Flames fall to Blues

Two goals 2:01 apart in the first period proved decisive as the St. Louis Blues skated away with a 2-0 decision over the Flames Thursday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Joel Hofer turned aside 26 shots for the guests to earn his first career NHL shutout, as Calgary fell to 2-5-1 on the campaign.

The hosts owned the best chance of the early stages when just after the six-minute mark, Andrew Mangiapane spun at the right circle, then fired a puck cross-ice to Blake Coleman, forcing Hofer into a quick lateral movement across his crease to make the stop.

St. Louis opened the scoring at the 11:23 mark of the opening frame, when forward Kasperi Kapanen was sprung in alone on a shorthanded breakaway. Kapanen lifted the puck into the top corner for his first goal of the season.

Defenceman Nick Leddy added a second goal for the visitors just over two minutes later, as he slapped a puck from the left point found its way in through traffic.

Jacob Markstrom made eight saves in the opening frame, his best coming with his left pad after Blues forward Jordan Kyrou was sprung in behind the the defence on a breakaway. Markstrom then swallowed up Robert Thomas' rebound effort seconds later to maintain the 2-0 scoreline.

Markstrom denied Kyrou again with the Flames killing a penalty early in the second period, lunging to his left to get a glove on a sharp wrist shot from the right circle.

Moments later, he parried away a Leddy chance from the high slot with his blocker.

Calgary again came close to getting on the scoresheet on a delayed penalty with just under four minutes left in the middle frame, the puck finding trailer Walker Duehr on an odd-man rush.

Hofer used all of his 6-foot-5 frame to deny Duehr; the score remained 2-0 St. Louis through 40 minutes.

The Flames came out in the third period with more energy, forcing turnovers and directing pucks at the Blues net including a slot shot from Nazem Kadri that forced Hofer into a tricky kick save, and a dangerous effort from Yegor Sharangovich that forced Hofer into a shoulder save.

Oskar Sundqvist then sealed the victory for the visitors with an empty-net tally with 2:06 remaining, before Hofer preserved his clean sheet with back-to-back pad saves off Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman in the final minute of play.

Markstrom turned aside 32 shots for Calgary, while at the other end, rookie forward Matt Coronato led the home side with five shots on goal.

Defenceman Ilya Solovyov logged 16:34 of ice time in his NHL debut after being recalled from the AHL's Calgary Wranglers earlier in the day.

The Lineup:

Trios and D-pairs to start the tilt:

Forwards:

Jonathan Huberdeau - Elias Lindholm - Nazem Kadri

Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

Dryden Hunt - Dillon Dube - Matt Coronato

A.J. Greer - Yegor Sharangovich - Walker Duehr

DEFENCE

Noah Hanifin - MacKenzie Weegar

Ilya Solovyov - Chris Tanev

Nikita Zadorov - Dennis Gilbert

GOALTENDER

Jacob Markstrom - starter

Dan Vladar

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 26, STL 35

Powerplay: CGY 0-2, STL 0-4

FO%: CGY 52.7%, STL 47.3%

Blocked Shots: CGY 13, STL 11

Hits: CGY 14, STL 18

Scoring Chances: CGY 17, STL 21

High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 6, STL 11

Up Next:

Time to head outdoors for the Heritage Classic in Edmonton on Sunday.