GDT 23: 11/21/19 | 7 PM CT | vs Flames | FSMW/101ESPN

[gaijin]

Preview from https://www.nhl.com/news/calgary-flames ... -311587336

The Game

The Calgary Flames will try and end a five-game winless streak when they begin a four-game road trip against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

The Flames are 0-4-1 in their past five games, outscored 18-5, including two shutouts, after going 4-1-0 in their previous five.

The Blues seek their ninth win in 12 games (8-1-2). They ended a three-game winless streak (0-1-2) with a 3-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

Forward Troy Brouwer, who signed a one-year, $750,000 two-way contract with St. Louis on Wednesday, was expected to play but will not because of visa/immigration paperwork needing to be finalized.


Players to watch

Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in nine games against the Blues.

Blues forward David Perron has 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 37 games against Calgary.


They said it

"The mindset is we've got to come into this road trip, and it's a huge road trip for us. I don't think there's a better team and a better challenge for us than the one we're going to be playing tonight." -- Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk

"They were a real good team last year, and I think they're still a good team. They're just trying to find their way right now a little bit." -- Blues coach Craig Berube on Calgary


Flames projected lineup
Johnny Gaudreau -- Mikael Backlund -- Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk -- Sean Monahan -- Andrew Mangiapane
Milan Lucic -- Derek Ryan -- Dillon Dube
Zac Rinaldo -- Mark Jankowski -- Michael Frolik
Mark Giordano -- Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin -- Michael Stone
Oliver Kylington -- Brandon Davidson
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
Scratched: Alexander Yelesin, Tobias Rieder
Injured: Sam Bennett (upper body), Austin Czarnik (lower body), Travis Hamonic (lower body), TJ Brodie (medical episode)

Blues projected lineup
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Tyler Bozak
Ivan Barbashev -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron
Zach Sanford -- Robert Thomas -- Oskar Sundqvist
Mackenzie MacEachern -- Jacob de la Rose -- Klim Kostin
Colton Parayko -- Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester -- Justin Faulk
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington
Jake Allen
Scratched: Carl Gunnarsson, Troy Brouwer
Injured: Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Alexander Steen (ankle), Sammy Blais (wrist)

Status report
Hamonic will not play Thursday but could join the trip at any time. ... Neither team held a morning skate. ... Yelesin, a defenseman, was recalled from Stockton of the American Hockey League on Wednesday but will not play. … With Blais out, Barbashev moves up to the second line. ... De la Rose will return after being a healthy scratch the past two games.

Stat pack
Tkachuk has no points in his past three games after having 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his previous seven. ... Lindholm has no points in his past five games after having 11 points (five goals, six assists) in a nine-game point streak. ... The Blues are 11-0-5 in games decided by two goals or fewer.

[theohall]

Thanks for covering... totally forgot... oops! (just realized I forgot Tuesday's also. Time to put the Blues calendar on my phone with an alarm.)

[gaijin]

Thanks for covering... totally forgot... oops! (just realized I forgot Tuesday's also. Time to put the Blues calendar on my phone with an alarm.)

I hope I didn't get any of the details wrong. Serious bad luck.

[Robb_K]

Bozak should have scored on that breakaway. He had all the time in The World. Great shot by Barbashev hitting the post, earlier!

[glen a richter]

Got a bad feeling.

Blues - 0
Flames - 3

[Robb_K]

How did both Schwartz and Bozak BOTH not lift the puck on their point-blank shots??? They should be ahead 3 or 4-0 already!

[Robb_K]

What a play by Thomas, who spins and sends a backhand pass to Sanford who one-times it past The Flames' goalie!!! Blues lead 1-0!!!

[Robb_K]

Bozak has been in front of the net, alone three times, and didn't make one good shot! The Blues could (should) already be ahead 5-0!

[Robb_K]

Sundqvist scores on the breakaway after a great breakout pass from Sanford!!! Blues lead 2-0!!!

[Robb_K]

Blues on the power play, and Perron scores!!! Blues lead 3-0!!!

[Robb_K]

The Blues are really changing lines sloppily. Yet another Too Many Men penalty, That's their 5th already this season!!! That's almost a quarter of their games!!! Terrible, especially considering they have one of the best head coaches. There's no excuse for that.

[glen a richter]

Got a bad feeling.

Blues - 0
Flames - 3

So far, so wrong... thank the dark lord.

[gaijin]

Got a bad feeling.

Blues - 0
Flames - 3

So far, so wrong... thank the dark lord.

Voldemort?

[Robb_K]

Super empty-net goal by Sundqvist when Rittik gets caught behind the net, and loses the puck!!! Blues lead 4-0!!!

[glen a richter]

Who kidnapped Sanford and replaced him with a hockey player? Keep this line together!

[Robb_K]

Dunn wrists in a long one from near the blue line!!! Blues lead 5-0!!!! Sanford with 4 points tonight!

[Robb_K]

Yet ANOTHER time The Blues have an odd-man alone in front and don't score! Imagine if they scored on all 6 of those chances! They'd be ahead 11-0!!!!

[Robb_K]

How was that last play icing??? MacEachern was with The Flame stride for stride.

[Robb_K]

Another good kill by The Blues!

[StL Dan]

A LOT of things to like about that game.

One of those was the play of Kostin, Mac and de la Rose. The line was solid all night.

Kostin looked like he took a huge leap in terms of confidence. His skating, positioning, wall play and support were very good.