PHILADELPHIA — Defenseman Eric Brewer has been back in the Blues' lineup for only three games and already he's become a target for some fans.

Brewer's handling of a puck that was teetering on the goal line resulted in Calgary's first goal Thursday night, and the Flames went on to win 2-1 over the Blues in overtime.

After a shot by Jarome Iginla trickled past Blues goalie Chris Mason, Mason was gloving the puck away from the line when Brewer inadvertently knocked it in.

"I didn't see it," Brewer said. "I saw the puck go through (Mason's) pads ... when 'Mase' kind of leaned back, I didn't actually see it. I just took a mad swipe at it, but I didn't know where it was, to be honest with you. But I'm trying to get it out, obviously."

The miscue detracted a bit from what Blues officials said was the best of Brewer's three games since returning to the lineup Oct. 29, following a

10½-month layoff with a nerve issue.

"He's done better than I expected," Blues President John Davidson said. "I think you could see in the first period of the first game he played that he was kind of like 'Bambi' on ice. The game was fast, and he was a little awkward. But in looking at his progression, he's done pretty well. He fit right in against a good hockey club in Calgary and did a lot of really good things in that game."

"I thought Thursday night was his best game," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "He was just more assertive in his game. I just think his game will continue to be more assertive as we go along."

Brewer played 22 minutes, 49 seconds, which was nearly five minutes more than his season debut last week, and though he was a minus 1, he helped the penalty-killing unit erase all six Calgary power plays.

"I think every game I've felt better," Brewer said. "I'm a little bit quicker and I'm able to do two things at once on the ice ... whether it be skating back for the puck and looking for open guys or feeling the pressure a little bit better and being able to skate out of it.

"Hopefully I'll get to a point where it's really, really good. But we'll just see how it goes. I've kind of thrown time frames out the window."

Although Brewer's return was sooner than many expected, including the Blues, all sides were in agreement that now was as good a time as any to rejoin the team. "It almost goes by steps," Davidson said. "You have trust in your doctor and the training staff ... trust in your coaches. ... 'Brew' had to make all of those steps work and then he had to trust himself."

"Every indication has led me to start now," Brewer said. "If it didn't, I wouldn't have done it. I feel really good about the time frame in general. I was doing a lot of skating with the coaches when the guys weren't around. It gets to the point where you have to play some games."

Davidson admitted that the Blues wondered if a conditioning assignment in the American Hockey League would have benefited Brewer. But under the NHL's collective-bargaining agreement, those decisions are up to the players.

"We may have mentioned it internally, but he's been around long enough ... I think it made more sense for him to just get at it here," Davidson said.

Said Brewer: "I don't see why I would go to a lesser league with players that aren't as good when the expectation is to play in the NHL. For me, it just really wasn't a thought. You have to come this way anyway. You're not going to be any better by doing that."

Although the Blues are struggling to win games lately, the club is not concerned about allowing Brewer time to get his performance up to par. "He had to play his first game sometime, right?" Murray said. "We're breaking a lot of guys into our lineup and we're trying to win games at the same time. Basically we've got three defensemen that really didn't play last year ... with Alex (Pietrangelo) and Erik (Johnson). We just have to expect that we're going to get better as we go along."