Blues at Flames
THE STORY: The St. Louis Blues know they got away with a subpar
performance in their last game. They'll look to bounce back Monday as
they visit a Calgary Flames team dealing with its own mediocre play. The
Blues defeated the host Winnipeg 3-2 in a shootout Saturday, prevailing
despite being outshot 41-16. St. Louis has won eight of 11 overall, and
is 2-0 on its six-game road trip. Calgary is coming off a bizarre
10-game stretch in which it has been outshot in every game, but has lost
only once in regulation (4-1-5). This is the fourth and final meeting
of the season.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TSN (Flames), FS Midwest (Blues)
ABOUT THE BLUES (38-17-7): With St. Louis employing two of the top
netminders in the league in Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak, the Blues
clearly had goaltending to spare. The club cleared out some of its
surplus Sunday, trading minor-leaguer Ben Bishop to the Ottawa Senators
for a second-round pick in the 2013 draft. Bishop wasn't going to see
action with the Blues anytime soon, with Elliott and Halak both boasting
goals against averages below 2.00.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (28-23-11):
A spate of extra-time losses have kept Calgary in the mix for a playoff
spot, but games such as the one the Flames played Saturday have the
club frustrated. Calgary looked home and cooled after building an early
3-0 lead, only to watch the Flyers rally twice for the tie before
eventually emerging victorious in the shootout. The Flames enter Monday
11th in the Western Conference and will struggle to gain any ground if
they can't turn some of their single-point losses into victories.
OVERTIME:
1. The Blues have won two of three meetings this season. The home team has won all three encounters.
2. Elliott and Halak are the only goaltending tandem in NHL history to each record at least six shutouts in the same season.
3. Calgary has outshot its opponents only 19 times in 62 games.