St. Louis @ Calgary preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 16, 2018 ) Calgary 7, St. Louis 2

The first-place Calgary Flames try for their second victory in seven days over St. Louis when they host the Blues on Saturday afternoon after getting an idea of where they stand on a league-wide basis. Calgary is coming off a 5-4 shootout loss Thursday to Tampa Bay, which boasts the most points in the league with 56 - nine more than the Flames - and is the early favorite to win the Stanley Cup.

"I think we knew we could play with any team in the league just the way we've been playing throughout the season here," Calgary left wing Johnny Gaudreau told reporters after recording a goal and an assist against the Lightning. "Obviously, it was a good test for us. This team had most teams by a pretty good margin, so great test for us. It was a good game for us." The Flames have dropped two straight - their first losing streak in more than a month, but own a four-point lead over San Jose and Anaheim in the Pacific Division. St. Louis split the first two games of its Western Canada trip, defeating Edmonton 4-1 on Tuesday before losing 5-1 to Vancouver on Thursday. Calgary routed the Blues 7-2 in the Gateway City on Sunday behind two goals apiece from Gaudreau and Alan Quine.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), Sportsnet West (Calgary)

ABOUT THE BLUES (13-16-4): Vladimir Tarasenko (11 goals, 22 points, minus-15) has scored in consecutive games since being kept off the scoresheet in the previous seven contests. Ryan O'Reilly (13 goals) paces the team with 32 points but has only five in December while Brayden Schenn (22 points in 29 games) has four assists in his last two games and six points in his past five. David Perron (11) joins O'Reilly and Tarasenko as the club's only double-digit goal scorers with three in his last five contests.

ABOUT THE FLAMES (22-11-3): Gaudreau boasts a club-high 47 points, including 10 goals and 18 assists in his last 17 games despite being kept off the scoresheet four times during that span. Sean Monahan scored his team-best 21st goal Thursday, giving seven goals and 13 points in December after recording 14 points in October and 13 in November. Sam Bennett (team-high 51 penalty minutes) returned to the lineup Thursday after missing two games (upper body) and posted a goal, an assist and a game-high seven hits while staying out of the box.

OVERTIME

1. Calgary D Mark Giordano (35 points), who last hit the scoresheet Sunday with a goal and an assist, needs five assists for 300 in his career while teammate and fellow blueliner Noah Hanifin needs one point for 100.

2. The Flames scored three power-play goals Sunday against St. Louis' No. 9 penalty killing unit entering Friday (82.5 percent) after going 1-for-15 in the previous five contests and 0-for-5 in two games since.

3. The Blues, whose three power-play goals allowed Sunday were a season high, are 2-for-22 with the man advantage in their last nine games.

PREDICTION: Flames 3, Blues 2