Preview: Calgary Flames @ St. Louis Blues 10/25/17 (10/82): No Rest For The Flames As They Head To St. Louis

Calgary Flames @ St. Louis Blues, 8 PM MT, Scottrade Center, St. Louis MO

The Flames get no rest as they depart Nashville and head right to St. Louis for the second night of a back to back against the Blues. Calgary survived a rough first period and defeated the Predators in a shootout Tuesday night to improve to 5-4-0. The win snapped Calgary’s 2 game losing streak, but the same old problems reared their ugly head. Three first period penalties lead to 2 PPG goals, putting Calgary in a deep hole. As much as the Flames say they are cleaning this stuff up, it keeps showing back up and it really hurt the Flames against Nashville. On the upside, Micheal Ferland looked like he once again belonged on that top line and the 4th of Bennett-Jankowski-Lazar played it’s heart out.

St. Louis comes into this contest well rested, not having played since Saturday. And rest is what they needed. The Blues exploded out of the gate going 4-0-0, but have cooled off a bit since. St Louis has dropped 3 out of their last five, but they should still present the Flames with a tough challenge. Jake Allen has been the man between the pipes for the Blues and like Pekke Rinne, who the Flames just faced, he’s not been very generous with goals. Allen has only given up 6 goals in his last 3 starts.

What’s Happening With The Opposition?

Last Time Out

Calgary Flames 3 Nashville Predators 2 (SO)

Calgary needed some 12th hour heroics, but they left Nashville with 2 important points and a 3-2 (SO) win over the Predators. Matthew Tkachuk got the Flames on the board in the 3rd and netted the game winner in the shootout. Mike Smith was once again solid, stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced. Here’s our recap and highlights from NHL.com

St. Louis Blues 2 Vegas Golden Knights 3 (OT)

St. Louis last laced ‘em up on Saturday and fell victim to the upstart Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime. Jake Allen stopped 19 of the 22 shots to come his way, but it wasn’t enough as the Blues had a tough time solving Malcolm Subban. St. Louis Game Time has the recap and NHL.com provides the highlights.

Players To Watch

Calgary Flames

Sam Bennett (C/F). Bennett looks like he’s starting to come along and maybe being paired up with Mark Jankowski and Curtis Lazar will help expidite the process. While Bennett hasn’t put a puck in the net or even grabbed an assist, his game has been improving. He’s doing the little things on the ice and pushing the play when the puck is on his stick. He still takes too many penalties, but maybe that will correct itself with his new line mates. In 3 games against the Blues last season Bennett had 1 goal and 3 assists.

St. Louis Blues

Jaden Schwartz (F). When you think the Blues, you normally think of Vladimir Tarasenko. However, you should start thinking about Schwartz. He has points in 4 of his last 5, including a hat trick against the Blackhawks last Wednesday. He’s fared well against Calgary with 3 points in his last 5 dealings with the Flames.

by Mark Parkinson