Dallas Stars fall dim against the Calgary Flames
Calgary burned like wildfire on Wednesday night against the miserable Dallas Stars in the jam-packed Scotiabank Saddledome, beating them 4-3. Dallas don't look so good nearing the end of the season, winning only one of their last eight games and now headed
to Vancouver after facing defeat to the Flames.
They are decimated by injuries and can’t seem to find their game, and have fallen to the 7th ranking in the crowded Western Conference directly three places down. Anaheim, Nashville, San Jose, Dallas and Calgary are now all tied with 68 points,
where they stand will be decided by their next games, only needing to lose one to drop below the playoff spot line.
Fans went wild when Olli Jokinen scored his thirteenth goal of the season within five minutes of the first, making it 1-0 going into the 2nd period. Dallas seemed to have regained some confidence when they took lead 2-1 with under ten minutes
remaining, by Mike Ribeiro whose shot hit Jokinens stick going through Mikka Kipprusoff and Jamie Langenbrunner had a little unintentional help from Calgary’s Rene Bourque making it his fifth of the season.
Bourque made up for his mistake by grabbing two assists, one of those to Tom Kostopoulos at the 14:09 mark during a desperate power play, leveling the game 2-2 entering the final period.
It was all Flames from there, two of the most unnoticed players in Calgary, scored the winning shots within five minutes. Cory Sarich and Steve Staios sealed the deal giving them another playoff berth, and chance to move into the fifth spot in the WC.
Dallas face league leaders the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Plagued by loss of players and team chemistry, it looks like the Stars might fall below the playoff boundary line which they held for such a long time.
Calgary is hotter than ever, if they hadn’t lost to Vancouver and Anaheim previously, being just below the Canucks wouldn’t be a problem. Facing the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday at the NHL Heritage Classics in their own hometown, the Flames are expected
burn brighter than ever before.
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