Coming off back-to-back wins, the Calgary Flames were looking to extend that streak to a season high against the defending Stanley Cup champions. The St. Louis Blues outplayed the Flames for the majority of the game, but the home team found a way to come back in the third period yet again. Unfortunately they couldn’t complete the job in OT, with the Blues scoring on a man advantage and taking a 3-2 victory.

Statistical Breakdown

5v5 SVA CF% SCF% HDCF% xGF% 44.3% 40.8% 49.0% 45.3% 55.7% 59.2% 51.0% 54.7%

Team Stats

5v5 Player Stats

Calgary Flames

The MMA 2.0 line of Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund, and Andrew Mangiapane led the team in CF% with 69.0%, 67.9%, and 62.5% respectively

Sam Bennett had a tough game in terms of possession, posting a game low 23.5%

Tkachuk also accounted for 2 iHDCF, was on the ice for 4 HDCF and only 1 HDCA, in another beast of a game

Opponent

Jay Bouwmeester and Ryan O’Reilly tied for the game high CF% with 69.6% a piece

Brayden Schenn was at the bottom of his teams possession rating with a 26.9% CF%

In his first game as a Blue, Jacob De La Rose posted a CF% of 40.0% in just 9:12 of 5v5 ice time.

Stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick

Thoughts on the Game

No need to cry a river after last night’s performance. The Blues are simply an excellent team,and the Flames should count themselves extremely lucky that they were able to get a point out of the game. Tkachuk got the comeback started, but it was a gift from Jordan Binnington, combined with a decent play by Travis Hamonic, that sent the game to OT. The way the Blues were playing, it was shocking the Flames were even able to generate any chances. A repeat championship for this team would not be out of the question.

This is a key point for the Flames to take. Obviously two would be better, but the fact that the Blues took two from Edmonton and one from Vancouver, the Flames getting one is key for them to keep pace in the Pacific Division race. With so many more games played, the Flames need to keep winning to ensure they don’t get bumped down due to games in hand.

Obviously the talk of last night will be on TJ Brodie’s penalty in OT that led to the game winning power play goal. Before everyone jumps on the “Trade Brodie Bandwagon”, it’s fair to assess the situation:

Blame Brodie as much as you want, but he doesn't take that penalty is Gaudreau wasn't as careless with the puck on two separate occasions — John MacKinnon (@johnmackinnon24) November 10, 2019

I personally take the high road, as Brodie would have never had to race back to try to stop a goal had Johnny Gaudreau not have been as careless as he was. Plus, Brodie didn’t take an undisciplined penalty in the offensive zone, he took one whilst doing what he could to prevent a goal. It’s extremely fair to say that Brodie has made a ton of mistakes over his tenure as a Calgary Flame, but would you really prefer the likes of Michael Stone or Brandon Davidson in his place playing those minutes? Players make mistakes, some more than others in Brodie’s case, but you cannot truly hang this loss on his shoulders.

The Gaud, the Bad, and the UGLY

Good: David Rittich was outstanding yet again. The Flames may be leaning on him a ton so far this season, but he simply will not break.

Bad: Four minor penalties, leading to two PPGA. Simply not disciplined enough and it’s tough to break those habits.

Ugly: Stone is simply no longer a viable option for the Flames sixth defenseman. He made a number of costly plays last night, and his defensive game is lacking. He cannot, and should not, start next game.

Next Game

Opponent: Dallas Stars

Record: 8-8-1

Standings: 5th in the Central

Season Series: 1-0-0

Photo by: Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images