Stars face tough test with Flames

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The Calgary Flames’ top trio of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm has been one of the hottest lines in hockey this season, combining for 52 goals and 121 points already. Whoa.

The Dallas Stars, meanwhile, have shuffled their first unit as they try to snap out of a four-game skid, promoting recent call-up Denis Gurianov to join the dynamic duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.

Although Seguin (twice) and Benn both scored in Saturday’s 6-4 road loss to Colorado, the go-to guys were hard on themselves afterward. In fact, Benn told reporters their line “has to take a lot of blame. We just didn’t give ourselves a chance to win this game.”

Out-duelling Calgary’s best would be a nice way to bounce back.

Here are 5 Things to Watch for when the Stars (16-14-3) host the division leading Flames (22-10-2) on Tuesday in Dallas:

Marvellous Month

The Flames have been hot since mid-November, sizzling to a 12-2-1 record in the past month and perching themselves atop the Pacific Division standings. They continued to roll in Sunday’s shellacking of the Blues, with five players notching multiple points — Gaudreau (3), Lindholm (3), Mark Giordano (2), Matthew Tkachuk (2) and Alan Quine (2) — in that 7-2 win. One of their only bummers during this superb stretch was a 4-3 overtime loss to the Stars Nov. 28.

Happy to be Home

The Stars returned with nothing to show for a weeklong road-trip, losing in Las Vegas, Anaheim, San Jose and Colorado. It’s worth noting the boys from the Big D have been much better in their own rink, with a 10-3-1 record at American Airlines Center. The Flames are 11-7-0 so far on the road.

Short-handed spree

Thanks to Lindholm’s breakaway beauty in St. Louis, the Flames have notched a short-handed goal in three straight games. Only once in franchise history have the Flames scored on the penalty-kill in four consecutive contests, and that was in November 1987.

Bennett Back?

The Flames are hopeful snarky winger Sam Bennett will return to the lineup in Dallas after sitting out Sunday due to a minor upperbody injury. In Bennett’s absence, fellow left-hander James Neal was promoted to skate on the right side with the second line. Neal’s goalscoring dry spell has now spanned 20 games.

This N’ That

The Stars have won four in a row against the Flames, including an overtime triumph in late November and a three-game sweep last season … Heading into Monday’s action around the NHL, a couple of Calgary’s key pieces — Giordano and Lindholm — were among those tied for tops in the league with a plus-21 rating