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 Not only did the rookie 22-year-old blue-liner score, but he added a
second goal that stood up as the game-winner, leading his St. Louis
Blues to a 4-3 victory over the Flames on Tuesday in front of 18,632
fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
"It's a pretty cool experience," Parayko said. "Obviously, I've been
saying I've been dreaming of it as a kid in every interview. It's
tough to describe almost. One of the coolest parts is that my
parents and brothers and sisters were in town, so they got to watch
that and experience it with me as well."
Since St. Albert is located just outside Edmonton, Parayko grew up
as an Oilers fan.
"I didn't cheer for (the Flames) because I was out of Edmonton,"
said Parayko, who will get the chance to face the Oilers on Saturday
when St. Louis plays in Edmonton. "The Battle of Alberta is pretty
big. I was more on the Edmonton side."
Blues right winger Troy Brouwer, who had a goal and an assist
against the Flames, was impressed with the composure that Parayko
scored in just his third NHL game and first in his home province.
"Awesome, I remember mine," Brouwer said. "Not nearly as exciting as
that, but it was good for him to get a couple goals tonight and get
some confidence. We're putting a lot of pressure on him, a lot of
responsibility on him, and he's doing a great job."
Right winger Scottie Upshall also scored for the Blues (2-1-0),
while goaltender Brian Elliott made 15 saves to record his second
win of the season.
Left winger Mason Raymond, center Jiri Hudler and right winger David
Jones all scored for the Flames (1-2-0), while defenseman Dennis
Wideman and right winger Michael Frolik chipped in with two assists
each.
"We can't be playing 40-minute games," said a disappointed Raymond
after Calgary fell to 0-2-0 on home ice. "If we want to play well in
games against teams like them, we need to be prepared all night."
Calgary goalie Jonas Hiller stopped 24 of the 28 shots he faced.
The Flames trailed 4-2 after two periods before Jones took a pass
from Frolik and beat Elliott with a shot to the top corner at 1:42
of the third, but Calgary could not find an equalizing goal.
"We battled back in the third," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "I
thought that we did lots of good things, but (the Blues) capitalized
on their chances."
Despite being outshot 14-7 in the first period, the Flames jumped
out to a 2-1 lead thanks to power-play goals by Raymond and Hudler.
Raymond opened the scoring at 1:14 when he finished off a great
three-way passing play by tapping a perfect feed from Wideman in
behind Elliott. Frolik also drew an assist on the play for his first
point as a Flame.
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The Blues tied things up at 16:46 when Upshall shoveled a rebound in
between Hiller's legs.
The Flames regained their one-goal lead 45 seconds later when Hudler
one-timed a cross-crease pass from left winger Johnny Gaudreau past
Elliott.
Undeterred, St. Louis kept pouring on the pressure in the second and
were rewarded with a breakaway goal by Brouwer at 2:49 followed by a
power-play marker by Parayko at 4:47 that gave the Blues their first
lead of the game.
"We needed to get ourselves back in the game," Brouwer said. "We
needed to get some confidence and pucks moving forward. We were a
little bit sloppy, bad execution in the first period that led to a
couple goals against."
With just 31.5 seconds remaining before the second intermission,
another point shot by Parayko found its way past Hiller and into the
net to put the Blues up 4-2.
St. Louis defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and Calgary right winger
Lance Bouma both left the game in the second period with lower-body
injuries and didn't return for the third.
NOTES: The Flames dropped each of the teams' four most recent
meetings before Tuesday, including all three last season, games in
which they were outscored 12-2. ... RW Scottie Upshall made his
debut with the Blues, playing on a line with C David Backes and LW
Dmitrij Jaskin. ... A spot opened up in the St. Louis lineup for
Upshall after rookie C Robby Fabbri was diagnosed with a concussion
earlier in the week. Fabbri took an elbow to the head in the first
period of the Blues' 3-2 road loss to the Minnesota Wild on
Saturday, and he is out indefinitely. ... The Flames stuck with the
same lineup they went with Saturday when they beat the Canucks 3-2
in overtime in Vancouver. ... St. Louis scratched C Scott Gomez and
D Robert Bortuzzo, while G Joni Ortio and C Josh Jooris were healthy
scratches for Calgary.
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