ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES
Scott Perunovich – Shoulder (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Oct. 4)
Marco Scandella – Right Hip (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Sep. 20)
Logan Brown – Upper-Body (Placed on IR on Nov. 9)
2022-23 Total Man Games Lost: 113
Recent Transactions
December
15 – Assigned forward Logan Brown to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) on a conditioning assignment
12 – Recalled forward Alexey Toropchenko from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
3 – Recalled forward Will Bitten from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
2 – Assigned forward Jake Neighbours to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
BLUES VS. FLAMES
-The Blues and Flames will meet for the first of 3 matchups this season (Jan. 10 & 12 in STL)
-The Blues went 2-1-0 against Calgary last season (1-1-0 away; 1-0-0 at home)
-The Blues have won back-to-back games against Calgary and are 6-1-0 in their last 7 games against the Flames
-The Blues are 4-1-0 in their last 5 games in Calgary
-In their last 7 matchups with the Flames, the Blues have scored at least 3 goals 6 times, outscoring the Flames 27-19 over that 7-game span
-The Blues have also scored a power play goal in 6 of their last 7 matchups with Calgary, going 7 for 17 (41.2%) on the power play over that span
-The Blues are 11-4-0 when scoring first this season
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
12/19 – at Vancouver
12/20 – at Seattle
12/23 – at Vegas
12/27 – vs. Toronto
12/29 – vs. Chicago
A LOOK AHEAD
-The Blues have 7 games remaining in December (3 at home; 4 away)
-The Blues will continue their season-long 10-day, 5-game road trip tonight at Calgary (1-0-0 so far)
-The Blues will play their next 4 games, including Friday at Calgary, against the Western Conference, as well as 6 of their last 7 games to finish the calendar year
-The Blues next 4 games, including Friday at Calgary, will come against Western Conference teams, all of which sit in front of the Blues in the standings, including 2 against teams that currently hold a playoff spot
BLUES COMEBACK AGAINST EDMONTON
-Last night at Edmonton, the Blues came back to win despite being down 3-1 in the third period
-It was their 2nd multi-goal 3rd period comeback of the season
-Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 1st career shorthanded goal with just 20 seconds left in the game to tie it at 3-3
-Tarasenko’s goal to tie the game marked just the 4th time in franchise history the Blues have scored a shorthanded goal with under a minute left in regulation to tie the game
-Tarasenko’s goal also marked just the 13th time in NHL history a team scored a game-tying goal while shorthanded in the final 20 seconds
-The Blues account for 3 of the 13 instances, including the last 2 (Last: Nov. 3, 2021)
DEFENSEMEN CONTRIBUTING OFFENSE FOR BLUES
-The Blues defensemen have accounted for 13.8% of the Blues’ goals this season
-The Blues are 8-1-0 this season when a defenseman scores
-The Blues’ defense has combined for 12 goals this season
-The Blues’ defense has contributed 5 power play goals this season, which shares the most in the NHL with Nashville, Ottawa, and Florida
-They have also contributed 5 game-winning goals, which shares 1st in the NHL with Boston, Carolina, Columbus, and Florida
-Torey Krug leads Blues d-men with 5 goals, which also shares 13th in the NHL among all defensemen (1. Karlsson, 12)
-Torey Krug’s 4 power play goals share the lead on the Blues (Buchnevich/Kyrou) and share 1st in the NHL among all defensemen with Dahlin, Makar, Chabot, & Josi
-Justin Faulk’s 2 game-winning goals share the 7th most among all defensemen in the NHL (1. 6 players, 3)
BLUES CONSISTENT UNDER ARMSTRONG
-Since Doug Armstrong took over the reigns as the Blues General Manager in 2010-11, the Blues have posted a 535-308-100 record
-Their 535 wins since then rank 5th in the NHL (1. PIT, 560)
-The Blues have made the postseason 10 out of the 12 seasons since Armstrong became GM, 1 of 5 teams in the NHL to clinch 10 or more playoff berths since 2010-11 (PIT, 12/WSH, 11/BOS & NSH, 10)
-Armstrong is also just 1 of 2 GMs to clinch 10 or more playoff berths since 2010-11 (David Poile, 10)
