(My Sportsbook) - It's amazing how quickly things can go downhill in professional sports. In early January, the Calgary Flames were riding a three- game winning streak and seemed to be ready to make 2003 a banner year.

Of course, the Flames' dreams of a postseason run went up in smoke in mere moments. A 1-0 loss to Ottawa on January 9 sent Calgary into a tailspin that hasn't stopped yet. Calgary has posted just a 4-11-3-1 mark ever since, slipping into dead last in the Northwest Division with 49 points.

The Flames are 15 points back of fourth place Edmonton and don't appear to be near awaking out of their month-plus long coma. Calgary's struggles continued on Monday in the form of a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues at the Savvis Center.

Calgary actually skated to a 3-1 advantage in the first stanza, but couldn't hold the lead. Jarome Iginla scored his 24th goal just 55 seconds in, banging in the rebound of a Craig Conroy shot. Iginla then set up Toni Lydman's power- play goal at the 3:04 mark.

Following a St. Louis tally, Blake Sloan restored Calgary's two-goal margin at the 8:02 mark, snapping a wrister past Fred Brathwaite for his second goal. Nonetheless, St. Louis answered prior to the end of the stanza on a Keith Tkachuk goal.

Calgary wouldn't light the lamp in the final two periods, but the Blues continued to pressure and got three more goals past Roman Turek. St. Louis fired 28 shots at Turek, slipping five past him.

"I think they turned it up a little bit and some of our players couldn't match their level," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "It wasn't that we were doing anything wrong or right. They just got better, and we couldn't stay with it."

The Blues beat Turek three times in the second stanza, outhustling the Flames to nearly every puck.

"We have to battle through it," said Conroy. "If they did elevate their game, we've got to elevate, too. And if we weren't able to do it, that's our fault. We felt we were going to try to get to that next level, but obviously they kept coming, wore us down, and took advantage of our mistakes."

UP NEXT

The Flames continue their five-game road trip on Wednesday night versus the Dallas Stars. Calgary still has trips to Nashville, Phoenix, and San Jose remaining on its current jaunt.