Photo Credit : THE CANADIAN PRESS / Jeff McIntosh
It was the final regular season meeting between the Stars and the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Alberta, Canada, tonight, with Calgary claiming the 4-3 overtime victory. Dallas went 1-1-1 with the Flames in the season’s series, and seven of the last nine games between the two teams were decided by only one goal. Despite the overtime loss, Dallas closed out the team’s most recent two-game road trip with three of four possible points.
The first period was a pure battle of defense. Two of Dallas’ first four shots on net came from defensemen, and the Flames didn’t even register a shot on goal for the first five minutes.
Just six seconds after the Flames recorded that first shot though, the Stars took the first lead of the game. Stars center Roope Hintz picked up the rebound from Flames center Blake Coleman’s shot and skated the puck into neutral ice before passing it ahead to Dallas right winger Jason Robertson as he crossed into the Flames zone. Robertson passed to Stars center Joe Pavelski, who had turned around in the middle of the zone and was moving backwards toward the Flames net. Pavelski tapped the puck to defenseman Thomas Harley who was following immediately behind him, and Harley sent it high and into the net just under the crossbar.
The Flames tied the game three minutes later, and it was another goal scored by another defenseman. Calgary left winger Andrew Mangiapane skated the puck into the Dallas zone and completely around the back of the net to the middle of the faceoff circle to Stars goalie Scott Wedgewood’s left. He dropped the puck aside to Flames defenseman Chris Tanev who attempted to send the puck to the front of the net where three other Flames were waiting. But before it could reach open ice, the puck bounced off the toe of Dallas defenseman Ryan Suter and between the legs of Wedgewood.
With four and a half minutes left in the period, the Flames took their first lead of the game from yet another defensive play scored by yet another defenseman. Harley sent the puck out of the Dallas zone in an attempt to clear it, passing it toward Stars center Matt Duchene at the opposite end of the blue line. The puck bounced off the boards and behind Duchene to Calgary’s Jonathan Huberdeau who immediately took the puck back into Dallas’ zone. Huberdeau passed it to Flames center Mikael Backlund across the zone who took a shot on net, bouncing it off Wedgewood’s stick. Calgary defenseman Noah Hanifin picked up the rebound and instantly slammed it behind Wedgewood, putting the Flames up 2-1.
Stars left wing Mason Marchment pulled the game even for the final time in the period with just one minute left on the clock. Dallas center Tyler Seguin won the faceoff to Calgary goalie Jacob Markstrom’s left, and sent it backwards to Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen on the blue line. Heiskanen took a shot into the zone, but it was blocked by Hanifin’s ankle. Marchment recovered the puck off the block and shot it behind Markstrom, ending the first period at 2-2.
The first penalty of the game came just two minutes into the second period when Stars captain Jamie Benn was called for interference against Huberdeau. The Flames power play currently sits at 27th in the league, so the Stars penalty kill, third best in the league, was able to hold Calgary off, despite spending nearly the entire two minutes in the Dallas zone.
Beyond that, the story of the second period was blocked shots and pure Stars survival. The Flames recorded 18 blocked shots to Dallas’ 11 through the first two periods. And while Calgary had eight high-danger goal chances in the second period, Dallas recorded only one shot on net in the entire frame.
Two minutes into the final period, Marchment drew a penalty shot as he raced toward the Flames net and was shoved off his feet by Tanev, sliding past the net and into the boards behind Markstrom.
On the penalty shot, Marchment took the puck from center ice, skated toward Markstrom’s right with it, gave it a quick flip to his backhand before bringing it to the forehand again, and shot it from the center of the Flames zone straight through the legs of Markstrom. It was the first converted Stars penalty shot since November of 2019, and it put the Stars back in the lead.
With eight minutes left in the period, the Flames went on the second power play of the night when Dallas center Sam Steel was called for slashing against Calgary’s Yegor Sharangovich. But like the first power play of the night, the Stars held the Flames off and went two-for-two on the penalty kill.
Three minutes later, the Flames tied the game again, or so it would seem. Hanafin took a shot from the blue line that sailed past Wedgewood and into the net, but Stars head coach Pete DeBoer and the team’s video coaching staff were seen almost instantly having an animated discussion with the referees at the Dallas bench. DeBoer challenged the call on the ice of a good goal, claiming there was an illegal hand pass call that was missed in the Dallas zone. After review, it was decided there was indeed a hand pass in the offensive zone that immediately preceded the Hanafin goal, and the Stars were back in the lead.
But with 2:41 remaining in the period, Calgary, with the second-most third-period comebacks in the league, officially tied the game. Huberdeau took control of the puck along the boards in the Stars zone and passed it to defenseman MacKenzie Weegar at the blue line. Weegar launched the puck toward the Dallas goal, where Wedgewood was being screened by Heiskanen and Flames center Connor Zary. It flew over the right shoulder of Wedgewood and into the net, bringing the score to an even 3-3, and effectively sending the game to overtime.
Just over a minute into the overtime period, Flames center Nazem Kadri sped into the Dallas zone with the puck, dropping it back to Huberdeau at the top of the faceoff circle to Wedgewood’s right. Kadri continued his advance on the net, and just as he was face-to-face with Wedgewood, Huberdeau sent the puck toward the net to Kadri, who tipped it under Wedgewood and across the goal line.
Initially the Dallas Stars bench, with the exception of Benn, headed to the locker room, certain of the team’s loss. The on-ice officials had skated to the video review booth, however, and indicated there was a potential for goaltender interference on the play. When looking at the video, it does appear contact was made between Kadri’s stick and Wedgewood’s glove, but neither the on-ice officials, nor the league officials in Toronto, saw cause for goaltender interference to be called, and let the goal stand, closing the game at 4-3 in favor of the Flames.
The Stars head back home on Saturday to take on the 10-9-5 Tampa Bay Lightning at 1:00 p.m.
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