-Since 2010-11, the Blues rank 7th with 2.92 goals per game (1. VGK, 3.20) and rank 3rd in the NHL with 2.59 goals against per game (1. BOS, 2.45)
-The Blues also share the 3rd best penalty kill (82.7%) under Armstrong (1. BOS, 83.4%), and have the 6th best power play (20.7%) in the league (1. WSH, 21.5%)
BINNINGTON REACHES CENTURY MARK
-On Monday vs. Nashville, Binnington stopped all 25 shots he faced for his 100th career win and his 12th career shutout
-Binnington became the 6th goaltender in franchise history to record at least 100 wins with the club (Liut/Allen/Joseph/Fuhr/Elliott)
-Binnington recorded his 100th win in his 184th career game, becoming the 3rd fastest in franchise history to reach 100 wins with the team
-With his shutout in his 100th career win, Binnington also moved into a tie for 6th on the Blues all-time franchise list with 12 shutouts, 1 of just 7 goaltenders to record at least 12 shutouts with the Blues
-Since Nov. 10, Binnington has 8 wins, which shares 3rd in the NHL (1. Jarry, 10)
-In his last 3 starts, Binnington is 2-0-1, with a 1.93 GAA, a .928 SV%, and 1 shutout
Fastest to 100 career wins with the Blues:
- Brian Elliott – 175 GP
- Jake Allen – 176 GP
- Jordan Binnington – 184 GP
BLUES STAY STRONG UNDER BERUBE
-Since taking over on Nov. 18, 2018, Berube has led the Blues to a 170-95-37 record (377 points)
-The Blues 377 points since Nov. 21, 2018 (Berube’s first game), rank 10th in the NHL (1. TBL, 415), while their 170 wins also rank 10th (1. TBL, 197)
-Their 3.23 goals per game share 7th in the NHL under Berube (1. TBL, 3.55)
-The Blues have posted a mark of 2.87 goals against per game under Berube, which ranks 10th in the NHL (1. BOS, 2.49)
-The Blues also have the 4th best power play in the NHL at 23.6% since Berube became head coach (1. EDM, 27.1%)
-On Sunday vs. Colorado, Berube became the 4th Head Coach in Blues history to reach 300 games behind the bench (1. Quenneville, 593 / 2. Hitchcock, 413 / 3. B. Sutter, 320)
-Last season on Dec. 29 vs. EDM, Berube became the 7th different coach in NHL history to win 200 games and play in at least 1,000 career games
Wins as Coach / Games Played
Craig Berube – 245 / 1,054
Randy Carlyle – 475 / 1,055
Bob Pulford – 363 / 1,079
Craig MacTavish – 301 / 1,093
Red Kelly – 278 / 1,316
Brent Sutter – 215 / 1,111
Larry Robinson – 209 / 1,384
BUCHNEVICH STEPPING UP FOR BLUES
-Pavel Buchnevich shares 2nd on the Blues with 9 goals (1. Kyrou, 11) and ranks 5th with 21 points (1. Kyrou/Thomas, 26)
-Buchnevich has a point in 4 consecutive games played (3g, 2a)
-Buchnevich also has 19 points in his last 15 games (8g, 11a), including 5 multi-point games in that span, after posting just 2 points (1g, 1a) in his first 6 games of the season
-Buchnevich has recorded at least 1 point in 12 of his last 15 games
-Buchnevich shares 1st on the Blues this season with 4 power play goals (Krug/Kyrou)
-Buchnevich recorded 4 points (2g, 2a) on Nov. 19 vs. Anaheim, the 2nd 4-point game of his career (also: Mar. 17, 2021 w/ NYR: 2g, 2a vs. PHI)
-Buchnevich set career-highs with 30 goals, 46 assists, and 76 points last season
THE TARASENK-SHOW
-Vladimir Tarasenko has 9 points in his last 10 games (5g, 4a)
-Tarasenko shares 3rd on the Blues with 22 points (1. Kyrou/Thomas, 26)
-Tarasenko also shares 2nd on the Blues with 9 goals (1. Kyrou, 11) and shares 2nd on the Blues with 7 even-strength goals (1. Acciari, 8)
-He also shares 4th on the Blues with 15 even-strength points (7g, 8a) (1. Schenn, 18)
-Tarasenko also ranks 5th on the Blues all-time franchise list in goals (261) and points (546)
BRAYDEN IS SCHENN-SATIONAL
-Brayden Schenn shares 3rd on the Blues with 22 points this season (7g, 15a) (1. Kyrou/Thomas, 26)
-He also shares 2nd on the Blues with 15 assists (1. Thomas, 19)
-Schenn has a point in back-to-back games (1g, 1a) and has 5 points in his last 6 games (1g, 4a)
-Schenn leads the Blues with 18 even-strength points this season (6g, 12a)
-Schenn scored the overtime winner on Monday vs. Nashville, the 9th overtime goal of his career
-Schenn has 24 power play goals since the start of the 2019-20 season, which ranks 2nd among all Blues in that span (1. Perron, 26)
-Schenn dressed in his 800th career NHL game on Dec. 3 at Pittsburgh
