5 Things - Flames @ Blues 

1. Last Time Out

In the end, the start proved to be costly.

The Flames started the two-game road swing with a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Monday, a game that saw the homeside score twice in the opening 20 minutes and hold on the for the win.

MacKenzie Weegar scored the lone Flames marker in third stanza while Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 shots.

"It’s tough,” Weegar said after the game. “That’s a tough way to start the game obviously, getting on a 5-on-3. I thought we actually did a pretty decent job of killing it, they did end up getting the one but it was early in the game. I thought the work ethic, which was pretty inexcusable, especially when you’re losing games, you’ve got to come out prepared and ready to go.

“Second and third, I thought our game improved, just didn’t make it hard enough on (Petr) Mrazek."

The Blackhawks outshot the Flames 15-5 in the first frame but the Flames quickly shifted things around, outshooting them 39-27 when it was all said and done but couldn’t find more ways to beat the Hawks goaltender.

With that one now in the rearview mirror, the Flames focus shifts to tonight against the Blues for the third and final meeting of the season.

Thus far, the Blues are 2-0 in the series set as the Flames aim to snap a four-game losing streak before returning home Saturday night to take on the Los Angeles Kings.

“We gotta get back to playing the way we were before,” Martin Pospisil said. “Last couple games was pretty tough but tomorrow is a new day, new game.

“We gotta be harder to play against. It starts with me also, I gotta be even better than the last couple games. I’m excited for tomorrow and like I said tomorrow is a new day, new game.”

2. Know Your Enemy

The Blues fell just short of further closing the gap between them and the final playoff spot on Monday, dropping a 2-1 overtime decision to the very team they're chasing - the Vegas Golden Knights.

Brandon Saad tied the contest in the third that led to the extra session, which saw the Blues awarded with a penalty shot but Logan Thompson made a massive glove save on Pavel Buchnevich to keep things going. Forty-nine seconds was all it took for Vegas to then come away with the two points thanks to Jonathan Marchessault.

"They're a good team, we fought hard," Brayden Schenn told NHL.com after the game. "You're not going to dominate the whole game, but I thought we came hard in the third and had some chances, lots of chances to score. It's nice to come away with one point.

"We played them hard, and we're going to carry the momentum over to the next game. This team isn't going to quit fighting. We're going to go all the way to the finish. We still believe in here (that) we can make the playoffs."

Sitting six points behind Vegas for the final wildcard spot in the West, the Blues have 10 games remaining with six being on home ice, where they play their best with a 21-12-2 mark. The run they have been as of late is a big reason why they remain in the playoff hunt, recording a 6-1-1 mark in their last eight games.

“We’re still in the fight,” Blues head coach Drew Bannister said. “We have ten games left and at this point we’re going to need some help but we can't worry about what happened we can only worry about what’s moving forward here and moving forward is Calgary.

“We gotta continue to win hockey games, win in regulation and come up with two points every time we come to the rink.”

3. Fast Facts

Razzle Dazzle: Rasmus Andersson has recorded three game-winning goals this season and is one shy of matching his previous season-high which he set last year with four. Since the beginning of 2022, Andersson has registered seven game-winning goals, only four defenceman have more over that span (Adam Fox: 10, Roman Josi: 10, Evan Bouchard: 10 and Brandon Montour: 8).

Weegsy Baby: MacKenzie Weegar tied Al MacInnis (16 in 1987-88) for most even strength goals by a Flames defenceman in a season with his marker Tuesday in Chicago.

4. Quotable

Mikael Backlund On Capitalizing On Chances

"You gotta do the little things right all over the ice and if you do that you're going to get rewarded. That's how this game works, how this league works. You gotta do the right things if you want to get the offensive looks then we gotta bury them when we get our chances."

5. Players To Watch

Flames – MacKenzie Weegar

The rearguard scored his 17th of the season last outing and enters tonight with two goals in his last four skates.

Weegar is tied for third in the league for goals by defencemen and is just three points away from matching his career high of 44 set in the 2021-22 campaign.

Blues – Brandon Saad

The 31-year-old has goals in three straight games to go along with five points in that span.

His five game-winning goals are tied for first for the team lead and last meeting in Calgary saw him pot a pair of goals including the game winner with 48 seconds left in regulation.