To the Blues fans reading this, don’t expect many punches pulled about the effort put in last night. That said, the last time the Flames put up seven goals on St. Louis was a 7-2 drubbing at the Enterprise Arena on December 16th of 2018. The Blues would go on to win the Stanley Cup five months later. One game is one game.
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Last night was a well needed boost of confidence for the now 19-12-6 Calgary Flames.
While the result was about as ideal as one could hope for, credit goes mostly to the Blues for coming out almost completely flat.
Managing to keep the Blues shotless in the first 5:09 of the game, Tyler Bozak finally managed to get a wrist shot on net that found its way past Jacob Markstrom.
49 seconds later, Nikita Zadorov scooped up the puck up off a feed from Tkachuk and ripped the puck far side past goaltender Jordan Binnington to tie the game at 1-1.
The Flames went on to completely dominate the Blues. The effort among the visiting team was virtually non-existent until Binnington was pulled between the second and third period.
If there was a puck race— the Flames got the puck. If there was a board battle, the puck promptly found it’s self on a Flames stick. The Blues couldn’t even manage to keep their sticks in the passing lanes. The Flames passed the puck through the slot as if there was no opposing team on the ice. The Blues recorded four shots on net in the first period and two in the second.
It was simply that kind of game.
While the Blues and their fanbase can look at their 3-1 victory over the Canucks the night prior and get some solace out of that— tonight’s game included a truly monumental lack of effort in the first two periods.
Confidence night
Perhaps it was simply the St. Louis Blues organization playing the long game. With five assists in the first two periods, Matthew Tkachuk had a prime opportunity to tie or break a franchise record for most points in a game. That record is currently held by Sergei Makarov at 7 points on February 25, 1990 against the Oilers.
He also could have tied or beaten the single game assists record set by Guy Choinard on February 25, 1981 against the Islanders.
With his five assists last night, Tkachuk is now 19th in League scoring with 42 points in 37 games.
With a goal and three assists in the outing, Johnny Gaudreau is 9th in League scoring with 48 points in 37 games.
Perhaps it was St. Louis Coach Craig Berube’s intention to price these soon-to-be free agents out of Calgary.
It wasn’t just one hot line
The sheer level of dominance displayed last night goes beyond statistics, but let’s give it a shot.
Not a single Flames player recorded below a 60CF%. Trevor Lewis had exactly a 60CF% rating out-chancing opposition 12-8 while on the ice.
Adam Ruzicka, the Flames’ resident freshman recorded an absurd 83.33 CF%; outchancing the opposition 15-3 at 5v5.
Blake Coleman outpaced that with an 84.62CF%. Chances were 22-4 with Blake Coleman on the ice. Backlund was right there with him with an 84.62 as well.
You think those are high CF% ratings?
Erik Gudbranson had a 86.21CF%. Chances were 25-4 with Erik Gudbranson on the ice at 5v5. Good lord. Are we just puppets in some cosmic theatre that wasn’t meant to ever make any sense in the first place?
Russian Rocket
Nikita Zadorov was having some fun last night. He skated the puck out of pressure several times, carried the puck into the offensive zone frequently and ended the night with a goal and an assist to show for it. That is, local hockey scapegoat and resident hulking defenseman, Nikita Zadorov.
Trouble in net
Something is sour among the Blues roster. The sheer difference in accountability when goaltender Ville Husso started the third period was palpable.
While a proper dressing down from Berube between periods is one explanation, this isn’t an isolated occurrence.
The sheer difference in statistics between these two goalies is marked.
Ville Husso has won his last five starts, posting a 1.2GAA over that time. The 26 year old from Helinski, Finland started the last three games for the Blues as well in a clear nod of confidence from Craig Berube.
The goalie that took this team to a Stanley Cup— Jordan Binnington— has had more trouble this season. 23 goals against in his last five starts beginning on January 1st. A .874 save percentage in that time.
Adversity is compounding on it’s self for the 28 year old from Richmond Hill, Ontario. With the effort put forth last night by the team in front of him; one has to wonder if there is more to it.
Perhaps this team is questioning whether this is the goalie to take them back to the Stanley Cup Final. Binnington is 0-9 in the playoffs since winning the Stanley Cup in 2019. He has a save percentage of .875 and a GAA of 4.19 in those nine games.
Binnington is signed until the end of the 26-27 season and carries a cap hit of six million per year.
The Calgary Flames are in Ohio tomorrow to play the Columbus Blue Jackets at 5PM MST.
Trevor Neufeld
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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