The Blues pinch out the Flames

Two Neighbours goals leave the Flames cold

A first night habit

The St. Louis Blues rolled into the Scotiabank Saddledome with a habit to break. In each of the last two Gauntlets their candle went dark on qualification night, both times at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets. The Calgary Flames remembered better days: a run to the round of 16 last season before the Vegas Golden Knights doused them. Last season the two clubs finished 14th and 15th of 32, a single place apart. This time one of them would leave Calgary with nothing left to burn.

Thirty-two seconds of trade

Matt Coronato struck first, snapping a power-play wrist shot home at 14:49 of the 1st off feeds from Joel Farabee and Nazem Kadri. St. Louis waited 17:52 to answer. Jake Neighbours finally did it with a backhand at 12:41 of the 2nd, and Robert Thomas buried a power-play wrister at 14:25 to give the Blues the lead. It held for 0:32. Coronato fired back with another wrist shot, Kevin Bahl assisting, and the game was level again.

Neighbours tips the shelf

At 11:07 of the 3rd, Neighbours tipped in the winner, set up by Colton Parayko and Cam Fowler. Pius Suter tipped home insurance at 13:33, with Tyler Tucker, who had fought Ryan Lomberg in the 2nd, earning an assist. Joel Hofer made 27 saves on 29 shots, and Dustin Wolf stopped 24 of 28 at the other end. Calgary's flame was blown out. Thirty still burn, and for the first time in three tries, St. Louis is one of them.