Radek Faksa scored the game-winning goal as the St. Louis Blues edged the visiting Calgary Flames 2-1 Tuesday night.
Colton Parayko also scored for the Blues and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves.
Kevin Bahl scored and Dan Vladar stopped 23 shots for the Flames, whose three-game winning streak came to an end.
After Vladar stopped Alexey Toropchenko on a clean break-in, Bahl tied the game 1-1 with 13:54 to play. Bahl stepped in from the left point, faked a slap shot, then fired a wrist shot that beat Binnington to the short side.
Faksa put the Blues up 2-1 with 8:49 to play by deflecting Tyler Tucker’s shot from the right point. With Vladar pulled for an extra attacker, the Flames applied pressure playing 6-on-5 but failed to tie the game.
St. Louis has won two of its last three heading into Thursday’s home rematch against Calgary.
The Blues jumped ahead 1-0 just 49 seconds into the game. Cam Fowler shot from the left faceoff circle, then Parayko stepped in to convert the weak-side rebound from Brayden Schenn on the right side.
The Flames nearly tied the game with 4:48 left in the first period, but Blake Coleman’s power-play shot from the left faceoff dot rang off the crossbar.
Blues winger Dylan Holloway fired a shot off the left post off the rush in the first minute of the second period.
Nazem Kadri had two excellent scoring chances in the period for Calgary, but Binnington stopped his shot off the right wing on a 2-on-1 rush and denied his attempt coming down the middle on a partial breakaway.
The Flames found a good scoring chance at the end of the period when Rasmus Andersson got a shot through traffic but not through Binnington.
Mikael Backlund had two great chances for Calgary early in the third period. On the first, he took a pass atop the crease but was checked by Binnington before he could shoot. On the second, Backlund pounded a shot from the slot that Binnington stopped.
–Field Level Media
