Bad isn’t a strong enough term to define this homestand, for the Stars, in the three previous games the Stars have mounted a total offense of two goals and have given up thirteen, so to say that offense was needed is an understatement. The latest trends for the Stars forced head coach Glen Gulutzan to do a lot of line shuffling and tonight the Stars lineup looked like this.
- Ray Whitney Jamie Benn Loui Eriksson
- Brenden Morrow Derek Roy Erik Cole
- Reilly Smith Cody Eakin Jaromir Jagr
- Eric Nystrom Vernon Fiddler Antoine Roussel
And on Defense
- Stephane Robidas Brenden Dillon
- Trevor Daley Alex Goligoski
- Jordie Benn Jamie Oleksiak
Philip Larsen remains a healthy scratch for the Stars and Ryan Garbutt is still out with his lower body injury. Kari Lehtonen started in net for the Stars and would go against Joey MacDonald for the Flames. Mikka Kiprusoff missed the game to be with his wife for the birth of a child.
First Period
Dallas had a sour taste in their mouth from the game against Chicago and they were quickly setting the tone for this game, they were quick to get shots on the net and were ready to scrap for rebounds and get any type of goal they could. Their hardwork paid off as the first goal came off a defensive mistake as an intended pass by Erik Cole went off a Calgary defender and past MacDonald for Cole’s fifth goal of the season and second as a member of the Stars. A little under three minutes later the fourth line was rewarded for constant good shifts in the offensive zone as Eric Nystrom put back a rebound for his third goal of the year, two of which have come against the Flames. Kari Lehtonen also was rewarded with his second assist of the season. The Stars weren’t done as Loui Eriksson finished the first period off with another goal giving the Stars a 3-0 lead to end the opening frame.
Second Period
More of the same for the Stars in the opening half of the middle frame they continued to dominate Calgary, the Stars had a chance to increase their lead on the powerplay, but failed to do so. The second half of the period was a completely different story as the Stars were finding themselves in penalty trouble which opened the doors for Calgary to come right back into the game. Cody Eakin first received two minors (Interference, Roughing) for a hit on Matt Stajan that almost looked like kneeing. Cody Eakin and the penalty box got very familiar tonight as he also had a fighting major against Calgary captain Jarome Iginla, and his two minors in the second. It took Calgary very little time to score on the ensuing powerplay as Jiri Hudler tipped in a TJ Brodie shot for his sixth goal of the season. The Flames were shortly on the powerplay again as Jordie Benn was sent to the box for tripping, and Calgary once again scored on the powerplay as Jay Bouwmeester fired a backhand past Kari Lehtonen and cutting Dallas’ lead to one. Calgary had Dallas on it’s heels this period as they made it a hockey game again, 3-2 Stars after two periods.
Third Period
The Stars were looking for a way to make space between them and the Flames, and a break finally came for them as Loui Eriksson got his second goal of the game and gave the Stars a 4-2 lead with 7:54 left in the game. The two goal lead was short-lived however as Alex Tanguay completely blew by the Dallas defense and netted a backhander for his ninth goal of the season. Dallas put together a strong defense with just under five minutes left in the game. Their defense paid off as Calgary was unable to get a decent shot on net and the Stars were able to hang on and get a victory in the homestand defeating the Calgary Flames 4-3.
Game Extras
- Congratulations to Guy Carbonneau as he was named to the Dallas Stars 20th Anniversary all-time team
- A great game for the Stars as nobody was a minus tonight.
- Ray Whitney is on a three game point streak
- The Stars best players led them to victory tonight. Jamie Benn: 1 assist Jaromir Jagr: 3 shots Loui Eriksson: 2 goals Ray Whitney: 2 assists Derek Roy: 1 assist
- Congratulations to the Kiprusoff family on the birth of their new son.
- Tonight’s official attendance: 16,057
- Official Three Stars of the Game chosen by Bruce Levine of KTCK 1310 The Ticket. 1. Loui Eriksson 2. Ray Whitney 3. Eric Nystrom
- The Stars will now hit the road for two in their hunt to get back into the playoffs, on Wednesday the Stars will play the Colorado Avalanche, puckdrop at 8:30
