TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues are seeing players up and down the lineup step up in big ways as they finished 3-1-0 on their first road trip of 2023. Thomas Greiss was the most recent, starting his first game since Dec. 20 and earning his 16th career shutout – and first as a Blue – to beat the division-rival Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
“It might not have been our best night but (Greiss) had a hell of a night,” said Brandon Saad, who tallied two points for a team-high seven on the road trip. “I think we just capitalized on our chances when we got them – that’s a huge win for us.”
Saad and Brayden Schenn have been two of the biggest contributors in Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly‘s absences, with Saad surging to a four-game goal streak over his red-hot road trip.
The Blues now look ahead to their longest homestand of the season: seven straight games at Enterprise Center, beginning with two in a row against the Calgary Flames.
As of Monday afternoon, three of the seven home matchups are against teams who currently hold a playoff spot. With the Blues two points out of the second Wild Card spot, this stretch could be a key opportunity to climb the tight Western Conference ladder.
Exactly halfway through the season, the Blues will host the Flames with a record of 20-18-3, worth 43 points and fifth place in the Central Division. Only one point separates the Blues, Avalanche and Predators, although the Avalanche have three games in hand.
FLAMES The Calgary Flames have been one of the stronger teams in the NHL since falling to the Blues on Dec. 16, their fifth straight loss at the time. They’ve earned points in eight of their last 10 games since then – bouncing back to be the No. 7 team in the League over that span.
Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm have been the primary drivers, leading the team in scoring both over the last 10 games and on the season as a whole.
The Flames opened a five-game road trip on Sunday, falling 4-3 in overtime against the Blackhawks. Lindholm and Toffoli tallied two points each, and Chicago’s Max Domi netted the game winner 1:04 into the extra period. Head Coach Daryl Sutter made a goalie change after the Blackhawks’ third goal, 35 seconds into the second period.
“We better be thankful we got a point, considering that a lot of our young players didn’t show up,” said Sutter. “Lack of preparation.”
Looking to keep their climb into the Pacific Division playoff spots, the Flames head to St. Louis for two games in a row with a record of 19-14-8. Their 46 points leave them two shy of Seattle and one up on Edmonton, holding fourth in the Pacific as of Monday afternoon.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues bested the Flames 5-2 in Calgary earlier this year, with two goals from Jordan Kyrou leading the way. In their last eight battles with the Flames, the Blues are 7-1-0 with a 32-21 goal differential.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Colton Parayko, whose four assists during the road trip shared the League lead among defensemen last week. Eleven of Parayko’s 14 points this season have come since the start of December, including three multi-point games.
FLAMES Elias Lindholm, leading the Flames with 24 assists and 37 points this season. Lindholm has 10 points in 18 career games against the Blues, including two assists in the Dec. 16 matchup.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues will wear the yellow Reverse Retro sweaters two more times this season – Tuesday vs. Calgary and Jan. 24 vs. Buffalo… The Blues are now two wins shy of 2,000 in franchise history, set to become the eighth NHL team – and second non-Original Six team – to reach the milestone… 14 of the Blues’ next 19 games will be at Enterprise Center, beginning Tuesday vs. Calgary all the way through the end of February… Brayden Schenn tallied 11 shots on goal on Dec. 29 vs. Chicago, the most by any Blue since Alexander Steen in the 2014-15 season… Robert Thomas recorded his 200th NHL point on Jan. 5 in New Jersey, consisting of 51 goals and 149 assists.
