Game Recap: Blues Ride Newbies to Win Over Flames

The Blues third game of the season got off to an inauspicious start but three new arrivals made sure that the night would end on a good note. (Ha see what I did there). Coming off of another loss to the Minnesota Wild the Blues were hoping to right the ship against a Calgary team they hadn't lost to in more than a calendar year.

1st Period

With an unusual 8:00 Central start time you could tell the Blues did not have their feet under them and just 1:14 in the Flames capitalized with some slick passes culminating in this Mason Raymond goal:

The Blues would respond quickly with Tarasenko and Joel Edmundson getting solid looks at Jonas Hiller but they couldn't slip a puck past him. Unfortunately the response was short lived as the Blues would take three straight minor penalties as Jaskin, Steen and Backes would all go to the box over the next ten minutes.

The Blues would ultimately get on the board when Scottie Upshall, replacing the injured Robbie Fabbri, netted his first goal as a Blue in his first game as a Blue.

Thirty seconds later the Blues would take another penalty, bringing their period total to four, as Shattenkirk gets nabbed for a high stick. Unlike the previous three penalties the Blues could not stem the Flames tide and Jiri Hudler capitalized on more great passing by the Dennis Wideman and Johnny Gaudreau to put Calgary up 2 to 1 at the end of the period. While the Blues did take four penalties and Calgary controlled the puck for the majority of the period somehow the Blues out shot the Flames 14-7.

2nd Period

The second period started off much better for St. Louis and it would just get better and better as it went on. 2:49 into the period David Backes sprung Troy Brouwer on the breakaway and it led to this

In my eyes Brouwer was the second best player on the ice tonight as he finished with a goal and an assist and could have had two more goals. He was all over the ice and created multiple chances for himself and his line mates. While Brouwer was the second best player tonight it was a rookie defensemen who stole the show. With the Blues drawing their first power play of the game Colton Parayko took a feed from Jori Lehtera, looked off a pass over to Pietrangelo and let loose:

But that wasn't enough for the rookie, not only did he play a sound defensive game mixed with some nice body checks, he also got his second career goal near the end of the period.

Much like his first goal, the stutter step he uses froze the defense and Hiller which allowed his wicked wrist shot to elude everyone. Like many of the players, Parayko had his parents in the stands which is a pretty cool thing to have when you score your first two career NHL goals. The second period was all Blues as they allowed Calgary only 3 shots while racking up three goals for a 4-2 lead after two.

3rd Period

The Blues would open the third minus their top defensemen as Kevin Shattenkirk sustained a lower body injury late in the second and did not return. Early analysis looks like he took a shot off his leg but no word on what could be wrong. Just like the first period the Flames came out with a jump in their step and David Jones would make the game interesting a minute and a half in:

As the period progressed, the Flames kept coming just like they did all of last season. Calgary recorded multiple comeback wins in the third period last year and the Blues were fighting to keep that from happening again in this game. Most of the third boiled down to a back and forth chess match and it wasn't until Bob Hartley pulled Hiller that the real intensity began.

Brian Elliot would make a huge pad save with less then two minutes to go and the Blues would win 90% of the faceoffs in the third including a key faceoff deep in defensive territory with under a minute to go. A few missed passes and a couple of timely clears of the zone and the Blues celebrated a 4-3 victory to run their record to 2-1-0 on the young season.

The Blues travel to Edmonton to help the Oilers introduce Conner McDavid to the home crowd on Thursday night.

Three Stars

#3 - Dennis Wideman 2 Assists and multiple passes that opened up chances for his forwards

#2 - Troy Brouwer 1 G and 1 A, flew around ice all night and could have been best player if not for.....

#1 - Colton Parayko 2 G on 2 Shots,  how can you not be the #1 when you net your first 2 career goals?