Matthew Tkachuk will be a game-time decision for the Calgary Flames in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Friday.
The forward left Game 2, a 5-4 loss on Thursday, at 4:51 of the third period when he was involved in a collision with Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and forward Jamie Benn.
"[Tkachuk]'s a great player and everything," linemate Andrew Mangiapane said. "He's smart at both ends of the ice. He gets under people's skin. He's good around the net and everything like that. But if he can't come in, we have guys that will jump right in and give us energy and that's what makes us a strong team."
Tkachuk led the Flames with 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists) in 69 regular-season games. He has scored two points (one goal, one assist) in six postseason games.
Teams that win Game 3 after a Stanley Cup Playoff series is tied 1-1 are 215-106 (67 percent) winning a best-of-7 series.
Here are 3 keys to Game 3:
1. Short memories
With the puck dropping for Game 3 less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the Stars' 5-4 victory in Game 2, each team will need to harness its emotions to ensure a shot at taking the lead in the series.
"It's going to be another battle," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "If you're going into a game resting on what you did last game, you're going to get run over. You park it. You move on and get ready for Game 3."
2. Net presence
With back-to-back games and a 2 p.m. ET start in Game 4 on Sunday, there's potential to see a completely different goalie matchup for Game 3 than that of Thursday, when Ben Bishop started for the Stars against Cam Talbot of the Flames. Neither Bowness nor Calgary coach Geoff Ward confirmed his starting goalie Friday morning.
It's possible Game 3 could feature the 2019 postseason debut of Flames goalie David Rittich opposite Anton Khudobin, who made 23 saves for the Stars in a 3-2 loss in Game 1 on Tuesday.
3. Calgary forward depth
Potentially without Tkachuk, the Flames will need to find some of the depth scoring they enjoyed in winning the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers series in four games against the Winnipeg Jets. Ten Calgary forwards scored in that series. Dillon Dube, with three goals, Tobias Rieder and Sam Bennett have provided the scoring up front for Calgary against Dallas so far.
"I think that's what makes us a good team, is when all lines are contributing, whether you're first line, fourth line, whatever it is," Mangiapane said. "We can roll the lines and everyone's adding to our team. I think that's big. We've got to start doing that."
