Parayko wins it for St. Louis, which is 4-0-1 under Montgomery

By Aaron Vickers

NHL.com Independent Correspondent

December 06, 2024

CALGARY -- Colton Parayko scored with 2:35 remaining in overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 4-3 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

Parayko poked a rebound by the pad of Dan Vladar after the Flames goalie made the initial stop on Robert Thomas' net drive.

"'Thommer' had good speed up against a forward," Parayko said. "He made a good play driving to the net there. I saw an opportunity of possibly jumping in there, trying to beat their guy to the net if possible. I saw a loose puck and tried to take a jab at it and that was that."

Thomas had a goal and two assists, and Jordan Binnington made 36 saves for the Blues (13-12-2), who extended their point streak to five games (4-0-1) since Jim Montgomery was hired as coach Nov. 24.

"I think just everyone's committed to giving their best effort," Binnington said. "I think system-wise it's been a positive change, and he finds a way to get the best out of his guys, encouraging, good meetings and his sense of humor ... it's fun playing hockey right now and just getting those two points. You could see the excitement on our team. Everyone was really excited about the win."

STL@CGY: Parayko pokes it in for the Blues to win the game in OT

MacKenzie Weegar had a goal and an assist, Matt Coronato and Jakob Pelletier scored, and Vladar made 20 saves for the Flames (13-9-5), who had a six-game home winning streak end.

"I just felt that I had to make one extra save than Binnington, and I didn't," Vladar said. "They got the win, but I think we deserved to win today for sure. The guys played a really good game in front of me. We played good hockey but unfortunately it wasn't enough."

Zack Bolduc gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 12:49 of the first period on the power play with a one-timer from the high slot on a setup by Brayden Schenn that snuck under Vladar's glove.

Thomas pushed it to 2-0 at 14:49 with a shot off the rush that beat Vladar's blocker, deflected off the post and in.

Pelletier scored 15 seconds later at 15:04 to pull Calgary to 2-1 when he slid a rebound on Weegar's initial point shot under Binnington. Pelletier, selected with the No. 26 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, was recalled from Calgary of the American Hockey League on Monday after failing to make the team out of camp and clearing waivers.

"It's been a tough year and a half," Pelletier said. "It felt good, to score a big goal. It felt pretty good, to be honest."

Coronato tied it 2-2 at 5:23 of the second period with a wrist shot from the high slot on the power play that beat Binnington blocker side.

Pavel Buchnevich put St. Louis up 3-2 when he tapped a cross-ice pass from Thomas over the goal line at 6:00 of the third period, six seconds after a minor penalty to Martin Pospisil had expired.

STL@CGY: Buchnevich nets it to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the 3rd

Weegar tied it 3-3 at 7:06 with a one-timer between Binnington's legs from the low slot on a setup by Jonathan Huberdeau during 4-on-4 play.

"They're a great team at home," Thomas said. "They have a great home record. They play hard, they're fast. It wasn't our best game tonight. We didn't have it for whatever reason. We believe we're a good team and good teams find ways to do it on the road, whether it's overtime, whether it's late in the game. We just fought and found a way to get a win."

NOTES: St. Louis is tied for the NHL lead with eight wins in one-goal games. ... Binnington played in his 300th NHL game, all with the Blues. He is the second goaltender in franchise history to reach that milestone, behind Mike Liut, who played 347 games. ... St. Louis forward Dylan Holloway had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (four goals, four assists). ... The Blues are 8-1-0 in their past nine games against Calgary. They've scored three or more goals in each of their eight wins. ... St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury.