The St. Louis Blues had the kind of start that filtered into the game Tuesday much like the way they played on Saturday.
They managed the puck well, they had sustained offensive zone time, and they had quality scoring chances.
Initially, Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom made sure the Blues didn't get off to a running start feeling confident on the road. But those early saves only kept it close enough in the end when Brandon Saad's second goal of the game with 48 seconds remaining enabled the Blues to rally past the Flames, 4-3, at Scotiabank Saddledome.
We take a dive into the three-period takeaways to see how these Western Conference wild card hopefuls played this one out, the Blues' second win in this building this season and eighth in nine tries:
* First Period -- The Blues (23-20-2) had that jump they needed and desired.
They've talked so much about playing consistent, and it looked like they were going to get it again in this game.
Saad, who could have had himself a full handful of goals, was sent in alone along the left on a really nice stretch pass by Justin Faulk 1:17 into the game, but he couldn't beat Markstrom on the short side.
Matthew Kessel, who's been rock solid since being recalled on Dec. 29, nearly had a rare costly turnover when his pass was picked off by Cole Schwindt making his NHL debut, but Jordan Binnington kept it a 0-0 game at 2:41.
Markstrom was called into action again when he stopped Torey Krug coming down the slot off the left when Brayden Schenn pulled up and found the Blues defenseman at 6:46.
Schwindt took Calgary's only penalty of the game when he was whistled for interference on Saad at 7:03, and the Blues nearly scored a couple of times, but Kevin Hayes had the best chance on a wrister from the right circle that Markstrom gloved at 8:38.
The Blues had to be thinking if it was going to be one of those nights, and when Mackenzie Weegar made it 1-0 at 11:38, it had the earmarks of a tough night.
But that shift was a poor one by the Robert Thomas line with Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich, and Faulk and Krug on defense. There were multiple times when either Krug, Kyrou and Thomas mismanaged the puck, and Buchnevich wasn't hard enough on it in the neutral zone that gave the Flames more o-zone time, and they eventually found Weegar on the point after rimming the puck around, and the defenseman skated the puck into the left circle for a wrister that beat Binnington on the short side with Jonathan Huberdeau providing some net front traffic.
The sloppy play continued when Thomas had consecutive giveaways, one in the neutral zone, then another dangerously in front of his net, but Binnington made multiple saves to keep it a 1-0 deficit.
Saad had his second breakaway and tried to scoop a puck over Markstrom, who came out to challenge on a loose puck sprung off a feed from Nick Leddy, but Saad couldn't flip it over Markstrom at 16:03.
After outshooting Calgary 9-4 to start the game, the Flames outshot the Blues 12-1 the rest of the period and came out with a 1-0 lead and 16-10 edge in shots as the ice tilted quite a bit.
* Second Period -- Binnington was called into action early when he made a big-time stop on Matt Coronato from the edge of the rightcircle at 1:58, sliding from his right to left on the play.
Saad, who had to be feeling snakebit going 0-for-2 on breakaway attempts, and hitting the cross bar seconds before scoring, but he finally found the back of the net to tie it 1-1 at 8:27, a shot from the left circle beating Markstrom short side after Nick Leddy went blue line to blue line to Colton Parayko, whose cross ice zip pass to Saad found the forward in the left circle before the finish.
The goal came with some momentum the Blues had built, but Oskar Sundqvist, playing in his 400th NHL game, was called for a high-sticking minor at 8:37.
The Blues had a chance to grab the lead, but Saad again on a breakaway was stopped by Markstrom on the backhand at 9:47.
The Blues got through that kill, but the Flames had put some pressure on and gained momentum and regained the lead on Noah Hanifin's one-timer from the left circle that beat Binnington short side at 11:13 for a 2-1 lead.
Hanifin pounced on an errant cross ice pass, and judging by his reaction, Binnington looked like he wanted that shot.
And then just 64 seconds later at 12:17, Yegor Sharangovich made it 3-1 after Krug tried to keep a puck alive in the offensive zone, but instead of playing it safe, the puck skipped past Krug leading to open ice, and Sharangovich backed Faulk in before beating Binnington with a short side wrister that looked like a stoppable shot too.
But Krug's blue line mistake at one end and Faulk not closing the gap on Sharangovich could have perhaps prevented any shot on the first place.
And when Alexey Toropchenko took a slashing minor at 17:06, the Blues' task appeared to get that much tougher ...
Until Schenn made it 3-2 with their league-tying 11th shorthanded goal and the first of the captain's career when he pounced on Weegar's fumbling of the puck that enabled Schenn to aggressively close the gap and beat Markstrom glove side on a breakaway at 17:13.
It was a momentum goal for the Blues for sure, who now all of the sudden are down one instead of two and being outshot 30-19. They also had 12 giveaways through two periods.
* Third Period -- But things started to change.
There were no more giveaways, there were no more plays of getting beat off the wall, there were no more plays of getting hemmed in and not establishing a forecheck of their own.
The Blues took care of the puck, forechecked and played aggressively. And they also moved Matthew Kessel with Krug and put Marco Scandella, who had himself a real solid game, with Faulk. It was a move that paid off in this game.
The fourth line had a terrific shift with Sammy Blais, Sundqvist and Nikita Alexandrov forechecking and retrieving pucks hemming the Flames in their zone.
It didn't produce a goal for them, but it enabled the Blues to get fresh bodies on the ice, and the top line jumped in, and Kyrou tied it 3-3 at 6:56 with a shot from the slot.
Nick Leddy was able to keep two pucks in at the blue line, Kyrou fetched the second one and curled to the left hash mark and beat Markstrom with a wrister short side.
Kyrou nearly put the Blues ahead, but he couldn't convert the Blues' fifth breakaway of the game(!) at 11:12.
Binnington, who made some key stops throughout despite allowing three, made his biggest and most important save on Dennis Gilbert, a glove save from the slot at 9:59.
Now, it got dicey when the penalty kill was put on the heater one final time when Torey Krug was called for slashing at 12:24 after Nathan Walker failed to clear the puck out of the zone, but not only was the PK effective once again, the Flames did not get any shots on goal and kept it a 3-3 game ...
Until Saad struck with 48 seconds left to give the Blues their first and only lead at 4-3.
Colton Parayko collected a puck in his zone, fed Saad just inside the d-zone blue line with speed as he darted through the neutral zone before using defenseman Jordan Oesterle as a screen and snapping a shot stick side on Markstrom off the post and in.
The Blues, who had just seven shots in the third period themselves, seemed destined for overtime and the two teams would fight for the second point, but they only allowed five shots themselves while going for it there in the end, and it paid off with a huge win.
