The Calgary Flames enjoyed an explosive offensive performance for the second home game in a row, demolishing St. Louis 7-1 to snap a four-game skid against the Blues.
With so many forthcoming home games, turning the Saddledome into a fortress is one of the team’s main priorities. Darryl Sutter’s side against Florida and tonight versus the Blues have taken two Goliath-size steps to accomplishing that feat.
The Flames were dominant in every facet of tonight’s encounter. Matthew Tkachuk had a handful of assists while Johnny Gaudreau scored one and assisted three. Sean Monahan continued his resurgence with a power-play marker, his seventh of the season. Monahan now has two goals in as many home games and is tied with Tkachuk for the team lead in power-play points, with 12.
Monahan didn’t provide the only boost in secondary scoring, with Christopher Tanev, Nikita Zadorov, Blake Coleman, Adam Ruzicka also getting in on the act.
Elias Lindholm rounded at Calgary’s scoring. The Flames also looked sharp on the power-play, not for the first in recent outings. They finished the night 2-for-5 with the man advantage.
While the Blues were clearly acres off their best on the second night of a back-to-back, Calgary deserves plaudits for their ruthlessness and relentlessness on the forecheck. Crisp, quick and smart passing made life miserable for the away team, who, prior to tonight’s embarrassment, had won six of their last seven contests.
The Flames have scored 12 goals in their last two home games, the impressive combined total coming against viable Stanley Cup contenders. Putting together such dominant displays in successive games bodes well as the boys in red depart for Columbus, where they’ll play on Wednesday.
On Thursday Calgary travels to St. Louis for a rematch against the Blues. The Flames will be faced with the same back-to-back scenario the Blues were tonight. Let’s hope our boys play better with heavy legs than St. Louis did tonight.