Blues withstand Flames pressure to win 4-2 – Hockey Writer – St. Louis Blues
The Calgary Flames prepare for their home opener on Saturday afternoon when they take on the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Saddledome. This is the first time these two teams have met since the Blues clinched the final wild-card playoff spot from the Flames in a tiebreaker last season.
The Flames have won and lost their first two games of the season, while the Blues are looking for their first win after being eliminated in the first game against the Minnesota Wild.
To add excitement to the Saddledome, the Flames added their top prospect Zayne Parekh to the lineup for the first time since scoring in his NHL debut last season. It was his first time performing in front of a Calgary audience.
game review
To kick things off, the two traded power plays within the first seven minutes. In the first game, both sides had a total of five opportunities to take advantage of the men. The Flames opened the scoring for the second of three chances when Nazem Kadri found Joel Farabee, who passed to Matthew Coronato and beat Joel Hofer for the only goal of the period.
The Flames dominated the first half and began to do so again in the second half. Tyler Tucker struggled with Ryan Lomberg as he tried to change the Blues’ momentum. However, the Flames continued to press in the first half of the second quarter, creating several quality scoring opportunities. That included multiple Grade-A chances from Samuel Honzek, who was looking for his first career NHL goal, and a hit from Parekh.
Hofer made a number of great saves in the first half of the second period to help the Blues stay ahead until the 33rd minute, when Robert Thomas found Jake Nebos alone in front of the net, who made a nice move in front of the goal to beat Wolfe, and they finally found their attack.
The goal ignited a spark for the Blues, and two minutes later Thomas beat Wolfe on the power play to take a 2-1 lead.
However, the lead did not last long. After 32 seconds, Coronato relaxed in the rush and hit a low shot of his own into the net. This was his second game, tying the score at 2, and the second quarter ended.
Although the Flames were outshot 29-16 in the second quarter, the Blues scored two goals in the third to take control of the game. Both came on deflections, one from Neighbors, his second of the game, and the other from Pius Suter, his first with St. Louis. The goals gave the Blues a 4-2 lead with seven minutes remaining.
The Blues eventually withstood some pressure from the Flames and won 4-2. The Blues took control of the game in the final moments, but without Hofer’s goal, the game might have spiraled out of control early.
The two teams will face off again a month later on November 11th.
