National Hockey League
St. Louis 3, Calgary 1
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 22, 2018
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta
Referees: Reid Anderson, Dean Morton
Linesmen: Trent Knorr, Bevan Mills
Attendance: 18683

St. Louis winger David Perron had a goal and an assist, Jake Allen was stellar in net, and the Blues cruised to a 3-1 win over the host Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon.

Tyler Bozak and Oskar Sundqvist also scored for the Blues, who have won four of their last six games and avenged a 7-2 drubbing by Calgary in St. Louis last Sunday.

Allen made his ninth straight start for St. Louis, posted 28 saves and frustrated Calgary's high-octane offense led by Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk for almost the entire 60 minutes.

The victory by the Blues was their first on Saturday or Sunday since a 7-3 win over Chicago on Oct. 27.

Tkachuk scored the lone goal for the Flames, who have lost three straight (0-2-1).

Mike Smith made his first start since allowing four goals on 14 shots and being pulled in Calgary's 6-5 home win over Philadelphia on Dec. 12. Smith posted 24 saves.

The visitors tallied in the first period when defenseman Jay Bouwmeester pinched in and fired a pass that hit Calgary's TJ Brodie in the skate and caromed high above the ice. Perron found the pop-up and gloved it as it came down then buzzed a sharp-angle shot for his 12th goal.

Bozak recorded his fifth goal seven minutes later when he put back a rebound off Pat Maroon's shot for a power-play marker.

Calgary scored on its first power play at 16:49 when Gaudreau zipped a circle-to-circle pass to Elias Lindholm, who then fed it through the crease for Tkachuk's tap-in from the far side for his 16th goal.

Allen stopped Gaudreau's backhander on a breakaway three minutes into the second period and was outstanding the rest of the period, stopping all 13 Calgary shots on goal.

The fourth line for St. Louis chipped in early in the third period for a 3-1 lead as Sundqvist mishit a loose puck which then trickled past Smith for his sixth goal less than two minutes in.

Allen, who stopped Gaudreau twice on breakaways, denied Calgary on all seven shots in the period as St. Louis improved to 11-1-2 when leading after two periods.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
St. Louis   Calgary
David Perron 2 Points Matthew Tkachuk 1
David Perron 1 Goals Matthew Tkachuk 1
David Perron 1 Assists Johnny Gaudreau 1
Tyler Bozak 1 Power Play Goals Matthew Tkachuk 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jake Allen .966 Save Percentage Mike Smith .889
Jake Allen 28 Saves Mike Smith 24
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
St. Louis 27 3 1-2 3-4 8 26
Calgary 29 1 1-4 1-2 4 32
Upcoming Games
  • Calgary will play their next game on the road against Winnipeg. The Flames have a W/L % of .591 after a win and .600 after a loss.
  • St. Louis will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Blues have a W/L % of .231 after a win and .524 after a loss.