Karri Ramo stood tall between the pipes to the tune of 37 saves on 39 shots. Taylor Hall and Teddy Purcell lit the lamp for Edmonton, and Ben Scrivens allowed five goals on 26 shots. * Box Score * Full Recap

Raymond spoke later:

Of course it is nice to contribute and be a part of the win. But those two points were huge for us. It got us in the win column and trending in the right direction. Those two points are huge for us heading out on the road, especially after losing our first game at home.

For more on the Oilers, go The Copper & Blue.

In the last action for St. Louis, the visiting New York Rangers took a 3-2 win on Thursday night. Rick Nash scored twice and added an assist for the Rangers, while the Blues would see Jaden Schwartz pick up a goal and an assist in the loss. Each goaltender faced 25 shots, as Henrik Lundqvist earned the win over Brian Elliott. * Box Score * Full Recap

The win against the Blues was the first of Lunqvist's career. He now has wins against every team except for the Rangers.

Blueshirt Banter has your Rangers.

GameTime: 5PM MST

Where2Watch: SN360, FS-MW

Line: St. Louis is favoured by -194.

Standings

Calgary Flames, 1-1-0, two points, on pace for 82 points, third in the Pacific Division, seventh in the Western Conference, tied for 14th in the NHL. Last five: X-X-X-L-W. Playoff Odds: 59.6%

St. Louis Blues: 0-1-0, zero points, on pace for zero points, sixth in the Central Division, tied for ninth in the Western Conference, tied for 19th in the NHL. Last five: X-X-X-X-L. Playoff Odds: 49.1%

The Flames have a 74-68-14-4 all-time record against the Blues, and have outscored them by four goals over 160 contests. Their 51.9% point collection rate ranks as the Flames 11th worst mark against every team.

Common Thread

Do you remember this Jay Bouwmeester character?  The Flames got him from the Florida Panthers for Jordan Leopold and a third round pick (Josh Birkholz). He was here for 279 games over four seasons starting in 2009-10, and scored 18 goals with 79 assists, a minus-38 rating, and spent 134 minutes in the penalty box. The Flames sent him off to St. Louis for Mark Cundari, Reto Berra, and a draft pick (Emile Poirier). Fun fact: he hasn’t been a scratch, healthy or otherwise, since 2003-04. That's 704 games in a row, and counting.

Elsewhere

Calgary is playing in one of 15 games tonight as every team in the NHL takes the ice. Also playing:

Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Anaheim Ducks vs. Detroit Red Wings

Ottawa Senators vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

New Jersey Devils vs. Florida Panthers

Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Islanders

Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers

New York Rangers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Dallas Stars vs. Nashville Predators

Buffalo Sabres vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche

Los Angeles Kings vs. Arizona Coyotes

Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks

Winnipeg Jets vs. San Jose Sharks

Milestones

With two points tonight, Jiri Hudler joins the 300 point club. If he does it, it'll have happened in his 529th game. Mark Giordano can score his 200th with his next point. Giordano will tie Willi Plett in 19th by playing in his 452nd Flames contest.

Probable Starting Lineups

Calgary Flames

Line 1	Paul Byron	Sean Monahan	Jiri Hudler
Line 2	Curtis Glencross	Mikael Backlund	David Jones
Line 3	John Gaudreau	Joe Colborne	Mason Raymond
Line 4	Brandon Bollig	Matt Stajan	Lance Bouma
Defensive Pair 1	TJ Brodie	Mark Giordano
Defensive Pair 2	Raphael Diaz	Ladislav Smid
Defensive Pair 3	Deryk Engelland	Kris Russell
Reserves	Devin Setoguchi	Brian McGrattan	Raphael Diaz
Starting Goalie	Jonas Hiller
Reserve Goalie	Karri Ramo

St. Louis Blues

Line 1	Patrik Berglund	David Backes	TJ Oshie
Line 2	Alex Steen	Paul Stastny	Vladimir Tarasenko
Line 3	Jaden Schwartz	Jori Lehtera	Joakim Lindstrom
Line 4	Steve Ott	Maxim Lapierre	Ryan Reaves
Defensive Pair 1	Ian Cole	Alex Pietrangelo
Defensive Pair 2	Jay Bouwmeester	Kevin Shattenkirk
Defensive Pair 3	Barret Jackman	Jordan Leopold
Reserves	Carl Gunnarsson
Starting Goalie	Brian Elliott
Reserve Goalie	Jake Allen

STATS

Time on ice: Defense - Mark Giordano - 24:19, TJ Brodie - 23:21

Forwards - Curtis Glencross - 18:52, Mikael Backlund - 18:46, Mason Raymond - 16:16

Goals: Mason Raymond - 3, Jiri Hudler - 2, Paul Byron, TJ Brodie - 1

Assists: Joe Colborne - 4, Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan - 2

Points: Joe Colborne - 4, Mason Raymond, Jiri Hudler - 3

Faceoffs: Mikael Backlund - 58.3% (28-of-48), Matt Stajan - 52.6% (10-of-19), Joe Colborne - 50.0% (14-of-28)

Shots-on-Goals: Mason Raymond - 7, Curtis Glencross - 6, Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler, Mikael Backlund - 5

Hits: Curtis Glencross - 9, Brandon Bollig - 8, Lance Bouma, Deryk Engelland - 6

Blocked Shots: Kris Russell - 8, Mark Giordano - 3, Mikael Backlund, TJ Brodie, Sean Monahan, Mason Raymond, Ladislav Smid - 2