St. Louis 2 Calgary 0
ST. LOUIS — Brian Elliott stopped 24 shots in his third shutout this season, David Backes added a goal and an assist and the St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames 2-0 on Friday night.
Alex Pietrangelo also scored for the Blues, who are 6-1-2 since Ken Hitchcock took over as coach.
The Flames, who have been blanked three times in 21 games, got 22 stops from Miikka Kiprusoff.
Backes gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal, powering his way past Flames defenceman T.J. Brodie and lifting a shot over Kiprusoff’s glove 10:39 into the game.
Elliott, who leads the league in goals-against average and save percentage, did his best to preserve the one-goal lead in the third period, stopping Brendan Morrison in tight, then thwarting breakaway attempts by Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay. Elliott is now 9-1 on the season.
Pietrangelo gave the Blues a two-goal cushion when he put Alex Steen’s feed from the slot into the top of the net past Kiprusoff with 6:43 to play. Backes won the puck in the corner on a big check of Flames defenceman Chris Butler then got it to Steen, who found Pietrangelo.
NOTES: Backes has four goals in five games after scoring four times in the first 17. He also has six points in five games. ... The Flames picked up LW Blake Comeau off waivers from the New York Islanders Friday. He arrived in St. Louis in time to make his Flames debut. ... Blues C Patrik Berglund and C Jason Arnott each have one goal in 13 games. ... Kiprusoff came into the game with a lifetime record of 19-4-2 with a 1.90 GAA, .927 save percentage and three shutouts in his career against the Blues. ... Flames D Jay Bouwmeester played in his 528th straight game, the longest current ironman streak.