KYROU FINDING HIS SCORING TOUCH
-Jordan Kyrou has points in back-to-back games (1g, 3a) and has 8 points in his last 7 games (2g, 6a)
-Jordan Kyrou scored twice, including his first career overtime winner, on Nov. 26 at Florida
-Kyrou also assisted on Schenn’s overtime winner on Monday at Nashville
-Kyrou posted a career-long 8-game point streak (5g, 8a), from Nov. 14-26, including a career-long 6 game assist streak from Nov. 16-25 (2g, 8a)
-Nov. 26 at Florida was also Kyrou’s 10th career multi-goal game, which is the 3rd most among all Blues since his debut in 2018-19 (Perron – 14 / Tarasenko – 13)
-Kyrou leads the Blues with 11 goals and shares 1st on the team with 4 power play goals (Buchnevich/Krug)
-Kyrou also shares 2nd on the Blues with 8 power play points (1. Thomas, 9)
-Kyrou now has 23 points (8g, 15a) in his last 20 games after recording just 3 points (3g) in his first 9 games of the season, and has also recorded at least 1 point in 15 of his last 20 games
THOMAS SETTING THE PACE
-Robert Thomas leads the Blues with 19 assists and shares 1st with 26 points this season (Kyrou)
-Thomas has 7 points in his last 8 games (3g, 4a)
-In his last 18 games, Thomas has recorded 19 points (5g, 14a), recording at least 1 point in 14 of those 18 games
-He also leads the Blues with 8 power play assists and leads the Blues with 9 power play points
-Since Nov. 10, Thomas shares 4th in the NHL with 8 power play assists (1. Dahlin, 12) THE CAPTAIN IS COMING ALIVE
-Ryan O’Reilly has 7 points in his last 10 games (4g, 3a)
-O’Reilly has recorded 14 points (8g, 6a) in his last 20 games after just recording 1 point (1g) in his first 10 games of the season
-O’Reilly shares 2nd on the Blues with 9 goals this season (1. Kyrou, 11)
-O’Reilly scored the Blues’ first shorthanded goal of the season on Nov. 16 at Chicago, the 11th of his career
CALGARY FLAMES NOTES:
FLAMES LAST GAME RECAP
DECEMBER 14, 2022 – VANCOUVER CANUCKS [4] vs. CALGARY FLAMES 3
The Calgary Flames began a mini two-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Vancouver Canucks. The Flames fell behind early on quick strikes from Bo Horvat and Conor Garland, making it 2-0 Canucks under two minutes into the game. However, Calgary battled back with Mikael Backlund cutting the Flames deficit to one, followed by an Andrew Mangiapane strike to tie the game before the end of the first. The Flames kept their foot on the gas to start the second with Trevor Lewis netting his sixth on the campaign to give the Flames their first lead of the game. Shortly after, Sheldon Dries responded for Vancouver to level the game and it would remain that way through 40. In the final stanza, neither side could find a winner and in three-on-three overtime the Canucks outshot the Flames 5-2, but the score remained deadlocked 3-3. For the second-straight game, the Flames were headed to a shootout where Vancouver’s Andrei Kuzmenko would score the only goal and the Flames claimed a point but fell 4-3.
CGY GOAL SCORERS: Backlund (6), Mangiapane (7), Lewis (6)
GOALIE: Markstrom (24-27, .889 Sv%)
PP: 1/4 (25%)
PK: 2/2 (100%)
FLAMES LAST FIVE RESULTS, RECORD: 1-1-3
DATE RESULT GWG CGY GOALIE OPP. GOALIE
December 14, 2022 VAN [4] vs. CGY 3 Kuzmenko* Markstrom Martin
December 12, 2022 CGY [1] at MTL 2 Dach* Markstrom Allen
December 10, 2022 CGY [4] at TOR 5 Marner Vladar Murray
December 9, 2022 CGY [1] at CBJ [3] Robinson Markstrom Korpisalo/ Merzlikins
December 7, 2022 MIN [3] vs. CGY [5] Andersson Vladar Fleury
*shootout winning goal
FLAMES UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
DATE TIME
(MST) OPPONENT VENUE
December 16, 2022 7:00pm vs. St. Louis Blues Scotiabank Saddledome
December 18, 2022 8:00pm at San Jose Sharks SAP Center
December 20, 2022 8:30pm at San Jose Sharks SAP Center
December 22, 2022 8:30pm at Los Angeles Kings Cryto.com Arena
December 23, 2022 8:30pm at Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
This is the first of three matchups this season between the Flames and Blues. The Flames went 1-2 against St. Louis in their three meetings last season. This is a Pacific Division versus Central Division Matchup; The Flames have an overall record of 4-1-0 against Central Division opponents this season and a record of 7-3-1 against Western Conference opponents.
