Hamilton's third-period goal lifts Flames over Blues
CALGARY, Alberta -- Dougie Hamilton scored at 7:57 of the third period to lead the Calgary Flames to a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Scotiabank Saddledome Wednesday night.
Michael Frolik also scored for the Flames (18-14-3), who have won two games in a row.
Goalie Mike Smith made 21 saves to improve his record to 14-11-3.
Brayden Schenn scored for the Blues (22-12-2), while goalie Carter Hutton finished with 31 saves.
The Blues carried the majority of the play early on and held a 5-0 advantage in shots over the Flames by the five-minute mark of the first period.
Hutton then turned aside back-to-back chances by linemates Sam Bennett and Mark Jankowski to keep the game scoreless.
Frolik opened the scoring at 7:58 of the first period when his shot hit Hutton's blocker before bouncing up and over the Blues' goalie and just across the line. It wasn't initially called a goal because St. Louis forward Tage Thompson cleared the puck away quickly, but officials determined the puck just crossed the line after video review.
Frolik had a great chance to put the Flames up by two goals late in the opening frame when he was set up in front by Matthew Tkachuk, but Hutton made a nice pad save and then stopped the rebound attempt by Mikael Backlund.
Schenn scored his team-leading 17th goal of the season on a power play at 1:26 of the second period. Schenn took a pass from Colton Parayko and sped into the Calgary zone before cutting around Troy Brouwer and snapping a shot to the short side past Smith.
Johnny Gaudreau had a great chance to give Calgary back the lead a short time later, but Hutton made a stick save to stop his breakaway attempt.
The Flames continued to put on the pressure and were rewarded in the third period when Hamilton scored his fourth goal of the season. Before Blues forward Ivan Barbashev could get his stick on the puck in the slot, Hamilton swatted it towards the net and past Hutton.
NOTES: After suiting up for two straight games for the Flames, RW Jaromir Jagr sat out on Wednesday with a nagging lower-body injury that has forced him to miss 12 games so far this season. ... Calgary's other scratches were D Matt Bartkowski and C Freddie Hamilton. ... Flames D Travis Hamonic left the game late in the first period with a lower-body injury and didn't return. ... After being recalled from the AHL's San Antonio Rampage on Monday, RW Tage Thompson drew into the Blues' lineup against the Flames and played on a line with C Alexander Steen and LW/C Paul Stastny. ... St. Louis scratched RW Chris Thorburn, C Oskar Sundqvist and D Jordan Schmaltz. ... The Blues will finish their four-game road trip with games against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and versus the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.