Preview: Blues vs. Flames

When: Thursday, March 28 at 7 p.m. CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO
Watch: Bally Sports, Bally Sports app
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
Tickets: Online at Ticketmaster.com

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES The St. Louis Blues got one of two possible points Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The game became a goalie duel between Jordan Binnington and Vegas' Logan Thompson, who made 32 and 31 saves, respectively. Vegas got on the board early, but Binnington shut the door for the rest of regulation. The Blues poured on the pressure as the game went on, but Thompson countered nearly everything thrown at him. It took until 14:53 into the third for Brandon Saad to get the equalizer.

"I felt like we carried the momentum in the third period and just couldn’t more than one by (Thompson)," Torey Krug said after the game. "Obviously in overtime, anything can happen."

The Blues had a chance to win in overtime on a Pavel Buchnevich penalty shot, but Thompson had the answer yet again. With the momentum back on Vegas' side, Jonathan Marchessault got the game-winning goal just 19 seconds later.

“We still get a point out of the game," Blues Head Coach Drew Bannister said. "Obviously, still disappointed with not getting two, but we’re still in the fight. We have 10 games left, and at this point, obviously we’re going to need some help, but we can’t worry about what happened here tonight, we can only worry about what’s moving forward, and moving forward is Calgary. We’ve got to continue to win hockey games and win in regulation. We’ve got to come up with two points every time we come to the rink.”

While the loss hurt, the Blues (38-30-4) still have plenty of time to make up ground in the standings. Vegas lost in overtime to Nashville on Tuesday, so now the Blues are six points back of the last Wild Card spot. However, they'll have to make up that ground without Oskar Sundqvist, who suffered a torn ACL in Monday's game and is out for the rest of the season.

Following Calgary, the Blues round out their homestand with San Jose on Saturday and Edmonton on Monday.

FLAMES Since St. Patrick's Day, the Calgary Flames have been anything but lucky. The Flames have averaged just 1.5 goals per game after March 17, and they haven't won since. Tuesday night, that trend continued with a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Calgary stumbled out the gate, taking two penalties in the first two minutes, which led to a Chicago power-play goal just 3:35 in. The Flames were outshot 15-5 in the first period, ending the opening frame down 2-0.

“Penalty aside, I didn’t like our first period," Flames coach Ryan Huska said. "I don’t think we were connected at all. We had defensemen and forwards not on the same page with how they had to play. In the second and third periods we got better, but I didn’t like the way we started."

Despite outshooting Chicago 39-27, the Flames could not get past Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek. In fact, they were in danger of getting shut out until Mackenzie Weegar scored over halfway through the third period.

"I thought we were getting pucks (to the net)," Weegar said. "I thought we just didn’t make it hard enough on (Mrazek) with the screens or getting greasy. I know it’s been difficult for us to score right now, but when things are tough, you’ve got to get in there and work for your goals. You can’t just stand around and expect the puck to come to you, or you get a breakaway or what not. You've got to get in there, get greasy and work for it."

The recent stretch of losses is moving Calgary (33-33-5) further from the playoff race. The Flames, who are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games, are 15 points back of the Wild Card.

Thursday night marks the end of a brief two-game road trip. The Flames return to Calgary on Saturday night to host the Kings.

HEAD TO HEAD This is the third and final meeting between the Blues and Flames this season. St. Louis has won both games this season, 3-0 and 4-3.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES After scoring the overtime winner Saturday in Minnesota, Brandon Saad had the Blues' lone goal against Vegas late in the third period. Saad has now scored in six of his last 10 games and 10 of his last 20 games.

FLAMES Nazem Kadri, who assisted on Weegar's goal in Chicago, is Calgary's leading scorer (60 points) and the biggest threat to free the Flames from their offensive woes. Kadri has 10 goals and nine assists in his career against the Blues.

BLUE NOTES

• With the Blues' next win, Doug Armstrong will move ahead of Bobby Clarke for 10th on the NHL’s all-time wins list among General Managers with 807 wins.
• The Blues are 6-1-0 in their last seven games against Calgary. In their last 12 games, the Blues are 10-2-0.
• The Blues have not allowed a power-play goal to the Flames in seven straight matchups, going 15 for 15 on the penalty kill over those games.
• The Blues are 12-4-2 against Pacific Division teams this season.
• Jordan Kyrou is riding a three-game point streak, including back-to-back games with three points (March 21 & 23). Kyrou has six three-point games this season; the Blues are 6-0-0 in those games.
• The Blues are 15-3-4 in one-goal games this season. Their .682 win percentage in one-goal games ranks second to only the New York Rangers (.704).
• Jake Neighbours has seven points in his last seven games (five goals, two assists), including a career-long six-game point streak from March 13-23.