Blues at Flames
The St. Louis Blues are tied with the Nashville Predators atop the Central Division with two games in hand, but they still have a difficult path to navigate as they continue a six-game road trip at the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. St. Louis has won four of five after kicking off the trek with a 3-0 victory at Dallas on Sunday and is also in the mix for the Presidents' Trophy. The Blues are 3-0-1 in their last four versus the Flames, including a 4-1 home victory on Oct. 11.
Surprising Calgary is opening a five-game homestand after going 6-3-1 over its last 10 contests, a stretch that included eight games on the road. The Flames, who are trying to hold down third place in the Pacific Division, are No. 2 in the league with 87 third-period goals but realize they can't keep relying on dramatic comebacks. "Even though we know we're great in the third period, we have to put ourselves in a better situation," center Mikael Backlund said.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), RSW (Calgary)
ABOUT THE BLUES (44-20-5): St. Louis is 6-2-1 over its last nine games and a reason for the success is the stellar play of its penalty-killing unit. Coach Ken Hitchcock opted to utilize four different sets of penalty killers against Dallas and the result was a perfect 6-of-6 while short-handed, improving the team's mark to 29-of-30 over the nine-game stretch. "It's going to be important going down the stretch," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “When you have the depth that we have, especially ... on short rest like this, you’re going to have to use everybody."
ABOUT THE FLAMES (38-26-5): Backlund missed more than two months earlier in the season after undergoing abdominal surgery, but the 25-year-old center has been solid at both ends of the ice during Calgary's stretch run. Backlund assisted on both goals in Saturday's 3-2 loss at Colorado to give him three tallies and six assists during an eight-game point streak. "Backs is turning into a real strong two-way center for us," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "He enjoys the challenge of playing against other team's good lines and can also score some big goals for us."
OVERTIME
1. Blues G Brian Elliott takes a 5-3-0 mark and 1.70 goals-against average versus Calgary into Tuesday's matchup.
2. The Flames are 7-of-23 on the power play over the last six games.
3. Blues F Vladimir Tarasenko has scored three times in his last five games overall and has three goals in seven meetings with Calgary.