The St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames played a very intense and ferocious battle on Wednesday night, with the game going the distance. The Blues were unable to overcome the Flames in the shootout, losing 2-1, but did gain another point in the process.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Fight night
There is no secret that there is still some bad blood between these two franchises from last season's playoff push. The Blues had three games against the Flames in a five-week span, and it was a deciding factor in terms of who got into the playoffs and who did not. The Blues took the season series 3-0 in 2024-25, and have done pretty well this season with a 2-0-1 record.
There were a number of after-whistle altercations between the Blues and Flames, and this out-of-division rivalry continues to heat up.
Big injury for blueline
Tyler Tucker was injured in this one, as he toe-picked the ice and fell. He would limp off to the locker room and not play another shift in this game. The Blues' blueline has been spread so thin already with head coach Jim Montgomery relying alot on his top-four defenseman. Matthew Kessel will undoubtedly get some more time should Tucker miss some time.
A strong showing
This was a strong showing from the Blues, and unfortunately, the cards just did not fall into their favor. All season long, their biggest Achilles heel has been the shootout, and it struck again.
The Blues gained another point, Dylan Holloway scored on his hometown team, and Joel Hofer was strong in net. Oh, and Montgomery had his best game as coach with three successful coaches' challenge. This game could have been much, much worse, but thankfully it was all taken back, and the Blues were able to gain a much-needed point.
With 14 games to go, the Blues are still in no man's land. Perfectly between having the best odds for the first-overall pick and a playoff berth as the second wildcard team, the Blues are going to be a very interesting team to watch over the next month.