Flames Drop Overtime Decision To Stars

DALLAS — Talk about a plucky effort.

Down a key defenceman for most of the game, the Flames scratched and clawed against one of the NHL's best teams.

Joel Farabee, Yegor Sharangovich and Zayne Parekh scored in regulation time, but Wyatt Johnston's overtime marker helped the Stars get the extra point in a 4-3 triumph at American Airlines Center,

Neither side scored during a tight-checking opening frame. In fact, the Flames held their hosts without a shot on goal after the 2:54 mark, though Jason Robertson’s rip off the post on a slot shot 7:30 came close to providing the ice-breaker.

Dallas did open the scoring, though, 4:30 into period two when Justin Hryckowian took advantage of a carom off the end boards, chipping the puck past Cooley for his 13th goal of the season.

But Calgary stormed back in the second half of the frame. Farabee tied it with his 19th of the season, backhanding a rebound into the top corner after Adam Klapka got an initial shot away on a partial break.

Klapka helped produce the go-ahead goal with 1:08 on the clock, too. He raced to keep the puck in at the right point before spinning a pass to Sharangovich in the slot, where the Belarusian forward sent a puck goalward that deflected off countryman Ilya Lyubushkin and in.

The Flames started period three on the powerplay, and it paid off thanks to some teamwork from the youngsters. Matvei Gridin sifted the puck down low to Matt Coronato in the right corner, he then found Parekh at the left point, allowing the defenceman to step into a snapshot from the left circle that beat Oettinger clean for Parekh’s third goal of the season.

But the Stars answered back quickly. Wyatt Johnston banged home a rebound 50 seconds after Parekh’s goal. Then, Jason Robertson knifed home the equalizer at 4:51 after a hard pass to the low slot from linemate Matt Duchene.

Those goals forced extra time, where Dallas was awarded a four-minute powerplay. Calgary battled - goaltender Devin Cooley making nine saves in the overtime session alone - but Johnston ended it with a backhand effort at the side of the net.

Forward Aydar Suniev made his NHL season debut for the Flames on a line with Ryan Strome and Martin Pospisil, earning 11:16 of ice-time.

Klapka finished the game with two assists, while Cooley made 21 stops on the night.

Defenceman Kevin Bahl left the contest early in the first period following a collision behind the Stars net with fellow blueliner Thomas Harley. He did not return after sustaining a lower-body injury.

The Lineup:

FORWARDS

Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund- Matt Coronato

Joel Farabee - Morgan Frost - Matvei Gridin

Aydar Suniev - Ryan Strome - Martin Pospisil

Yegor Sharangovich - Connor Zary - Adam Klapka

DEFENCE

Kevin Bahl - Zach Whitecloud

Olli Määttä - Hunter Brzustewicz

Yan Kuznetsov - Zayne Parekh

GOALTENDERS

Devin Cooley - starter

Dustin Wolf

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 20, DAL 25

Powerplay: CGY 1-3, DAL 1-5

Faceoffs: CGY 36%, DAL 64%

Hits: CGY 13, DAL 19

Blocked Shots: CGY 14, DAL 16

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 21, DAL 17

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 10, DAL 9

Up Next:

Game Five of this six-game trip goes in the city where it began: Denver, Colorado. The Flames and Avalanche meet for the second time in two weeks Thursday at 7 p.m. MT.