Blues top Flames, extend point streak

ST. LOUIS -- Alexander Steen had his first four points of the season with a goal and three assists to help the St. Louis Blues to a 5-2 win against the Calgary Flames at Scottrade Center on Wednesday.
Steen played in his fourth game after missing the first six because of a broken left hand.

Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist, and Jaden Schwartz, Alex Pietrangelo and Joel Edmundson scored for St. Louis (7-2-1). Jake Allen made 23 saves.
The Blues have points in four straight games (3-0-1). They went 2-for-3 on the power play.
WATCH: [All Flames vs. Blues highlights]
"I think we simplified things a little bit more," Steen said. "We were more direct in the way that we played, and I think we were a step quicker than we have been too. Those things contributed to us getting more goals and obviously more chances.
"It was good, even the ones we didn't score. There was a lot of momentum pushing forward, so it was a good step in the right direction."
Mikael Backlund scored twice, and Eddie Lack made 24 saves for Calgary (5-5-0). Lack made his first start of the season after Mike Smith started the first nine games.

It was the second straight game the Flames allowed two power-play goals; they overcame two man-advantage goals by the Nashville Predators on Tuesday in a 3-2 shootout win.
"If you keep losing the specialty games, you're going to put yourself (in a bad spot)," Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. "Two nights in a row, we've given up 2-for-3 on the power play.
"When you're playing back-to-back (games), your penalty kill has to be better. Our penalty kill quite frankly doesn't look anything near what it should and we've got to clean that area up because tonight it put us in a hole and we couldn't get out of it."

Backlund gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 3:58 of the first period off a pass from Matthew Tkachuk, but Steen tied it with his first of the season at 17:27 after a turnover by Travis Hamonic.
Schwartz made it 2-1 at 4:07 of the second, ending St. Louis' streak of 18 straight power-play opportunities without a goal.
Pietrangelo scored another power-play goal and gave the Blues a 3-1 lead at 6:53 from the right circle, but Backlund's second of the game came after Allen fell behind the net at 13:15 to make it 3-2.
Stastny restored the Blues' two-goal lead at 16:28 of the third period. Edmundson's empty-net goal made it 5-2 with 43.9 seconds remaining.

Goal of the game

Stastny picked off Hamonic's outlet pass out of the Flames zone and got the puck to Vladimir Sobotka, who patiently waited to find Steen before the latter beat Lack from a tight angle.

Save of the game

Allen was able to make a key save on Johnny Gaudreau's breakaway at 8:18 of the second period to preserve a 3-1 lead.

Highlight of the game

Persistence paid off on Schwartz's goal after Vladimir Tarasenko first hit the post, but he stayed with the puck, collected it in the slot and passed to Schwartz for a backhand shot to give the Blues a 2-1 lead.

They said it

"I feel like it's kind of circumstantial. I feel like I've definitely had some good games here and some games we had really good team games when I've been here with other teams, so it's just one of those things. It's too bad we couldn't keep the streak going." -- Flames goalie Eddie Lack on losing to the Blues for the first time in seven games
"It was tough having [Steen] have that injury. I thought that he looked really good in training camp. I feel like he's a step quicker this year. I think he did a heck of a job in the summer coming in really good shape and you could tell the training, the focus that he had in the summer, he was a motivated hockey player." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo on Alexander Steen

Need to know

Tkachuk had two assists in his return to his hometown. ... The Flames begin a season-long seven-game homestand on Friday. ... Stastny has 57 points (24 goals, 33 assists) in 49 games against the Flames. ... Schwartz has a five-game point streak (five goals, two assists).

What's next

Flames: Host the Dallas Stars on Friday (9 p.m. ET; SN360, FS-SW, NHL.TV)
Blues: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, FS-MW, NHL.TV)