LAST SEASON AGAINST STL:
The Flames and Blues squared off three times last season, with two of the three meetings coming at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The two clubs first matchup came in January where the Flames bounced the Blues 7-1 with seven different goal scorers. The following game the Flames fell 5-1 in St. Louis and their final meeting of the season saw the closest affair the opponents played with St. Louis just edging Calgary 6-4. Nazem Kadri currently leads the Flames with 10 goals and six assists for 16 points in 27 career meetings against the Blues.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY:
Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau and Blues netminder Jordan Binnington were opponents during the 2011 Memorial Cup. Binnington was a member of the Owen Sound Attack while Jonathan Huberdeau skated for the Saint John Sea Dogs and the two teams met in the group stage of the tournament with Huberdeau scoring the game-winning goal in overtime on Binnington. Huberdeau and the Sea Dogs would go on to win the 2011 Memorial Cup with Huberdeau winning the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the tournament MVP, while Binnington earned the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the top goalie. The two have faced each other just twice in the NHL, with Binnington stopping all six shots Huberdeau has taken on him.
LOOK BACKS AT IT:
Mikael Backlund recorded his sixth goal of the season on Wednesday night, which extended his point-streak to five games (1-4 – 5). The streak began at home against the Wild on December 7th and it is his longest point streak since the 2021 campaign when he also went on a five-game point streak from April 4th to the 14th with two goals along with five assists for seven points. The only Flame to record points in more consecutive games this season was Nazem Kadri who had a six-game streak going earlier this year when he recorded four goals and five assists for nine points over the sixgame stretch.
REVERSE RETRO RETIRED:
The Calgary Flames played their final game in their 2022 Adidas Reverse Retro jerseys on Wednesday night against Vancouver. The Flames went 3-0-1 in the 1995 inspired threads with wins over Washington on December 3rd, Arizona on December 5th and Minnesota on December 7th and were able to record a point on Wednesday night against Vancouver. Nazem Kadri and Adam Ruzicka were both tied for the most points over the four games the Flames wore the Reverse Retro (6), while Andrew Mangiapane had the most goals for the Flames in the throwbacks (3). The Flames outscored their opponents 16-10 and were 91.7% on the penalty kill.
BLASTY’S BACK:
Tonight’s game will be the third game for the Flames in their black third jersey nicknamed ‘Blasty’. The Flames first reintroduced the black throwback jersey during the NHL’s first Reverse Retro series during the COVID-shortened 2021 season, going 3-3-0 in the six games they wore it. Dillon Dube recorded the most goals in Blasty in 2021 with four, including his first NHL hat trick against Ottawa in a 7-4 win on March 4th, 2021. Dube continued his scoring ways in Blasty with a shorthanded goal coupled with a pair of assists in a 6-2 win over Florida in Blasty’s first appearance of 2022. The Flames announced the black threads would be returning in October and are slated to wear Blasty 10 more times this season.
CALGARY FLAMES vs. ST. LOUIS BLUES
ALL-TIME HOME AWAY L10 STRK
CGY vs. STL 81-80-14-6 45-36-5-5 36-44-9-1 3-5-2 L2
GAME INFO:
Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues
7:00pm MT
Scotiabank Saddledome
TV: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet Fan 960
2022-23 Season Series: 0-0-0 (Home: 0-0-0, Road 0-0-0)
Dec. 16, 2022 – STL at CGY
Jan.10, 2022 – CGY at STL
Jan. 12, 2023 – CGY at STL
2021-22 Season Record vs. STL: 1-2-0 (Home: 1-1-0, Road: 0-1-0)
Last Home Win vs. STL: January 24, 2022 – St. Louis [1] vs. Calgary [7]
Last Road Win @ STL: December 16, 2018 – Calgary [7] at St. Louis [2]
Last Home Loss vs. STL: April 2, 2022 – St. Louis [6] vs. Calgary [4]
Last Road Loss @ STL: January 27, 2022 – Calgary [1] at St. Louis [5]
2022-23 CALGARY FLAMES
FLAMES RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Nov. 15 – recalled Dennis Gilbert (D) from Calgary (AHL): reassigned (D) Nick DeSimone to Calgary (AHL)
Nov. 27 – reassigned Dennis Gilbert (D) to Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 8 – placed Kevin Rooney (F) on waivers; cleared waivers
Dec. 8 – recalled Matthew Phillips (F) from Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 9 – recalled Radim Zohorna (F) from Calgary (AHL)
FLAMES RECENT INJURIES (Total man games lost – 23)
Noah Hanifin – illness (1 game: Oct. 21)
Chris Tanev – upper-body (5 games: Nov. 3 – Nov. 10)
Jonathan Huberdeau – upper-body (3 games: Nov. 8 – Nov. 12)
Michael Stone – lower-body (11 games: Nov. 7 – Nov. 25)
MacKenzie Weegar – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 12)
Elias Lindholm – upper-body injury (1 game: Dec. 12)
Chris Tanev – upper-body injury (1 game: Dec. 14)
