TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues are seeing players up and down the lineup step up in big ways as they finished 3-1-0 on their first road trip of 2023. Thomas Greiss was the most recent, starting his first game since Dec. 20 and earning his 16th career shutout - and first as a Blue - to beat the division-rival Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
"It might not have been our best night but (Greiss) had a hell of a night," said Brandon Saad, who tallied two points for a team-high seven on the road trip. "I think we just capitalized on our chances when we got them - that's a huge win for us."
Saad and Brayden Schenn have been two of the biggest contributors in Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O'Reilly's absences, with Saad surging to a four-game goal streak over his red-hot road trip.
The Blues now look ahead to their longest homestand of the season: seven straight games at Enterprise Center, beginning with two in a row against the Calgary Flames.
As of Monday afternoon, three of the seven home matchups are against teams who currently hold a playoff spot. With the Blues two points out of the second Wild Card spot, this stretch could be a key opportunity to climb the tight Western Conference ladder.
Exactly halfway through the season, the Blues will host the Flames with a record of 20-18-3, worth 43 points and fifth place in the Central Division. Only one point separates the Blues, Avalanche and Predators, although the Avalanche have three games in hand.
FLAMES The Calgary Flames have been one of the stronger teams in the NHL since falling to the Blues on Dec. 17, their fifth straight loss at the time. They've earned points in eight of their last 10 games since then - bouncing back to be the No. 7 team in the League over that span.
Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm have been the primary drivers, leading the team in scoring both over the last 10 games and on the season as a whole.
The Flames opened a five-game road trip on Sunday, falling 4-3 in overtime against the Blackhawks. Lindholm and Toffoli tallied two points each, and Chicago's Max Domi netted the game winner 1:04 into the extra period. Head Coach Daryl Sutter made a goalie change after the Blackhawks' third goal, 35 seconds into the second period.
"We better be thankful we got a point, considering that a lot of our young players didn't show up," said Sutter. "Lack of preparation."
Looking to keep their climb into the Pacific Division playoff spots, the Flames head to St. Louis for two games in a row with a record of 19-14-8. Their 46 points leave them two shy of Seattle and one up on Edmonton, holding fourth in the Pacific as of Monday afternoon.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues bested the Flames 5-2 in Calgary earlier this year, with two goals from Jordan Kyrou leading the way. In their last eight battles with the Flames, the Blues are 7-1-0 with a 32-21 goal differential.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Colton Parayko, whose four assists during the road trip shared the League lead among defensemen last week. Eleven of Parayko's 14 points this season have come since the start of December, including three multi-point games.
FLAMES Elias Lindholm, leading the Flames with 24 assists and 37 points this season. Lindholm has 10 points in 18 career games against the Blues, including two assists in the Dec. 17 matchup.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues will wear the yellow Reverse Retro sweaters two more times this season - Tuesday vs. Calgary and Jan. 24 vs. Buffalo... The Blues are now two wins shy of 2,000 in franchise history, set to become the eighth NHL team - and second non-Original Six team - to reach the milestone... 14 of the Blues' next 19 games will be at Enterprise Center, beginning Tuesday vs. Calgary all the way through the end of February... Brayden Schenn tallied 11 shots on goal on Dec. 29 vs. Chicago, the most by any Blue since Alexander Steen in the 2014-15 season... Robert Thomas recorded his 200th NHL point on Jan. 5 in New Jersey, consisting of 51 goals and 149 assists.
After suffering a 4-3 overtime loss at Chicago on Sunday with a lackluster effort, the Calgary Flames will seek a bounce-back performance in St. Louis Tuesday night against the Blues.
Flames coach Darryl Sutter was unhappy with his team after it fell to the Blackhawks, who had won just three games since Nov. 12.
"Take one penalty, score two power-play goals and only give up a handful of shots -- you should win the game," Sutter said.
"We better be thankful we got a point considering a lot of our young players didn't show up. Lack of preparation. We've got to take them by the hand, some of these young guys ... Been in the league one to six years, some of them. Lack of preparation."
Sutter pulled goaltender Jacob Markstrom midway through Sunday's game in favor of Dan Vladar, so that was another area of concern for the Flames.
"Their goaltender was outplaying ours at that time," Sutter said. "It was evident on the scoreboard and shot clock."
The Flames come into this game with points in 14 of their last 18 games, with a 9-4-5 record during that span. The injury-depleted Blues have earned points in 11 of their last 14 games, with an 8-3-3 mark in that stretch.
St. Louis went 3-1 on their recent four-game road swing, but they lost defensemen Nick Leddy and Robert Bortuzzo to injuries along the way. Both are questionable for this game.
The Blues were already missing defensemen Torey Krug, Marco Scandella and Scott Perunovich, so AHL veterans Calle Rosen and Steven Santini and rookie Tyler Tucker have been filling in.
"Our veteran guys really stepped up and did a job back there," Blues coach Craig Berube said after the Blues won 3-0 at Minnesota Sunday. "The young guys really did what they had to do for us to be successful."
Tucker played four Blues games earlier this year before his latest call-up from the AHL.
"When he was up here, a highly competitive guy," Berube said. "Simple with the puck. Better puck skills than I think he's credited for -- he makes pretty good plays with it. I thought he played well when he was up here. He did a good job in our own zone defending."
The Blues are also featuring makeshift offensive lines with winger Vladimir Tarasenko and center Ryan O'Reilly sidelined with weeks-long injuries. Rookies Jake Neighbours and Nikita Alexandrov have been filling in and both made offensive contributions on the road trip.
"Obviously, every game I feel more confident and more comfortable," Alexandrov told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Trying to keep playing my game and make more plays and all of that. And keep holding onto pucks and wear them down."
While playing his first game since Dec. 20, Thomas Greiss earned his 16th career shutout. He could get another start in goal Tuesday, since the Blues host the Flames again on Thursday and Berube might want to give them different looks.
Greiss earned a 5-2 victory over the Flames with 41 saves when they met in Calgary on Dec. 16.
