Colton Parayko passes puck to himself for goal vs. Flames
Blues rookie D-man helps snap Calgary's 7-game win streak
Not everyone in Alberta was shedding a tear when the Calgary Flames' seven-game win streak was halted on Saturday.
Not fans of the provincial rival Edmonton Oilers, family and friends of Colton Parayko or those living in his hometown of St. Albert.
The rookie St. Louis defenceman scored his sixth goal in 32 games to help the Blues to a third straight victory and sixth in a row against Calgary, 3-2.
Parayko's first-period marker was a thing of beauty as he made steady Flames defenceman T.J. Brodie and red-hot goalie Karri Ramo look ordinary. After sliding the puck around Brodie in the slot, the six-foot-five, 226-pound Parayko went wide and backhanded a shot under the crossbar from a tough angle for his first goal in 18 games.
another angle <a href="https://t.co/LzLlNYDS9d">pic.twitter.com/LzLlNYDS9d</a>
—@myregularface"I went to the net, tried to find some open space, and Vlad [Vladimir Tarasenko], the great player he is, he found me," Parayko told reporters. "I just had to beat one guy and I just kind of poked the puck and I was lucky enough to get it by. I looked back and saw the mesh, so I just fired one."
Parayko's wizardry with the puck reminded Blues goaltender Brian Elliott of a current NHL superstar.
"It looked like a skilled forward, maybe [Alex] Ovechkin-type move, coming across, going into the corner, backhand shelf," Elliott said of Parayko's effort.
The 22-year-old Parayko took off offensively in his second year with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and St. Louis noticed, drafting him in the third round in the summer of 2012 after Parayko scored nine goals and 42 points in 53 games, a 30-point improvement from the previous season.
Colton Parayko, second star performance in the <a href="https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues">@StLouisBlues</a> 3-2 win over Calgary. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoNooks?src=hash">#GoNooks</a>
—@NanookHockeyThree years later, he boasts the best plus-minus rating on the Blues' roster at plus-15 and last month played his way into the discussion for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.
Parayko, who is seventh in scoring among first-year players with 15 points, was also mentioned by Team North America general manager Peter Chiarelli as a player on the radar for their 2016 World Cup of Hockey roster.
For now, Parayko is busy helping St. Louis remain near the top of the Western Conference standings and finishing up 15 credits online at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he's majoring in business administration with a concentration in finance.