There are certain “arrived” buildings in my mind in the NHL circuit. Barns where the Flames always seemed to get wildly outplayed, usually massively out shot, and quite often hugely out scored.
The Scott Trade Center in St. Louis is one of those arenas, a place that feels like a loss before it begins because of the strength of the St. Louis Blues over the past decade of NHL action.
Tonight the Flames showed they are right there, as for the third straight game on this three game road trip they were very much in the fabric of the game, but this time they end up on the right side of things with a come from behind overtime victory in St. Louis. The 3-2 win keeps the gap between the two teams alive as they desperately try and avoid the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs.
Doesn’t that have a great sound to it? A Calgary team playing to avoid certain first round matchups.
The Flow
Great start for the Flames as they survive an early push by the Blues and then get to work led by the Backlund line, who sustained some good pressure twice in the game’s first six or seven minutes. The fourth line with Sam Bennett back in the fold also had a solid shift, as the Flames certainly had a territorial advantage in the game’s first ten minutes. Calgary’s best early chance comes on … a Dougie Hamilton goal post, we’ve seen that before. The Blues get their feet under them and a draw a penalty; Michael Stone going off for hooking, but active sticks and a very cool Brian Elliott are able to kill it off and send the period into it’s final five minutes. The Flames get a powerplay of their own, and surprise surprise don’t disappoint as Johnny Gaudreau finds former Blue Troy Brouwer on the far side, who puts it on net off of Bouwmeester’s stick and it’s 1-0 Calgary. For Brouwer his second goal of the road trip after being deathly silent for weeks. Calgary gets another golden chance when a Blues defenseman falls down sending Michael Frolik and Matthew Tkachuk in on a two on one, Frolik finds him with a great pass but Tkachuk bobbles the puck and the score stays 1-0 Calgary after one period.
Calgary dodged a bullet or two in the first, and you had that feeling they wouldn’t be as lucky if the trend continued. The Blues continue to come hard in the second period forcing Elliott to be strong in the net and fend off chaos. A four on four from a Tkachuk dust up results in chances both ways but both goaltenders stand tall. The Blues get a funny bounce that goes off of Tarasenko and then the goal post but stays out. The Blues finally tie the score seconds after the Flames almost make it 2-0 on a Tkachuk/Frolik chance when Barbashev outwaits a scrambling Elliott to make it 1-1. With the game tied it’s Calgary’s turn to settle down, and they start to take the play to St. Louis, but have a tough time battling through the Blue’s tight checking and collapsing net posture. The Flames get a powerplay of their own but fail to do anything with it, actually creating momentum against instead of for. The period winds down tied at one apiece heading to the third.
The Blues come to play in the third period, they push hard in the first ten minutes of the period and could have run the Flames out of the building if not for some solid defensive play, and a few kay saves from Brian Elliott. Their dominance is finally rewarded finally when a hard charge Jaden Schwartz has the puck go off his skate and past Elliott, the player following the puck into the net. The goal was reviewed but stood and the Blues have their first lead of the game. The Flames tie it though, on another Blue’s skate directed goal when Matt Bartkowski comes off the bench on a delayed penalty and centers the puck off a Blue defender and the game is tied once again. More nailbiting moments as the two teams, one point apart in the standings go toe to toe towards the buzzer, neither team wanting to give up that regulation time goal that would make a two point move between the teams.
The overtime was a rough one to watch, though the Flames dominated for the most part in a nerve wracking game of keep away that kept any real hockey fan from sitting down. The Flames used a longer bench than usual as Backlund and Frolik gave way to Monahan and Gaudreau, and then Bennett and Versteeg before really changing things up with a trio of Backlund, Gaudreau and Brodie dominating. Finally Monahan and Frolik come out for the final 15 seconds with Monahan getting a great chance after wining the face off and then having the presence of mind to chase down his rebound and center it frantically he gets a fluke off of Brodziak and the Flames win 3-2.
Possession Stats
1st Period – Blues the better team in the first period, though a good road stanza for the Flames. St. Louis has a slight edge in shot attempts 16-14, but a wide margin in scoring chances 9-4.
2nd Period – The second is another close period, with the Flames up 14-11 in shot attempts and 8-6 in scoring chances; totals that didn’t match the eye test in my mind, as I thought the Blues were better.
3rd Period – The third features a dominant Blues team in the first half which could be seen overall with a 21-12 edge in shot attempts, they also enjoyed the lead in scoring chances with a 11-3 edge. Through three periods they had a 48-40 edge in five on five shot attempts and a 28-22 lead in scoring chances, which felt right.
Overtime – Overtime isn’t considered 5 on 5 hockey, but the non five on five tallies certainly supported the Flames dominance as they held a 10-1 edge in shot attempts and a 8-0 edge in scoring chances. Overall in the game all situations the totals were 56-55 St. Louis, and 29-25 in scoring chances for the Blues.
