The Calgary Flames continued their losing ways Friday night as they were shutout by the hometown Blues. The scoring opportunities were certainly there for the taking as the Flames managed three breakaways and two hits post, but were unable to sneak anything by starting goaltender Brian Elliot.

PHOTO CREDIT - CalgaryFlames.com

Calgary - November 26, 2011 - The Calgary Flames continued their losing ways Friday night as they were shutout by the hometown Blues. The scoring opportunities were certainly there for the taking as the Flames managed three breakaways and two hits post, but were unable to sneak anything by starting goaltender Brian Elliot. Elliot stopped all 24 shots fired his way on the evening, earning his third shutout of the year and improving his record on the season to a spectacular 9-1.

The St.Louis Blues clearly looked like the more structured and aggressive team on the night as they outworked the Flames for sixty minutes. Starting the charge for the Blues offensively was their captain David Backes, Who single handedly managed to put his team on the board while shorthanded. The big strong forward scraped past two Flames defenders before finding himself in alone on a breakaway to beat Miikka Kiprusoff high over the glove to open the scoring.

Only finding themselves down by a goal, The Flames garnered multiple chances to tie the game as Lee Stempniak, Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla all managed to sneak behind the defense of the Blues before breaking in one on one against Brian Elliot. Elliot however was up to the task on all three occasions, as he made three remarkable saves to keep his team ahead on the scoreboard. Soon thereafter a scary moment occurred as Flames defender Mark Giordano took the skate of Blues forward Vladmir Sobotka right to the face. Fortunately for both the Flames and Mark Giordano, the skate blade itself just missed allowing him to escape serious injury. Giordano went on to play the remainder of the game.

A decent push back by the Flames in the third period was cut short as Alex Pietrangelo scored the put away goal to end the hopes of a Flames comeback at the 13:17 mark of the final frame. All in all, it was a typical Flames game in which they left you as a fan wanting more. It is personally hard for me to put a finger on one thing that I find wrong with this team, as there is so many to choose from. What I know for certain is that I, along many others are in for a very long year as a fan of this team.

Calgary Flames General Manager Jay Feaster announced Thursday morning that the club had pick up twenty five year old Blake Comeau off of waivers from the New York Islanders. Comeau a 2nd round draft pick in the 2004 draft had progressed quite nicely in his first four years in the NHL before struggling to find his place among the Islanders roster to start the year. Just last year, Blake set career highs in goals (24) and points (46)and was a fixture in the top six forwards on his team.

Rumored to be having troubles with the coaching staff of the Islanders, Comeau saw his opportunity and ice time diminish and as a result his play had suffered. In my opinion these are the exact types of risks that Jay Feaster must be taking, I see next to no downside in gambling on a 25 year old player who has succeeded at this level on numerous occasions. To me this could signal a roster move that see’s an older top six forward leave the organization in a trade (Rene Bourque comes to mind) for a draft pick or prospect. Both Brent Sutter and Tim Jackman have previous connections with Comeau, so they probably had some say in this decision. This is a low risk - high reward type of situation that could pay huge dividends down the road, And I am happy to have him join our organization.