[Cali Panthers Fan]

I stand by the fact that the penalty calls changed this game.

Two calls late in each of the 1st and 2nd periods (2 minutes left...conveniently), both calls extremely suspicious.

Dallas scores on both power plays.

Then there were 5 straight calls that went against the Flames in the 3rd. I won't complain about the calls because they were all legitimate, but I did notice a few obvious calls that the Flames could have received from the refs, but nothing.

People can talk about how bad the Flames were, but those penalty calls really, really tipped momentum in favor of Dallas. It's easy to feel good about yourself when you're getting chances on the power play. Without that, the Stars had nothing all game long 5 on 5.

Then you get to late in the 3rd, and OT, and the Flames were just gassed from defending for so long. It takes a toll on you, and with no power plays of your own, it's just incredibly hard to tilt the ice back in your favor.

I'm not saying it's all about officiating, but it played a HUGE role in this game. Suspicious calls, timing of calls, and sequence of calls all played into Dallas' favor (all except the obvious goaltender interference call).

The Flames battled hard, but they just didn't have anything left. Going to have to learn from that and find a way to build momentum from a good penalty kill, rather than letting it suck momentum from you.

From the 18 minute mark of the 2nd to the 12 minute mark of the 3rd, the Flames had to kill 10 penalty minutes (10 of the 14 minutes). That's going to drain you and shift momentum for the other team.

And yet, they were still winning the game. They were defending well, but the defensive specialists for the Flames were exhausted from all the PK time. They just had nothing left in the tank at the end, and the Stars were able to take advantage with just 11 seconds left.

Learn from this. Discipline is important. Balanced ice time is a factor for the end of the game, especially when your top defenders are older. Momentum is a big factor in playoff hockey.