Stars even series with Flames
In a matter of seconds, the Calgary Flames saw the opportunity to pull ahead in their best-of-seven series slip away.
And in matter of minutes — 16 of them plus five seconds, to be exact — their best-of-seven series against the Dallas Stars looks vastly different after Sunday’s 5-4 overtime loss in Game 4.
Instead of being in elimination territory, ready to kick the Stars out of the bubble and advance to the second round with just one more victory, the Flames are regrouping after their opponents knotted the showdown 2-2.
They’ll try again in Game 5 on Tuesday, while Game 6 and (if necessary) Game 7 go Thursday and Saturday.
“Any time you lose, it sucks,” said Flames forward Sean Monahan, who did his part with five shots on net and two assists. “But the series is tied 2-2. I thought we competed the whole game and we had our chances, too. We have to look at the positives there and be ready for the next game.”
And that was the theme in their post-game news conferences via Zoom — putting Sunday’s disappointment behind them as quickly as possible.
No time to lament a third period that saw them take three costly penalties (and a total of seven during the game), all while only relying on a one-goal lead from another short-handed marker from Tobias Rieder. Rieder, by the way, has three during this post-season.
No time to think about the missed chances in overtime, and the lack of chances in the third stanza which saw them outshot 21-6 and go the final 5:58 of regulation without a shot on net.
No time to wonder what could have been, if Joe Pavelski hadn’t scored to force extra time, if they’d cleared the puck in the final four minutes of overtime with the Stars pressing, if TJ Brodie hadn’t broken his stick, if netminder Cam Talbot would have only stopped the 62nd (!) shot he faced on Sunday afternoon.
But instead, Pavelski’s hattrick marker with 11.9 seconds remaining in the third counted (and was ruled onside after being confirmed in the Toronto war room). And Alexander Radulov’s deflection of John Klingberg’s one-timer was on point to keep the Stars alive while the Flames scrambled with 3:55 remaining in the extra 20-minute frame.
They’ll do it all over again, at least two more times, starting Tuesday.
“That’s playoffs,” surmised Flames interim head coach Geoff Ward. “I thought it was a good hockey game, I really did. Now, we go back and regroup and get ready for Monday. This is the beauty of playoffs.
“How can you not be a hockey fan, watching this stuff go on? Saying that, I think it’s easy for us to put it behind us; we’ve been doing it for a while now. I think the guys’ focus is in the right place and I think we can be happy we played a good game. Now, we get ready for Game 5.”
Truth be told, it was no surprise that this went into overtime — the first for Calgary this post-season.
Down by one goal, the Stars poured on the pressure with less than seven minutes remaining and peppered Talbot with a barrage of shots. Calgary’s netminder was dialed in, but the Flames had their share of luck, too, as Jamie Oleksiak hit a crossbar after an odd-man rush.
They also got lucky when
Dallas had a goal waved off when Corey Perry was parked behind Talbot at the time Jason Dickinson finally hit the back of the net after multiple attempts with
2:29 left in the third.
It was an uphill battle for the Flames the entire period, really, as they opened the frame killing Sam Bennett’s charging penalty carrying over from the second.
Mark Giordano was slapped with a hooking infraction at the three-minute mark.
Then, Monahan (high-sticking) and Mikael Backlund (tripping) were dinged back-to-back.
Good thing their penalty kill has been so productive throughout the playoffs as Rieder pulled the Flames ahead 4-3 with Giordano off.
Meanwhile, Dallas ended regulation with a 50-35 advantage on the shot clock and it could have been tied much sooner if it hadn’t been for Talbot’s wizardry making several key saves, including a fantastic blocker stop on Roope Hintz and another on the Finnish forward that nearly dribbled through Talbot’s legs before being cleared by a defender.
In the end, no matter how good the Flames believed they played, the Stars wanted it more.
And it showed.
“I thought we played a good game, I thought we were competing all night,” said Flames forward Bennett, who had two goals and an assist on the evening.
“Obviously, we’re up a goal and they’re going to be putting on the pressure and doing everything they can and we’re defending that lead. I thought our penalty killers and defenders did a great job.
“It was unfortunate they were able to put one in the last 10 seconds, but that’s playoffs.”
The Flames battled in an eventful second period as forward Johnny Gaudreau opened the score for Calgary, tying the game 1-1 with 1:54 on a power play after Oleksiak shot the puck over the glass and was tagged for delay of game.
Shortly after, Pavelski, who’d got the Stars on the board with 1:59 remaining in the first period on a power play, pulled his team ahead 2-1.
Bennett’s two goals that followed were clutch and put the Flames in the driver’s seat until Denis Gurianov added another power-play goal before the frame was over.
Tied 3-3 heading into the third, it was anyone’s game at that point. And after Rieder scored his shortie, while the Stars had a goal called back in the late stages when Perry impeded Talbot’s crease, it was looking like the Flames would take a stranglehold on the series.
Remarkable, really, because of all of the time they spent in the penalty box.
But it wasn’t meant to be.