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 The Blues' run of six straight wins is a season high and they did it
by running an impressive gauntlet during the past week. St. Louis
knocked off playoff contenders Minnesota, Chicago and Anaheim before
outlasting Dallas in the opening of a five-game road trip. "This was
a week where if you had said we were going to go 4-0, I think
everybody would have been shocked," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.
"So we're really happy." The sagging Flames dipped to 1-1-1 on their
six-game homestand with a lackluster 4-1 loss to Arizona on Friday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), Sportsnet West (Calgary)
ABOUT THE BLUES (41-20-9): St. Louis is trying not to get caught up
in potential playoff scenarios and avoiding what figures to be a
brutal series between the Nos. 2 and 3 teams in the rugged Central.
“I think you’re overthinking it if you’re trying to place yourself
in a certain position," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “Anything
can happen here in the next couple weeks.” Vladimir Tarasenko has
scored three times in the past two games and is one shy of 100 goals
for his career.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (28-35-5): Defenseman Dennis Wideman returned to
the lineup Friday night after the NHL reduced his suspension from 20
games to 10 earlier in the day for cross-checking linesman Don
Henderson, who is out for the season. "As far as the ruling goes,
I'm happy it was reduced to 10 games," Wideman said. "I still
maintain that it was completely accidental and I had no intent on
hitting Donnie at all." Mikael Backlund has scored in four of his
last five games.
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OVERTIME
1. Blues G Jake Allen, who has won six straight starts, is 2-0-0
with a 1.50 goals-against average versus Calgary.
2. Flames coach Bob Hartley listed D T.J. Brodie as doubtful and F
Sam Bennett as out for Monday's game.
3. Blues F Paul Stastny, riding a three-game point streak, has 20
goals and 52 points in 45 games against the Flames.
PREDICTION: Blues 4, Flames 2
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