5 key moments from the Flames 4-1 loss vs. Blues

Speaking to the travelling media (via Flames TV), Flames head coach Ryan Huska had a pretty succinct answer where asked about the start.

“I felt there was one team that had the urgency to start the game and one team didn’t. And unfortunately we were the team that didn’t tonight.”

Dustin Wolf allows a (rare) bad goal (13:53, first period)

Dustin Wolf has generated well-deserved Calder Trophy buzz. Heck, he’s got some of the best goaltending numbers in the entire NHL this season and he’s just 23. But he was not great early against the Blues.

The second St. Louis goal was a Colton Parayko shot with zero screens or traffic that Wolf saw the whole way. It beat him. By his lofty standards, it’s a “bad” goal.

“I thought he battled,” said Huska of Wolf’s performance. “I mean there’s some goals I think he’d probably like to have back and it’s going to happen for a young guy. But I think the one thing that we would look for is how he responds. And I thought he did a pretty good job the rest of the way making some saves and staying competitive for us.”

Wolf remains a very impressive netminder despite a tough night. He’s saved 13.5 goals above expected at five-on-five (via Natural Stat Trick) and 7.3 goals above expected overall.

Yegor Sharangovich gets the Flames on the board (11:14, second period)

For the second time on the road trip, Yegor Sharangovich scored a nice goal. Considering he was in “he may never score again!” territory, it’s heartening to see him get his mojo back a little bit.

The Flames’ lone goal was a nice bit of work by the third line, with youngsters Jakob Pelletier and Rory Kerins doing a nice job on puck retrieval and Pelletier finding Sharangovich in the slot area.

The Blues respond on the power play (17:39, second period)

The Flames were very good in the second period. Sure, the Blues were nursing a 3-0 lead, which was trimmed to 3-1 when Sharangovich scored. You can make the “it was score effects!” argument, and you’re probably not wrong, but the Blues did a nice enough job letting the Flames do their thing, tire themselves out, and then pounce when they made a mistake.

It’s easy to be patient when you’re holding a multi-goal lead.

The Flames timed a line change poorly, leading to a Brayden Pachal minor penalty. Schenn redirected a pass to the front of the net past Wolf on the ensuing power play to restore the Blues’ three goal lead.

Huska noted that the goal “took a little bit of the life out of us there”

Brayden Pachal fights Nathan Walker (17:49, third period)

Pachal had a bit of a tough night, but he continued to play physical in the third period even as the Blues seemed to grow tired of his rambunctiousness.

Eventually, Pachal ended up scrapping with Nathan Walker in the waning moments of the game, his fourth bout of the season.

Pachal didn’t have his best night, but at least he kept battling until the bitter end.

The Flames close out their road trip on Saturday night in Winnipeg against the Jets.

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