'TAKE A HIT, MAKE A PLAY'

DALLAS - Jacuzzi tubs and ice packs are a staple this time of year.
They're as much in the fabric of playoff hockey as loud crowds and rally towels - and the players wouldn't have it any other way.
"Dallas is a pretty big, heavy team," Nikita Zadorov said following Monday's morning skate. "They work hard, they play hard, there are lots of battles and the intensity is really high, every shift. This year, the little rule changes have definitely had an impact on how we can play it physically. The referees are a little bit harder on us this year compared to other playoffs that I've been to.
"But there's been so much emotion in the first few games, it hasn't changed about much about that feeling on the ice.
"It's playoff hockey. I love it."

Zadorov has been a physical force for the Flames to this point, dishing out a team-leading six hits in Game 3 for a total of 10 in the series.
It's a mark he 'hit' twice during the regular season, when he averaged about two-and-a-half blows per game.
The physical play from both sides has been a recurring theme in the series, with a punishing forecheck that has left defenceman like Zadorov with less time to make a play and break the puck out clean.
And even if they do, they typically pay a price for it.
Zadorov, though, gives it right back - and extended, offensive-zone shifts for the Stars are not given for free.
"It's fine," Zadorov said about the limited real estate out there. "We're big boys.
"We can handle it.
"They're putting a lot of pucks behind us and are trying to be physical, at times," added fellow blueliner Chris Tanev, who was on the receiving end of a greasy, unpenalized slewfoot by Stars captain Jamie Benn in Game 3. "They have a good structure and a good game plan and we need to be better at breaking the puck out and getting up the ice and transition as quick as possible."
Indeed.
All of it is a noble expense for a shot at Lord Stanley. The Flames enter Game 4 of this Western Conference First Round set in a 2-1 series hole.
They know the intensity is about to ramp up even further; that the sacrifice will be greater, and the toll will inevitably be larger.
And that's what makes it so great.
Head Coach Darryl Sutter made an interesting comment following Game 1 that certainly rings true today:
"Guys get hit. That's the way it works," he said.
"Guys that don't get hit usually lose."
He followed that up during an off-day availability yesterday, when he talked about his team's ability to "sustain themselves" over the course of a series. You can bet the Flames won't be running around - out of sorts and out of position - all in an effort a lay a licking on the Stars, purely for their pound of flesh.
When the opportunity is there? By all means. But they have to endure the rigors in their own end, too. If they can do that tonight and get back to their bread and butter of a dominant puck possession game, they'll fly back to Calgary for Game 5 in a 2-2 series deadlock.
"It's great. It's exciting. These are high-stakes games," Zadorov said. "One mistake can cost you a game. One mistake can cost you a series. We love that kind of pressure.
"Take a hit, make a play.
"That's what it's all about."