Flames at Blues
Mason Raymond grabbed the headlines for the Calgary Flames with his third career hat trick Thursday, but goaltender Karri Ramo gave Bob Hartley’s club an equally outstanding performance with 38 saves in a 5-2 victory at Edmonton. The Flames look to carry the momentum from their first victory of the season into Saturday’s contest at the St. Louis Blues, the second stop on a six-game road trip. The Blues dropped a 3-2 decision to the Rangers in their season opener Thursday after a fluke bounce set up New York’s game-winning tally with 1:50 remaining.
St. Louis went 0-for-5 on the power play in its opener but did receive a goal and an assist from Jaden Schwartz and a tally from Paul Stastny, who signed a four-year deal in the offseason. It was a disappointing start for the Blues, who gave up the third-fewest goals in the NHL last season. Calgary, which dropped its opener 4-2 to Vancouver on Wednesday, received three assists from Joe Colborne while Jiri Hudler scored and set up a goal in Thursday’s triumph.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SportsNet 360 (Calgary), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (1-1-0): Calgary seeks more consistency from an offense that scored on two of its first three shots Thursday, but was outshot 11-4 in the second period and is 1-for-6 on the power play after two games. Ramo made 10 saves during the second-period onslaught and kept the Flames in the contest after an early 2-0 advantage evaporated. “We let them back into it after a good start,” Raymond told reporters, “but we battled back hard and that showed some character.”
ABOUT THE BLUES (0-1-0): St. Louis held its breath in the second period when Stastny was slow to get up after a knee-on-knee collision, but the 28-year-old center returned and netted his first Blues’ goal at 10:42 of the third. St. Louis struggled early in the opener, but coach Ken Hitchcock told reporters he thought his team played better in the final period. Captain David Backes played well in the opener, tying Stastny for the team lead in shots (three), picking up an assist and winning 64 percent of his faceoffs.
OVERTIME
1. Raymond’s first goal Thursday marked the 100th of his NHL career while his previous two hat tricks came against the Flames when he played for Vancouver.
2. St. Louis went 2-0-1 against the Flames last season, outscoring Calgary 11-6.
3. Blues G Brian Elliott, who is tied with Glenn Hall for second on the franchise shutout list (16), made 22 saves in Thursday’s loss.