CALGARY -- The Calgary Flames seem to be more comfortable when theyre against the ropes. Joe Colborne capped off a thrilling game, scoring the only goal of the shootout as the Flames overcame a two-goal third period deficit for an improbable 4-3 win over the red-hot St. Louis Blues on Monday. In the shootout, Colborne shot first and beat Jaroslav Halak on a deke for his third goal on four attempts this season. Reto Berra secured the victory in net by denying TJ Oshie, Derek Roy and Magnus Paajarvi. "Weve been doing it all year," said Colborne. "It seems like when we have a lead going into the third period, were more nervous than we are when we come in and were down." Flames captain Mark Giordano forced the shootout, dramatically tying the game with five seconds left in the third period. Patrick Berglunds holding penalty gave Calgary a power play for the final 1:37 of the third. Flames coach Bob Hartley added more pop to his offence by pulling Berra, making it a six-on-four situation. The ploy worked as Calgary poured on the pressure. At one point after a slick passing sequence, rookie Sean Monahan -- staring at an empty net -- had the tying goal roll off his stick. No matter, Hudlers long diagonal pass was one-timed in by Giordano, sending the sell-out crowd of 19,289 into a frenzy. "I was just hoping he saw me because I saw the lane open right up," Giordano said. "When I saw it coming over and he laid it nice and flat for me. I just obviously tried to get a shot on net and it was a really good feeling to see that one go in for sure." Hartley likes his teams determination when its behind. "We know the trademark of our team. Credit goes to our players. They never quit," Hartley said. "We dont want to fall behind but we always feel as a coaching staff that we keep supporting those guys and they always come up with a big goal, a big effort." After the game Hartley emphasized the importance of heading in to the holiday season on a high note. "This morning, I told them. I know its one game out of 82 but the last game before Christmas, its always special," said Hartley. "Youre going home, your families will be around and many times they talk to you about your last game. So, for our players, to go back in their families, theyll have plenty to talk about." Among the conversation starters will be defeating the Blues when they score first as they did -- St. Louis entered the night 21-1-2 when that occurs, and when they lead after two periods as they did -- they entered the night 16-0-2 in that scenario. The Flames lead the league in one-goal games, the latest being a 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday in which a third period comeback came up short. Hudler and Mike Cammalleri also scored for Calgary (14-17-6) on Monday. The win kicked off a five-game homestand for the Flames and also snapped a three-game winless skid. Kevin Shattenkirk, Jaden Schwartz and Paajarvi scored for St. Louis (24-7-5) in regulation. The Blues took three out of four points in Alberta and head home 5-1-2 in their last eight. "Its uncharacteristic but a learning lesson for us," said Blues captain David Backes. "We played a team tonight that played their butts off and was on an uphill trajectory all game. They got better as the game went on and we plateaued and took out foot off the gas a little bit." The Blues looked like they had the game well under control when goals 44 seconds apart in the second period from Schwartz and Paajarvi broke open a 1-1 tie and sent St. Louis to the intermission up by two. "Teams in the west will take it to you if you let your foot off the gas and this team is no different. A little credit to them but were going to look inside our room and make sure were better next time we come out," said Backes. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock spoke only briefly and echoed what his captain said. "We lost composure with the puck. We made some puck errors. We got caught not clearing pucks at the end. We had full control of the hockey game," said Hitchcock. "We were just winding the game down and made some puck errors and the next thing you know it was in our net." Berra had 32 saves, while Halak made 26 stops. Notes: Flames centre Matt Stajan left the game late in overtime after a knee-on-knee collision with David Backes, who was penalized for kneeing on the play. There was no update after the game on his condition. ... Calgary announced that Curtis Glencross (high ankle sprain), who earlier in the year missed 15 games with a knee injury, will miss eight weeks while D Kris Russell (sprained knee) will miss the next 4-6 weeks. Also out is C Blair Jones (knee, indefinite). That left D Derek Smith as the lone healthy scratch... Taking Russells spot on the Calgary blue-line was Chris Breen.... With Alex Steen (upper body) out for the Blues, 20-year-old Dmitrij Jaskin, recalled from Chicago (AHL), made his season debut and played alongside Oshie and Backes. Kobe Bryant Jersey . 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WICHITA, Kan. -- Evansville coach Marty Simmons watched his young team race out to a big early lead on No. 4 Wichita State. Then he saw the Shockers slap on the press and come roaring right back. Its something theyve done to plenty of teams this season. D.J. Balentine had 26 points in another strong performance, but the Purple Aces were unable to hold onto an early 15-point lead and lost 81-67 at raucous Koch Arena on Saturday. "Its about the process. Its about the possession. You start thinking like that," Simmons said, when asked about getting comfortable with the big lead, "bad things are going to happen." They certainly happened quickly. Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker scored 14 points apiece for undefeated Wichita State. The Shockers comeback began when Baker scored with 8:12 remaining in the first half, starting a 27-4 run spanning halftime and turning a 15-point deficit into a 41-33 lead. The charge was fueled by a three-quarter-court pressure that forced Evansville into several turnovers, the only time that a team starting two freshmen and three sophomores looked shaky. "When theyre making their run, its like pouring gasoline on the fire," Simmons said with a shake of his head. "Thats something we have to learn from." It didnt help that the Purple Aces were mired in foul trouble. Duane Gibson and fellow guard Adam Wing each had three fouls by halftime, and four others had two fouls apiece. That included Balentine, who sat on the bench for the final couple of minutes so that he wouldnt be tempted into picking up his own third foul. The Purple Aces hung around until the midway point of the second half, when Evan Wessels basket began a run of seven straight points that gave the Shockers a 70-52 lead. Wichita State never allowed the Purple Aces (10-13, 3-7) to get close the final 8 minutes, avengiing two frustrating losses to them a year ago.dddddddddddd "The way they started, I said, Oh boy, here we go again," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "But we finally got stops. They missed a couple and we got out in transition." The Shockers (23-0, 10-0) rallied from a 19-point deficit to defeat Missouri State earlier this season, and have often found themselves suffering through long stretches of poor play only to come out unscathed by the final buzzer. So is there a deficit too big to overcome? "Lets just hope we dont find out," Marshall said. "Im sure there is, at this point not so far, but lets just hope we dont find out anytime soon." Balentine, who was coming off a 43-point performance against Northern Iowa, finished 11 of 21 from the field. But he didnt get a whole lot of help from his teammates, who struggled against the length and athleticism of the Shockers forwards. "They play so hard and theyre so active and they have so many good pieces," Simmons said. "They change things up and they keep you off balance." Cleanthony Early added 13 points and Tekele Cotton had 12 for the Shockers, who havent lost since last years surprising run to the Final Four, and now face the toughest two-game stretch standing between them and an unbeaten regular season. First up is Indiana State on Wednesday night, followed by a trip to Northern Iowa -- the two closest teams to the Shockers in the Missouri Valley standings. Incidentally, the only Valley school with a better start than the Shockers was the Indiana State team led by Larry Bird, which won its first 33 games before losing an iconic NCAA title game to Magic Johnson and Michigan State on March 26, 1979. "Its something a lot of people have talked about," Baker said. "Were excited about it." ' ' '