National Hockey League

St. Louis Blues David Perron Cools Flames By Lighting Up The Night

Published Oct. 23, 2016 1:21 a.m. ET

foxsports

The St. Louis Blues sure can’t make things comfortable, can they? David Perron sure looked comfortable on the night though.

The St. Louis Blues got the job done against the Calgary Flames. They could not make it comfortable for anyone with a heart condition or heartburn, but they picked up the win.

The win is thanks, in large part, to David Perron. The maligned winger came alive in Calgary and lit the lamp three times.

They were not garbage goals either. Perron scored the first goal of the game, the goal to tie up the game at two and then the eventual game winner.

What is more, Perron scored in multiple ways as well. The first goal, he went to the open space in front of the net and ended up getting a deflection goal to open up the scoring.

The second goal was even more out of character compared to the old Perron we used to know. He went to the dirty area in tight and ended up with a nice rebound goal, showing some nifty foot and stick work to put it in.

The third goal of the hat trick was a pure goal scorer’s goal. A sweet give and go was actually set up by Perron after a takeaway in the middle of the rink. He then took the return pass from Vladimir Tarasenko in the slot, made a couple moves and finished it off with the backhander.

Perron did his part, but the Blues almost did not hold up their end of the bargain. Still, the team ended up holding on for the 6-4 win and two points.

The trip was not a total loss. The Blues made too many mistakes the entire trip (maybe it’s something in the Canadian water?) and backed off a little too much defensively.

Still, they went 1-1-1 in the three games and got three points out of six. They should have had six or five, but hopefully they clean things up.

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Other Notables

I am unashamedly a fan of Jake Allen. I believe when he is on his game, he has the talent to lead this team where we all want it to go. That said, he almost cost us the game.

Allen was shaky from the start. He never seemed comfortable and let in a very soft goal on the Flames’ second tally. I think he will rebound, but it may be wise to let Carter Hutton have the net when Calgary comes to visit.

Nail Yakupov continues to impress. It’s way to early to say he’s living up to his draft billing, but if he can continue this current form, that statement will be easy to say.

Confidence is key with scorers and Yakupov has it right now. We just have to hope he can keep it since he has the air of someone who is either very hot or very cold.

Lastly, what is with the team and silly mental mistakes? Again, turnovers were costly. The defense backed off way too much, leading to a goal. The effort would kind of disappear randomly.

If the Blues got steady play from everyone on the ice, they would have won going away. Instead, we had to sweat it out a little.

Looking Forward

The Blues are going to face the Calgary Flames again next week. They have a few days off beforehand, but the return game will take place on Tuesday.

Whether or not Brian Elliott will be in the net this time remains up in the air. The Flames will be playing back-to-back games, starting on Monday so the Flames would be letting Chad Johnson play two in a row to allow Elliott to play in St. Louis.

The Blues will try to continue their dominance over the Flames. St. Louis has 13 wins and has only lost in regulation three times against Calgary since 2011.

Thankfully, we are done with these late games for a little while. It will be good to get back on home ice.