Preview: Flames at Blues

[March 25, 2017]  The red-hot St. Louis Blues have bolstered their resume for a sixth straight postseason appearance with victories in nine of their last 10 games while the Calgary Flames have dropped consecutive contests on the heels of a scintillating 12-1-0 run. The Blues will look to strengthen their hold on third place in the Central Division and extend their winning streak to five games on Saturday when they host the Flames.

Jake Allen has been at the forefront of St. Louis' surge, improving to 7-1-0 with two shutouts, a 1.25 goals-against average and .957 save percentage in that stretch following a 27-save performance in Thursday's 4-1 victory versus Vancouver. The 26-year-old has yielded just 10 goals in eight outings this month, but stopped 23 of 27 shots in the Blues' 6-4 victory over the Flames on Oct. 22. Calgary responded three nights later with a 4-1 triumph in St. Louis, courtesy of former Blue Brian Elliott turning aside 23 shots with many at Scottrade Center serenading him with chants of "Moose" (his nickname). The 31-year-old sat out the Flames' 3-1 setback in Nashville on Thursday, a decision that kept the Predators knotted with the Blues in the Central and moved them within one point of the Flames for the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, CITY (Calgary), FSN Midwest (St. Louis), NHL.TV

ABOUT THE FLAMES (41-29-4): Matthew Tkachuk is expected to return to the lineup after serving a two-game suspension for elbowing Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty in the face. The 19-year-old rookie, who is the son of former Blue Keith Tkachuk, notched an assist in what was a homecoming in the most recent meeting with St. Louis. Johnny Gaudreau (team-leading 38 assists, 54 points) joined fellow forward Sam Bennett by scoring and setting up a goal in that contest and extended his point streak to three games with an assist on Thursday.

ABOUT THE BLUES (40-28-5): Magnus Paajarvi has shown signs of getting acclimated to life in the NHL after scoring twice on Thursday to increase his point total to 10 (seven goals, three assists) in 20 games since being recalled from Chicago of the American Hockey League. "I'm attacking more, that's my mindset," said the 25-year-old Paajarvi, who mustered just 10 goals and 13 assists in his first 116 games in the organization. "... When you get a window you've got to try to take it. There's not a whole lot of them, and so far it's been good for me." Captain Alex Pietrangelo scored and set up a goal versus the Canucks to increase his point total to 11 (three goals, eight assists) in the past 13 games.

OVERTIME

1. Calgary C Mikael Backlund was nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which goes to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

2. Blues LW David Perron scored three goals and set up another in the first encounter with the Flames and has three points (one goal, two assists) in his last three contests.

3. Flames has failed on all 12 power-play opportunities in the last five games and went 1-for-6 in two meetings with the Blues this season.

PREDICTION: Blues 2, Flames 1

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