Post-Game: Flames cruise against the Blues

The Calgary Flames played a tight game on Saturday afternoon in Minnesota. They had a much easier time on Sunday afternoon in St. Louis. They scored four times in the first period and cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Blues at the Enterprise Center.

The Flames were all over the Blues in the first period, and it basically decided the game. They opened the scoring on an early power play, caused after the Blues tripped up TJ Brodie behind the Flames net. Matthew Tkachuk jammed in a rebound off a Mark Giordano point shot to make it 1-0.

A little while later, the Flames cashed in on a Blues power play. With Tkachuk in the box, Elias Lindholm pressured the point man into a turnover off the draw, then beat Jake Allen on the ensuing breakaway to make it 2-0.

Giordano beat Allen with a slap shot through traffic on another power play following a too many men call on the Blues. That gave the Flames a 3-0 edge.

And Alan Quine jumped on the rebound off a Noah Hanifin shot, getting to the loose puck before a Blues defender to make it 4-0 Flames.

Shots were 16-6 Flames and scoring chances 11-2 Flames in the first period.

Blues backup Jordan Binnington relieved Allen to open the second. The Blues got on the board early in the period, as Jordan Nolan took advantage of a bad Flames line change. His initial shot was stopped, but Oskar Sundqvist buried the rebound to make it a 4-1 Flames lead.

The Flames reinstated their four-goal cushioned later on in the period. Derek Ryan read coverage well and out-battled a pair of Blues defenders. He waited for Johnny Gaudreau to sneak into the zone, then fed him a nice pass. Gaudreau’s quick shot beat Binnington short-side to make it 5-1.

But the Blues added a late one after killing off a penalty. The Flames were a bit of confusion after a line change. Vince Dunn’s shot was blocked by Travis Hamonic, but the rebound went rght to Tyler Bozak and he tapped it in to cut the Flames lead to 5-2.

Shots were 16-9 Blues and chances 11-6 Blues in the second.

The third period was very low-event, as the Flames were content to kill the clock and get out Dodge with their two points. Gaudreau added an empty-netter with three minutes left in regulation to make it 6-2. Quine added a late power play goal to make it a 7-2 final.

Shots were 6-4 Blues and chances 8-0 Blues in the third period.

There’s a great line in the film version of “Moneyball”: When the other team’s making mistakes, don’t get in their way. The Blues were awful early on, while the Flames were opportunistic and took advantage of their mistakes.

But give the Flames credit: the goals they got were because they out-worked the Blues in key situations when the game was up for grabs in the first period. Because they had their work boots on early, this turned into an easy afternoon of hockey for them.

They got timely goals in all situations and rock-solid goaltending. That’s usually a recipe for success.

Lindholm had a three point afternoon, so he’ll get the nod. But from top to bottom, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a Flames player that didn’t have a decent afternoon.

The Lindholm shorthanded goal was probably the big sign for the locals that this game wasn’t going to go their way. It was also a good sign that the Flames were feeling confident with the puck.

Tkachuk’s goal was the first he’s scored in an NHL game in his hometown of St. Louis. His father, Keith, was in attendance.

In his return from the concussion protocol, Mikael Backlund played 18:10. Only the first line trio of Lindholm, Gaudreau and Sean Monahan had more ice time among Flames forwards.

The Flames (22-10-2) are off to Texas. They play the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night in the finale of their three game road trip.