[united]

Really good series start from the Flames. Completely dominated the first, played the Stars basically even in a weird second that had three goals off unintended redirections, then coasted playing very solid lockdown hockey in the third with the lead.

Man, the Stars are such a conservative risk-averse team offensively they really make it tough on themselves when trailing which is completely to the leading team's benefit. You would think they would adapt on the fly and take more risks instead of just plodding along. Of course, falling behind to the Stars is a tough thing to come back from as well it must be noted.

While the top line struggled tonight and will probably struggle throughout the series offensively, I actually think this series will be good development for the them. The line has pretty clearly responded to Hockey Operations' calls for them to stop cheating for offence, but in turn has been struggling to generate offence thus far as they find that balance. Gaudreau and Monahan are two players who generate a significantly higher portion of their offence off the rush than they do off the cycle, while Lindholm can do both but is along for the ride. The Stars' ultra conservative and grinding style of play will force the line to attempt to generate largely off the cycle which will benefit them in the long run as it's more representative of deep playoff run-style hockey where rush opportunities typically diminish by round. The Stars style will also afford the top line a bit of a break in defensive effort with their basic style which hopefully results in offensive confidence. It's a good balance.