FEELING THE BLUES
Blues get to goalie Smith early and often in dominating 5-3 win, writes Wes Gilbertson.
Flames flicker in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS Big-bucks signing James Neal finally found the net for the Calgary Flames.
Always start with the good news first, am I right?
There wasn’t a whole bunch of that for the Flames in Thursday’s 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center.
Although Neal opened the scoring in the Show-Me State, a welcome sight for those wondering what the heck was up with the prized (and pricey) freeagent addition, it was all Blues both before and after.
They picked on Calgary’s inexperienced third pairing, with rookies Rasmus Andersson and Juuso Valimaki — now with 17 big-league appearances between them — having a rough night.
They probably left Flames masked man Mike Smith secondguessing his request to start. Smith was hoping to stay in a groove after a 43-save shutout in Nashville but was instead yanked after 40 minutes in the encore, shelled for five goals on 24 attempts.
The Blues also caused some pain for superstar left-winger Johnny Gaudreau. On a secondperiod sequence, he was hacked on the hand by Brayden Schenn, then bulldozed by Alexander Steen.
The Blues seemed to step off the gas in the third, allowing the Flames to put a bit of shine on the final score line with goals by Derek Ryan — also his first in Calgary’s colours — and Mikael Backlund.
Many of the fans at Enterprise Center headed home without their lids after a three-snipe night by David Perron.
Neal was mostly a non-factor in his first three twirls in the Flaming C, but Thursday’s tally should be a confidence-booster for a guy who wasn’t expecting to start the season on the third line.
The 31-year-old Neal has made a career of lighting the lamp, which is why the Saddledome brass offered up a five-year, US$28.75-million deal.
Of his 264 career counters, this one didn’t come with the highest degree of difficulty.
Flames left-winger Sam Bennett lost the handle as he beelined toward the net, but corralled the puck before it could squirt to the corner and slid a pass to “The Real Deal” Neal for a no-doubter.
Just a dozen seconds later, though, Steen equalized with a rip inside the post on Smith’s glove side.
Andersson, one of the two kids on Calgary’s third defence pairing, was pestered into a giveaway in his own zone that resulted in Perron’s go-ahead goal. (There’s enough blame to go around — first-line centre Sean Monahan should have had his stick on Brayden Schenn’s cross-crease feed to Perron.)
Stay-at-home sort Joel Edmundson snuck into the slot to add to the damage late in the first and things didn’t get any better for the Flames after the intermission, with Smith whiffing as he tried to stop a dump-in that was rimmed around the boards and left to watch as Perron deposited his second of the night into an empty net.
That would turn out to be the game-winner. Perron completed the hat trick with a power play strike late in the middle period.
OH BROTHER
For Calgary Flames rising star Matthew Tkachuk, this turned out to be ideal timing for a return trip to his hometown of St. Louis.
On Wednesday afternoon, he was cheering on his younger sister, Taryn, as she tallied twice in a high school field hockey game.
A few hours later, with Mr. and Mrs. Tkachuk entertaining a bunch of Flames skaters and staff for dinner, they watched as kid brother Brady buried his first big-league goal — and his second — on behalf of the Ottawa Senators in a 7-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
“So I have a lot of pressure on me today,” Matthew Tkachuk quipped before Thursday’s battle with the Blues at the Enterprise Center. “Just having that many people here is enough pressure as it is, and for them to have a couple goals each (Wednesday) … Hopefully, it’s my turn now.”
The Tkachuks are, without a doubt, the first family of hockey in St. Louis.
One of the NHL’s premier power forwards during his own heyday, Keith Tkachuk spent nearly half his career with the Blues. Known around these parts as “Big Walt,” the proud father of three hit both the 500-goal and 1,000-point plateaus at the highest level.
Matthew, at the tender age of 20, is already a key ingredient and alternate captain in Calgary. A few nights back, he piled up a career-high four helpers. Brady is on the board, too. As mentioned earlier, the 19-year-old rookie had a pair for the Senators, his first a deflection off his skate that caused a bit of a delayed reaction back home.
“My mom, you couldn’t wipe the smile off her face,” Matthew said.
“My dad was pretty giddy, as well, and you don’t see him like that very often. We’re so happy for him.”
Just having that many people here is enough pressure as it is ... Hopefully, it’s my turn now.