Players – Rough first period for the Flames third defense pairing as they ended up with zero shot attempts and nine against, so it was ironic that Bartkowski became one of the heroes in the end. In the end the pair were joined by Matt Stajan at the bottom of the heap, their third straight game on this road trip with sub 40% possession numbers. It was ironic that the Monahan line was on the ice for both regular time goals as they too were under the 40% mark on the night which was evident from watching the play. At the top is the big line with 77% metrics, followed by the big two who had 60% on the night.
Three Stars
1. Brian Elliott: Without his strong play this one could have been over, as he withheld a Blues push in both the second and the third period to give his team a chance.
2. Sean Monahan : His line didn’t look great overall on the night, but the talent rose to the top as Monahan was on the ice for all three Flame’s goals, and had a goal and an assist on his own. His overtime game winner was his 7th in his career, passing Jarome Iginla for top spot all time in Flames history; so there’s that!
3. Ivan Barbashev : Scores St. Louis’ first goal and almost scores again but is foiled by Derryk Engelland manning the Flame’s cage.
Big Save
Derryk Engelland. I was nervous every time that third pairing was on the ice, but you have to give it to Engelland for effort for his crease entering pad save on Barbashev in the third period. Huge save and a huge commitment to winning.
The Goat
Could get after Kyle Brodziak for scoring on his own net in overtime, but that wouldn’t be fair it was a fluke play and bad luck. Great playoff intensity hockey game with no real goat.
Mr. Clutch
It’s too easy to pick Mark Giordano on most night, but I’m doing it tonight because he was a machine. The tally includes 25 minutes of ice time, a +1, three block shots, 58% corsi, and three hits. The guy is a monster, and worth every bit of his new contract.
Odds and Ends
Two key contributors returned to the fold tonight, namely Brian Elliott in the nets, and the now suddenly controversial Matthew Tkachuk front and center on the 3M line looking to do some damage in St. Louis, a city near and dear to his father Keith. The trickle down helps the third and fourth line as Sam Bennett returns to the fourth line to play with Chiasson and Bouma. Given the two mistakes that Bennett made on Thursday that led to Predator goals, the fourth line may be a good fit for the struggling center. … It was pointed out today that St. Louis was the city that saw the first appearance of the 3M line back in October, a night where Matthew Tkachuk was returning from being scratched two times; he’s never looked back again. … Hard to miss the fact that the Flames seem to carry the play unless the third defense pairing is on the ice, where they get worked. Engelland and Bartkowski had rough nights in Washington and Nashville as well. Not much you can do about that this late in the season, but certainly something the Flames need to address in the off season. Ideally the Flames look within for two of the three spots as that’s the best cap management way to get things done, but I’m sure they’ll look at their own free agents and the league as a whole as well. … Is that Jake Allen mask a Rick Wamsley tribute from the 80s? Sure looks like it. Either way I love these Blues uniforms. They’re a franchise that always seems to get their look right but these may be their best. … Thought Sam Bennett had lots of jam tonight, both five on five and on the penalty kill. Really shows you that trickle down effect that we’ve been talking about since the Ferland bug and the Tkachuk suspension. Having Alex Chiasson (who’s better than a fourth liner), and Sam Bennett (a talented kid finding his way) on the fourth line is a huge step up to the Freddie Hamilton, Curtis Lazar, Lance Bouma line that the Flames walked out in Washington. … A guy I didn’t like tonight was Kris Versteeg. Not an ugly night mind you, but didn’t think his effort was all there on too many plays. … Think Matt Stajan is growing tired of his new wingers? Mr. Professional was the bottom possession player tonight with 24%, a brutal night. I’d blame it on him, but I have this sinking suspicion that it’s not all on the player. … So out of town scoreboard. The good news? The Sharks and Blues lose, the bad news the Predators win, and the Oilers are playing the Avalanche. But for the time being the Flames move within a point of the Oilers and three of the Sharks for top spot in the Pacific. That is really starting to crunch down now when you assume an Oiler victory you’ll have three teams with 91 points and the Flames with 88. The best thing about the win tonight is the fact that it keeps pace with the Predators and keeps the Blues two points behind in the battle to avoid the final playoff spot. If you’re still worried about the playoffs period, the win moves the Flames 11 points up on the Kings, meaning they may get two teams that are done or close to done in their next two matchups.
Next Up
The Flames return to Calgary to take on the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night, their final “light touch” on the schedule for the season. Game time is 7pm on Sportsnet.
Lines:
Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik
Gaudreau – Monahan – Ferland
Versteeg – Stajan – Brouwer
Bouma – Bennett – Chiasson
Giordano – Hamilton
Brodie – Stone
Bartkowski – Engelland
Elliott
