Dougie Hamilton breaks tie in 3rd, Flames beat Blues 2-1

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) – Dougie Hamilton broke a tie at 7:57 of the third period and the Calgary Flames beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Wednesday night.

After goalie Carter Hutton stopped an initial shot from the blue line, Ivan Barbashev was about to skate away with the rebound when Hamilton swung at the puck and, all in one motion, knocked it off Barbashev’s stick and into the goal.

Michael Frolik also scored for Calgary.

Brayden Schenn had his team-leading 17th goal for St. Louis. The Blues have lost four of five.

St. Louis tied it at 1 on a power play 1:26 into the second. After hitting the blue line with speed, Schenn neatly stepped around flat-footed Troy Brouwer and fired a shot inside the goal post on Mike Smith.

Frolik opened the scoring at 7:58 of the first when he was set up alone in front by Mikael Backlund. Hutton made the initial stop, but the rebound went high in the air, deflected off a Blues player and just crossed the line before being cleared away by Tage Thompson.

Not ruled a goal originally, play continued on for about 45 seconds before the arena horn sounded and the Flames started celebrating with Frolik at the bench. The league had immediately reviewed play and had determined the puck did go in.

Smith made 21 saves to improve to 13-11-3. His best save came halfway through the third when he jabbed out his blocker to deny Alex Steen from 20 feet out. Hutton made 31 stops in his first start since his 48-save shutout of the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

NOTES: Calgary played most of the game with five defenSemen after Travis Hamonic (lower body) left late in the first period. … The Blues went 1 for 4 on the man advantage, while Calgary’s power play was 0 for 4 to fall to 1 for 28 over the last seven games. … Jaromir Jagr (lower body) sat out for Calgary. The nagging injury has sidelined him for a total of 13 games.

UP NEXT:

Blues: At Edmonton on Thursday night.

Flames: Host Montreal on Friday night.

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St. Louis Blues goalie Carter Hutton makes a save on Calgary Flames’ Johnny Gaudreau during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, in Calgary, Alberta. (Todd Korol/The Canadian Press via AP)

Calgary Flames Travis Hamonic, left, works for position against St. Louis Blues’ Magnus Paajarvi during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, in Calgary, Alberta. (Todd Korol/The Canadian Press via AP)

St. Louis Blues’ Brayden Schenn celebrates his goal against the Calgary Flames during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, in Calgary, Alberta. (Todd Korol/The Canadian Press via AP)

Calgary Flames’ Travis Hamonic, left, moves St. Louis Blues’ Scottie Upshall from blocking Flames goalie Mike Smith during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, in Calgary, Alberta. (Todd Korol/The Canadian Press via AP)