Game Recap: Stars Fully Collapse in the Third Period, Lose To Flames In Regulation

Well, for the first 54 minutes or so of this game, things looked to be heading in the right direction for the Stars, who held a 3-1 lead with just under six minutes remaining. Then, following a few shifts from Calgary in the Dallas zone, the Flames scored two goals in 37 seconds to even the score.

Andrew Mangiapane and Johhny Gaudreau both converted on rebounds in tight, allowing Calgary to tie the game at 3.

The game seemed to be destined to head to overtime at that point but Luke Glendening was hauled down in the Calgary zone, giving Dallas a huge opportunity to convert on the power play, retake the lead, and erase the collapse that they just witnessed.

The power play, however, was as flat as it could be. Dallas continually dumped the puck into areas where Calgary beat them to it, controlled it, and cleared their zone.

Soon after the penalty expired, the Flames broke up the ice on a 3 on 1 rush, eventually resulting in a backdoor tap-in goal for Oliver Kylington. In the span of 4:23, the Stars fell from a 3-1 lead to a 4-3 deficit.

Dallas pulled Jake Oettinger for one final push but was unable to muster any scoring chances and fell to the Flames 4-3 in regulation.

“I think we got what we deserved,” Jason Robertson said. “We took our foot off the gas pedal and they took it to us.”

With the loss, Dallas drops three points behind Calgary for the second wild-card spot, with two more games played, as they head into the NHL All-Star break.

Joel Hanley, Jason Robertson, and Jamie Benn each tallied a goal for Dallas in the game. Hanley’s goal was his first regular-season goal of his career and only his second overall (his first came in Game 1 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final).

“It was definitely nice, something that I always wanted to do,” Hanley said about his goal. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win, it would have felt a lot better if we got the win there but it was just nice to contribute offensively.”

After holding the Flames top line quiet for much of the game, they exploded for four points, leading the way during the third-period comeback. Elias Lindholm led all players with two points, while Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk each tallied a point.

“I thought we were lucky to be up 3-1,” Bowness said. “It carried over the whole third period. Everything we did well against Boston, we did the exact opposite tonight. They kept coming at us in waves and we kept turning the puck over at the wrong time. We beat ourselves tonight.”

The Stars will now be off for 7 days before they resume practice next Tuesday and play their next game on Wednesday [Feb. 9] against the Nashville Predators. When they return, they will face the second half of their season that will truly decide where they will stand at the end of April.

“Usually after a game like this, you want to get back at it as quick as you can,” Hakanpaa said. But at the same time, I think it is a good time for us to kind of recoup and step away from the game a little bit, think about other stuff, and enjoy the break. When we come back, just have that mental energy as high as we can and just keep grinding away. Hopefully, we get a big push after the break.”