St. Louis Blues travel to face Calgary Flames - NHL Preview
St. Louis Blues will face the struggling Calgary Flames on Monday, February 27th, 2012 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
The Blues will be looking to continue their recent winning run on the road against a Flames side whose home-ice form has dropped badly. St. Louis is currently fourth in the Western Conference with 83 points just four points behind conference leaders, Vancouver
Canucks.
St. Louis’ road form has been poor for most of the season yet their current six-game road trip has started on a positive note.
The Blues defeated both Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets by 3-2 margins after winning the shootout and with a struggling Flames side up next they will be favourites to pick up the two points that will put them equal on points with second placed Detroit
Red Wings.
Recent results have not been kind to Calgary Flames.
The Flames were just a few days ago ninth in the Western Conference and looked likely to break into playoff spots but bad performances and some unlucky breaks during their current four-game home stretch have now seen them drop down to 11th in
the conference and trailing the coveted eighth spot by three points.
Their poor run started with a humiliating 6-1 defeat to Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday followed by two shootout losses to Phoenix Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers respectively.
Having lost three out of their four games at home, the Flames will be looking to get their playoff spot chase back on track on Monday.
Blues (38-17-7, 83 pts)
St. Louis’ two-game winning run could not have been possible without some brilliant goaltending from Jaroslav Halak.
The Blues defeated both the Predators and Jets in close games, with Halak making sure that St. Louis took all two points after the shootout.
Against Jets, Halak saved 39-shots to keep the scores level and forward T.J Oshie waxed lyrical about the goaltender saying after the game that St. Louis had no chance if Halak did not perform.
"We stole one. They definitely took it to us. And if it wasn't for Jaro, it could have been 6-2. We took advantage of a very hot goalie and we were able to steal one."
The Blues will once again turn to their goaltender to put in another brilliant performance against a Flames side that is hurt badly after the disappointing three-game losing run.
Flames (28-23-11, 67 pts)
Calgary’s disappointments show no sign of abating as they face another tough game against a Blues side that is hitting road form at just the right time.
The Flames are 16-9-4 at home ice, and with their recent run of results, it seems likely that by Monday their record will once again take a big hit.
Calgary’s woes at home started last week on Tuesday as they began a four-game home stretch starting with the visit of Edmonton Oilers.
What followed was a shocking display from a side fighting for a playoff berth.
The Flames lost 6-1 and even though their last two performances against Phoenix and Philadelphia were not as bad, they still could not find a way to win.
Left Wing, Alex Tanguay, and captain, Jarome Iginla, are not happy with the team’s performances and after the 5-4 shootout loss to Philadelphia told the media that.
"It's no secret, we're having a tough time right now playing with the lead," Iginla said. "The good part is we're getting it and we're having real solid first periods. But it slowly slips away from us."
"We keep finding ways to shoot ourselves in the foot," Tanguay said. "We (were) lucky to get a point."
Predictions
St. Louis will be favourites as they have two great goaltenders on their roster and can stop anything the Flames throw at them while their offence is also finding its footing on the road.
The sum of goals will be less than six.
Game could go down to a shootout following the pattern of both teams’ recent results.
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