Calgary Flames fall 5-2 to Blues after poor defensive effort
Joey MacDonald #35 of the Calgary Flames defends the net against the St. Louis Blues on February 15, 2013 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Photo by Brad Watson/NHLI via Getty Images
Coach Hartley says Calgary Flames didn’t support goaltender
By Aaron Vickers
The St. Louis Blues left the Calgary Flames feeling just that at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday night.
David Perron had two goals while Alex Steen recorded a three-point night as the Blues upened the Calgary Flames 5-2.
Steen set up Jaden Schwartz’s marker just 1:28 into the game, who returned the favor for Patrik Berglund just under three minutes later to end starter Leland Irving’s night. With Joey MacDonald on in relief, Steen added his own at 13:49 before Perron closed out the period with a power play goal for the Blues.
Calgary Flames defenceman Dennis Wideman closed the gap to 4-1 with a power play marker of his own in the second period while Curtis Glencross put Calgary to within two 2:46 into the third. That goal was answered by Perron’s second of the game less than two minutes later, giving St. Louis a 5-2 lead, the eventual final score.
GOAL OF THE GAME
On Calgary’s third power play of the second period Wideman’s blast from the slot over the blocker of Allen to put the Calgary Flames on the board.
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SAVE OF THE GAME
With the score 2-0 and MacDonald between the pipes in his first period of action this season, the 33-year-old netminder robbed David Backes in tight with a dazzling glove save.
TURNING POINT
Trailing 2-0 midway through the first period, Jake Allen denied the Calgary Flames an opportunity to get back into the game with a save of the year candidate. After a nice passing play between Jiri Hudler and Alex Tanguay, TJ Brodie found himself the beneficiary of a wide open net, only to have it taken away by Allen’s paddle.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
“We shouldn’t even be talking about our goalies tonight. We just didn’t give them a chance.”
- Calgary Flames head coach Bob Hartley.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Jay Bouwmeester played a game-high 27:46, his second-highest total this season behind a 28:04 workload against the Vancouver Canucks on January 23rd.
LINEUP NOTES
Anton Babchuk drew into the lineup for his first action of the season after a shoulder injury forced him to miss eight games this season. Derek Smith, paired with Babchuk, also drew into the lineup after being scratched for two consecutive games.
Miikka Kiprusoff, Mikael Backlund, Sven Baertschi and Paul Byron all remain injured.
COMING UP
The Calgary Flames hit the road for back-to-back games starting Sunday afternoon in Dallas against the Stars (4 p.m. MT, SNET-W), following it up Monday against the Phoenix Coyotes (7 p.m. MT, SNET-W).
Category: Hockey
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