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Calgary Flames

The Flames are on a Win Streak: Flames 4, Blues 1

2 whole games in a row.

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The Flames played a perfect road game. After a good shootout win against the Blackhawks, the Flames carried that momentum forward and looked great against the Blues, winning 4-1 in Brian Elliott and Troy Brouwer’s return to St. Louis.

First Period

Kind of a cool storyline to start the game. Glen Gulutzan had Matthew Tkachuk in the starting line up after sitting him out the past couple of games. Tkachuk’s father played many years as a Blue, with Matthew spending a lot of his childhood living in St. Louis and being around the Blues. Playing him on a line with Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik was a smart move also.

The Flames started the game off strong for the second game in a row! On a powerplay just a couple of minutes in, Wideman was left all alone in front of the net and Troy Brouwer found him with a pass and the Flames went up 1-0. 3 powerplay goals in 2 games. Crazy stuff! But crazy things were not stopping there. At the halfway point of the period, the Flames rushed up the ice and Kris Versteeg found Deryk Engelland crashing the net after the Blues’ defenders were drawn to Sam Bennett. Engelland took the pass and proceeded to make a beautiful backhand deke in tight and put it past Carter Hutton to score what was likely the best goal of his career so far. 2-0 Calgary, their first 2 goal lead of the season.

The Blues woke up a bit after that second goal and started to make an effort, but they did not find the scoreboard and it was 2-0 Flames after 1, with the shots 8-5 Calgary. Good starts to the game can go a long way.

Second Period

The Flames kept up the good work in the second period. Shortly after their powerplay ended, Sam Bennett held onto the puck in the offensive zone, deked around some Blues and then sniped one past Hutton to make it 3-0 Calgary. These past couple games, Bennett has looked really good. That is excellent news for the Flames’ ability to produce offense.

With the Flames up 3-0, they just kept playing an absolutely terrific road game. They really limited the Blues ability to generate offense, while creating chances of their own. This is the sort of Flames team I was expecting at the start of the season, so it is nice to see them finally show up. Shots were 15 to 6 in the period for the Flames, leading the Blues 23-11 after 2 periods. Calgary was the team that played the night before, so not bad numbers at all.

Third Period

The Flames almost went up by 4 early in the third, as Sam Bennett just failed to get a handle on the beautiful cross-ice pass from Kris Versteeg. Shortly after, Tkachuk who almost scored a couple of times in the game, rang a shot off the post.

The Blues would get on the board a few minutes into the third. With Sam Bennett in the box, Mark Giordano apparently (he might of, he might have not) cleared the puck over the glass, making it a 5-on-3 for the Blues for 1:43. The Blues passed the puck around nicely and Kevin Shattenkirk put one over Elliott’s shoulder during the 5-on-3. That was really it for the Blues, as they did not really threaten much from then on. The Flames put on a perfect road performance.

Johnny Gaudreau scored an empty-netter, and the Flames defeated the Blues 4-1. Shots in the third were 12-7 for the Blues, final count was 30-23 for Calgary.

Flames 3 Stars

Other Thoughts

Up Next

After this brief little road trip, the Flames head back to Calgary for a couple of days off before facing the Ottawa Senators on Friday night. They have won 2, let’s hope they can take some of this road success back home.

by samwell9