2nd verse, same as the 1st
When the second-period buzzer sounded on Tuesday night, the St. Louis Blues were facing a two-goal deficit and a steep uphill battle to retake momentum from a pressuring Calgary Flames' offense.
Just a couple of minutes into the third period, Nikita Alexandrov - tallying his fourth career NHL point - skated hard to the net to score, and Jordan Kyrou followed him up 28 seconds later to tie the game.
After a Robert Thomas goal was waved off for offsides, the Blues and Flames held even through to the regulation buzzer. Not much extra time was needed, however, as Thomas - wearing an 'A' on his sweater in Vladimir Tarasenko's place - buried a one-timer from Kyrou less than 30 seconds into overtime to win the game.
"We kind of looked at each other going up the ice and I had a pretty good idea of what (Kyrou) was planning to do," said Thomas. "Great play by him - I just had to get it upstairs."
"Skate, skate, stop. Pass. One-timer goal. Pretty simple," joked Pavel Buchnevich about the game-winning play.
Calgary saw goals from Milan Lucic, Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane, though were unable to add any after the first minute of the second period as the Blues' defensive execution dialed up. They move to 3-9 in overtime periods and shootouts this season, one of four teams in the NHL with 12 overtime games and the only team with nine such losses.
The Flames now possess a record of 19-14-9, worth 47 points and the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
The Blues - still without several key veterans but seeing some positive results from their young depth - will try to keep their momentum going, hosting a quick rematch on Thursday night at Enterprise Center. The Blues will be seeking a season series sweep after taking the first two games against Calgary this year.
Tuesday's win put the Blues at a record of 21-18-3 on the season, worth 45 points and fourth place in the Central Division as of Wednesday afternoon. Now even in points with Edmonton for the second Wild Card playoff spot, the Blues are putting themselves back in the hunt for the postseason.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Jordan Kyrou, who tallied his fourth three-point game of the season on Tuesday. Kyrou became the first Blue to hit 20 goals in the overtime win, also leading the team with 41 points this season.
FLAMES Jonathan Huberdeau, acquired by the Flames in the blockbuster Matthew Tkachuk trade this summer. Huberdeau recorded his 21st assist of the season on Tuesday for a three-game point streak and is still looking to come into form after scoring 115 points last year with Florida.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues are 8-1-0 in their last nine matchups with Calgary and have won each of the last four... With a win on Thursday, the Blues will earn win No. 2,000 in franchise history. They are set to become the eighth NHL club - and second non-Original Six team - to reach the milestone... Since 2023 began, Pavel Buchnevich ranks No. 2 in the NHL in assists (6) and No. 4 in overall points (8). His seven power-play points since Dec. 20 (last 10 games) share the League lead... The Blues' next two games are both against teams which currently hold a playoff spot, followed by six in a row against teams currently outside the playoff picture.
The Calgary Flames will try to finish what they started Tuesday when they get their rematch with the host St. Louis Blues Thursday.
The Flames came out playing excellent road hockey in the opener of this two-game set. Then they allowed two third-period goals that tied the game.
The game went into overtime and Calgary lost 4-3 when the Blues scored on the first shift of three-on-three play. The Flames hope to do better during the second of consecutive games at Enterprise Center.
"It's just tough the way we let this slip -- up two goals in the third period on the road is kind of a good spot to be in and that we let that slip is not very good," said Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane, who scored a goal and added an assist in the game.
"Ideally, you have a two-goal lead in the third period, I think you should win the game," said forward Nazem Kadri, who set up Milan Lucic's goal in the game. "I don't think we gave up a whole lot. They've got some great players over there that take advantage of opportunities. We played 55 good minutes tonight."
The Flames have earned points in 15 of their last 19 games while building a 9-4-6 record during that span.
Tuesday's victory was the start of a season-high, seven-game homestand for the Blues, who are three games over .500 for the first time since starting the season 3-0-0. But they came out flat against the Flames and didn't get going until the third period.
"I didn't feel we had our legs," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We didn't push hard enough. Going into the game after the long road trip back home, (I was) a little bit worried. But guys responded in the third period. I thought we played a way better period."
The injury-depleted Blues have earned points in 12 of their last 15 games, with a 9-3-3 mark in that stretch. They are missing key forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O'Reilly and veteran defensemen Torey Krug, Nick Leddy and Robert Bortuzzo, among others.
Forwards Brandon Saad (five goals, two assists) and Brayden Schenn (three goals, three assists) starred for the Blues on their recent 3-1 road trip.
Then the forward line of Jordan Kyrou (goal, two assists), Robert Thomas (goal, assist) and Pavel Buchnevich (goal, assist) took charge in Tuesday's victory. Thomas scored on a two-on-one break with Kyrou for the decisive goal 28 seconds into overtime.
"Our last two games on the road trip, I didn't like our effort," Thomas said. "I thought we could have been a lot better. We needed to step up tonight, and I thought we did a good job."
Buchnevich noted that the trio has developed good offensive chemistry.
"We just try to play for each other and talking a lot," Buchnevich said. "Definitely those guys have tons of speed, tons of skill. I have different ideas I give them, they listen and I think when we play for each other, good stuff happen."
