Kent Huskins Cares, Winds Up On Injured Reserve With Broken Ankle

In the smallest injury notification ever, the Blues have mentioned that defenseman Kent Huskins broke his left ankle last night in Calgary. I was hoping it was just bruised like Nyjer Morgan’s ego, but sadly, the injury bug has struck again for the Blues.

This should give Taylor Chorney a chance to get out there and play for the big club. Chorney was acquired from waivers on October 11th from the Edmonton Oilers.

Blues Vs. Flames Final Score: Blues Fall 3-1, Go Home Ringless

There would be no comeback for the St. Louis Blues tonight. Alas, David Freese was not walking through that door. But the Blues did get close, pulling to within a goal of the Flames at 12:28 in the third period after leading goal scorer Alex Steen pocketed his sixth of the season. But Flames center Olli Jokinen put the game permanently out of reach at 18:44 with his second goal of the year.

For the Blues, the loss ends their three game winning streak and drops them to an even 5-5 on the year. With 10 points, the Blues sit in third in the Central Division behind Chicago and Detroit, but obviously they have a long time to change that. St. Louis will continue their tour of Western Canada when they take on the Oilers in Edmonton on Sunday night. The Oilers, who defeated the Colorado Avalanche tonight, lead the Northwest Division by two points.

Blues Vs. Flames Score Update: Calgary Goes Up By One In Second

Calgary Flames winger Tom Kostopoulos is pointless in 2011 no longer. His goal at 14:45 in the second period gave the Flames a 1-0 lead, which they would sit on for the entire period. Calgary only totaled four shots on goal to St. Louis' nine, but it's the one in the net that counts.

Alex Steen, the Blues leading scorer, has notched three shots in over 15 minutes of ice time for St. Louis, but he and his team, including Jamie Langebrunner, who leads the team tonight with four shots, have come up empty. The bad news for the Blues is that they squandered a 5-on-3 in the middle of the third, which may prove to be their best scoring opportunity of the night, as they try and extend their longest winning streak of the season. The better news is that win or lose, tonight's game will be overshadowed by Game 7 of the World Series.

Blues Vs. Flames Score Update: Both Teams Scoreless After First Period

In the second most important game involving a St. Louis pro team on Friday night, the Blues and Calgary Flames have yet to put a puck in the net in their second meeting of the season. With 15 combined shots on goal, the first period was a defensive battle, and for the time being, looks to be off the pace of the Flames' 5-2 victory over the Blues on Oct. 10.

The Blues, after dropping five of their first seven games to start the season, are currently riding a three game winning streak, a roll that was extended on Wednesday night with a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Though it's early in the season, it's safe to say that playoff teams likely don't drop multiple games to a team like the Flames that figures to be in the bottom of the Western Conference. If the Blues are still scoreless after the second period, they might want to inquire on Allen Craig's availability.

St. Louis Blues At Calgary Flames: Blues To Stick With Brian Elliott

There’s a reason that the Blues are starting a backup against one of the league’s best goalies – much like the situation they had with Manny Legace and Chris Mason in 2009, the backup gives the team the best chance to win. Brian Elliott is the proud owner of a nine game win streak back in his first year in the league with the Ottawa Senators.

Sayth Blues coach Davis Payne on the decision:

“You want to get into my mind and talk about no-brainers?” he said, gathering a laugh from the media at the Saddledome this morning. “No, it’s just a decision based on performance and how the team is playing and what we feel he can give us tonight.”

Makes perfect sense – you do what you need to do to win, not to fluff up a starter’s ego with a pity start. Will Halak get rusty, though, taking so much time between starts? If a backup’s supposed to be ready at a moments’ notice, then that should apply to the starter if he’s in a backup’s situation. It’s not like Halak gives the Blues an advantage right now, and the team needs to win.

St. Louis Blues At Calgary Flames: There's A Hockey Game Tonight?

Admit it. The last thing that anyone was thinking about last night – or is thinking about today – is the Blues’ trip to Calgary to take on the Flames. David Freese’s walk-off and the Cardinals’ Game Six come from behind thriller of a victory is all that St. Louis – and pretty much the sports world – can talk about. Last night on Twitter, David Perron let everyone know that the whole team was cheering so loud in their hotel rooms that they woke the whole place up; Kevin Shattenkirk opined how the guys wished they could be in St. Louis to see the games in person.

They have a job to do, though, and scheduling doesn’t always work out the way that you want it to. Tonight the Blues continue their first Western Canada road trip by traveling to Calgary for a Friday night match-up. The Flames are 3-4-1 so far on the year, though not because of goaltender Mikka Kpirusoff. The success he has in his career is illustrated by his success against the Blues. He has a 1.94 GAA facing off against the Blues, and a record of 18-2-2 in his past 24 starts against St. Louis. His GAA last year against the team? A teeeeeny 0.75.

The Blues don’t have a goaltender of Kiprusoff’s caliber, though many hoped Jaroslav Halak would prove to be. Instead, they have an incredibly streaky back-up goaltender who is thankfully quite hot right now. Brian Elliott would not be a shock to start this game. In the four games he has started, he is 4-0-0 with a 1.31 GAA, and has fared fairly well against Calgary in the past. If Elliott can get some help in the special teams – which have admittedly been better of late – the Blues stand a good chance of extending their win streak to four games, which they haven’t done since December of last season.