5 Things - Flames vs. Blues

1. Bring On The Blues

The frustration was palpable in the Flames dressing room Tuesday, but with a new day comes a new challenge as the St. Louis Blues visit the Scotiabank Saddledome this evening. Get tickets

It’s an intriguing matchup featuring two teams looking to find an identity as the first month of the NHL season enters its waning phase.

For Calgary, there’s a belief that the team’s current three-game slide is surmountable. According to Head Coach Ryan Huska, it begins with habits and a sense of self-determination.

“You stay with it. Every day, you wake up in the morning, you come to work with a great attitude and ready to go, and that’s it at the end of the day,” he told reporters following Tuesday’s contest.We have a good group, and they’ll continue to work right now.

“It’s staying focused, on-task, and making sure they’re committed to doing everything the right way all the time. Getting better every day is really the biggest thing.”

Blake Coleman became the first Texas-born forward in league history to reach the 200-point mark Tuesday, a bright spot amid an evening that left he and his teammates wanting more.

Coleman wasn’t the only player to speak to the media following the Rangers loss, but he stood out in making a point that he wants to get better, and get better in a hurry.

“At the end of the day, you control what you can control,” Coleman said. “I’d like to make some more plays, create some more offence, block a few more shots things like that, that I feel like I can improve on.

“I think if each guy takes on that onus, we’re going to be a better team.”

Coleman has contributed, though. He got the offence started early Tuesday with a snapshot from the slot 1:15 into the contest, and despite it being early days, he’s on pace to score 23 goals this season, a figure that would represent a career high.

If you ask Huska, Coleman’s words, and status in the dressing room deserve merit.

“He’s a guy that’s won,” Huska noted. “He understands situations and he’s right about how he’s feeling.”

But at the heart of it all, there’s belief that in the blink of an eye, the Flames can get back to where they want to be. According to Coleman, that starts tonight.

“We believe in our group, we have a really close-knit group, we’ve got a lot of really good people in this organization,” he said.

"I think the guys are going to do it the right way, I think we get better as we go here, one game at a time and we’re going to have a much better effort next game.”

2. Know Your Enemy

The Blues sit right at the .500 mark through five games of the season and arrive in Calgary on the heels of a 4-2 loss Tuesday night in Winnipeg. Tonight marks the third road contest of the season for St. Louis, with the team holding a 0-1-1 record away from the Show Me State to begin the new campaign.

St. Louis put up 20 shots on goal in Tuesday’s loss to the Jets, and come into tonight’s fixture having scored two or fewer goals in four of their five games, trends both head coach Craig Berube and captain Brayden Schenn want to see reversed at the ‘Dome.

“For me, possession time in the offensive zone is jumping in holes, winning those battles, spreading it out a little bit,” Berube told reporters following the contest in Manitoba. “We’re not moving (the puck) quick enough a lot of times, we’re not giving it to the D, they’re wide open.

“We’ve got to move it, we’ve got to give it to our D, we’ve got to forecheck harder and win more battles on our forecheck.”

Schenn finished the game with an assist, but was left wanting more from his group as it continues a four-game road trip tonight.

“I think we just have to raise the battle level,” he said following Tuesday’s game. “You’re not going to generate chances if we’re not going to check as hard as we need to.”

Forward Robert Thomas leads St. Louis in scoring with four points, but only one Blues skater (Brandon Saad) has lit the lamp on more than one occasion this season.

One bright spot for St. Louis has come between the pipes. Jordan Binnington has been excellent to begin the season, posting a 1.69 goals-against average and .945 save percentage through his first four appearances of 2023-24.

The 30-year-old made 29 saves Tuesday in Winnipeg, and so far this season, he’s turned aside 31 or more pucks in 75% of his starts.

3. Fast Facts

2022-23 Season Series:

The Flames went 1-1-1 versus the Blues in last season’s three-game series.

The road team earned at least a point in each of the three contests, beginning with a 5-2 St. Louis win at the ‘Dome Dec. 16.

The two sides then met for a two-game set in Missouri Jan. 10 and 12. The Blues claimed the opener 4-3 in overtime before Calgary scored a 4-1 triumph in the finale. Dillon Dube scored a pair of goals for the Flames including the game-winner midway through the third period, while Walker Duehr also recorded his first NHL goal in the victory.

Dube (2G, 2A) and Elias Lindholm (4A) both collected four points in the season series with St. Louis.

Did You Know?

Elias Lindholm logged a season-high 23:04 of ice time Tuesday night against the Rangers and sits second among NHL forwards in total time on ice (148:17) to begin the season, trailing Nikita Kucherov of the Lightning.

Lindholm also leads all NHL centres this season with 94 faceoff wins.

4. Roster Notes

Here’s how the Flames forward units and defensive pairings looked Tuesday night against the Rangers:

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau - Elias Lindholm - Yegor Sharangovich
Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman
Adam Ruzicka - Nazem Kadri - Walker Duehr
Dryden Hunt - Dillon Dube - Matt Coronato

A.J. Greer

Defence

Noah Hanifin - MacKenzie Weegar
Dennis Gilbert - Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov - Jordan Oesterle

Goaltenders

Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Blake Coleman

Coleman comes into tonight’s game with points in three of his last four games including Calgary’s lone marker Tuesday night.

So far, the Texan is averaging 15:17 of ice-time per game, which stands as his highest total since arriving in Alberta in 2021.

In his post-game media availability Tuesday, Head Coach Ryan Huska alluded to the line of Coleman, Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane as having a connection after being formed two games ago.

Against the Rangers, the trio out-chanced their opponents 9-4, and the total shot attempts for and against were 19-9 in the Flames’ favour.

Blues - Jordan Kyrou

The 25-year-old enjoyed a career year in 2022-23 with 37 goals and so far this season, he sits second among Blues scoring leaders with three points in five games.

Kyrou has assists in back-to-back games and scored his lone goal of the season versus Pacific Division opposition, Oct. 14 against Seattle.

He signed an eight-year, $65-million contract in St. Louis last September that will keep him with the club through 2030-31.