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.