Both the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars continue to build momentum heading into the All-Star break.
Each team will look to maintain that success when they meet in Dallas on Tuesday night.
In the mix for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Flames and Stars each sit on 48 points. Dallas has won five of its last six contests, while Calgary, which has two more games before this weekend’s break, is 3-1-0 since losing four of its first six January games.
“It’s crucial. We’re in a playoff race. Every point matters,” said Dallas’ Alexander Radulov, who scored his second goal of the season in Sunday’s 6-1 home rout of Boston.
Against the Bruins, the Stars received goals from five different players. Including two, with an assist, from Tyler Seguin, who snapped a three-game point drought but has five goals and four assists in his last seven contests. With 14 goals, Seguin is one of five Dallas players with at least 10 this season.
“(Sunday) was probably the best game we’ve played all year — on both ends of the ice,” Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. “We need some offense spread out throughout the team.”
The Stars’ defense and goaltending also has been solid of late, allowing one goal in three of the last four games.
Jake Oettinger has stopped 52 of 54 shots while winning his last two starts. Teammate Braden Holtby, however, has a 3.76 goals-against average in his last four starts. Dallas’ Anton Khudobin (3.63 GAA) most recently started on Jan. 15 and made 30 saves during a 4-3 overtime win at Calgary on Nov. 4.
Seguin had a goal in that contest for the Stars, who are 8-1-1 against the Flames since the start of the 2017-18 season.
Calgary, though, has closed January on a positive note, thanks in part to goalie Jacob Markstrom, who’s posted a 1.50 goals-against average and two shutouts over the last four contests. After being roughed up in a 5-1 loss at St. Louis on Thursday.
Markstrom needed to make just 15 saves during Calgary’s 1-0 overtime victory against Vancouver on Saturday night.
“It says that we’re playing good defensive hockey,” Markstrom, who made 24 saves versus Dallas in November, told the Flames’ official website.
“It’s everyone. It’s a great thing to be a goalie when we play games like (Saturday), and we’re real crisp in our D-zone.”
Offensively, the Flames have been inconsistent over those last four games. They scored 13 goals in wins over St. Louis and Columbus, then one each against the Blues and Canucks.
All-Star Johnny Gaudreau recorded Saturday’s lone goal and has posted 15 of his team-leading 52 points over an eight-game stretch. However, he’s been blanked in his last two games versus Dallas.
Teammate Matthew Tkachuk scored one of his team-leading 20 goals against the Stars this season. But he has been kept off the scoresheet in the last two contests after registering six goals with nine assists during a six-game point streak.
Calgary has lost five of six on the road, while Dallas is 15-5-1 at home in 2021-22.
–Field Level Media
