Brian Elliott wins 10th straight game for Flames

CALGARY -- Mark Giordano had a goal and two assists, goalie Brian Elliott won his 10th straight game, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Dallas Stars 3-1 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.
Michael Frolik and Matthew Tkachuk scored for Calgary (40-27-4), which won its first game after ending a Flames-record tying 10-game winning streak with a 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. The Flames, 11-1-0 in the past 12 games and 16-3-1 in the past 20, lead the Edmonton Oilers by one point for third place in the Pacific Division.

"You still have to play really well to solidify a spot here," Elliott said. "The race is getting tighter and tighter. These two points are going to mean a heck] of a lot at the end of the year. Building a little bit at a time … that's what you need to do."
**[WATCH: All Stars vs. Flames highlights**
Elliott made 24 saves in his return after missing the loss Wednesday because of illness. Elliott, 14-1-1 since Jan. 26, won nine games with a 1.74 goals-against average and .943 save percentage during Calgary's streak.
"That was a pretty gutsy effort because I think he was feeling it a bit tonight too and he wasn't 100 percent," Giordano said. "He stood on his head again. I could tell you he didn't look like he felt 100 percent but he battled through it. That was huge."
Brett Ritchie scored, and Kari Lehtonen made 21 saves for the Stars (28-33-10), who have one win in the past five games (1-4-0) and remained 13 points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

"This is just one of those nights where we made too many mistakes and it cost us," Stars defenseman Dan Hamhuis said.
Dallas played without forward Jamie Benn, who sustained an eye injury in a 4-2 win at the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
"You take your top player out of the lineup and obviously it hurts," Stars forward Jason Spezza said. "We hope to have him back soon."
Frolik gave the Flames a 1-0 lead on Calgary's sixth shot of the game at 16:07 of the first period.

Tkachuk put the Flames up 2-0 at 5:20 of the second period, and Giordano scored on a wrist shot from the point that deflected off Hamhuis before beating a screened Lehtonen at 8:32 to extend the lead to 3-0.
"It was lucky, to be honest," Giordano said. "I just shot it at the net and it went through a screen. I don't think their D-man saw it until it hit him and went in."
Ritchie scored to make it 3-1 at 13:19 of the third period after a turnover in the slot by Flames defenseman TJ Brodie.

Goal of the game

From the faceoff circle, Giordano sent a pass into the slot that Tkachuk redirected between Lehtonen's legs for his 13th goal of the season.
"[Tkachuk], all year, he makes great plays at the blue lines, around the net," Giordano said. "That's why he's able to play in this League at such a young age (19) at a high level. He's playing against the best players all night."

Save of the game

Behind Calgary's defense, Stars forward Jiri Hudler redirected a pass from Radek Faksa that Elliott saved with his pad at 7:48 of the second period with the Flames up 2-0.

Highlight of the game

On a breakaway, Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau pulled Lehtonen to his right and took one hand off his stick to try to push the puck by his left pad, but Lehtonen extended his leg to make the toe save and keep the score 3-0 at 12:59 of the second period.

Unsung performance of the game

Flames defenseman Michael Stone had three blocked shots and three hits in 18:47 in his return after missing three games with an upper-body injury.

They said it

"I don't think we were focused on the streak at all. It was just one game at a time. We happened to lose that one. The next game is the next game. It doesn't really matter. We didn't get really disappointed about anything, I think. You just kind of move on."-- Flames goaltender Brian Elliott
"Their team is playing well and they got out to a lead and it was tough to generate very much."-- Stars forward Jason Spezza

Need to know

Mike Vernon holds the Flames record with 11 straight wins (Jan. 17-Feb. 27, 1989). ... The line of Tkachuk, Frolik and Mikael Backlund combined for two goals, two assists, and was plus-9. … Backlund passed Hakan Loob for most games by a Europe-born player on the Flames (451) since their move to Calgary in 1980. … Hudler, who spent four seasons with the Flames from 2012-16, played in place of Benn. He was a healthy scratch in the previous five games. ... Benn is expected to play Monday.

What's next

Stars: Host the San Jose Sharks on Monday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, CSN-CA, NHL.TV)
Flames: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday (9:30 p.m. ET; SN1, SNW, FS-W, NHL.TV)