GAME 3 – FEED THE FIRE, WE WILL NOT BE DENIED!!!!
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Preview
Calgary at Dallas
The Calgary Flames are battling their own history, as well as the Dallas Stars, in their Western Conference first-round series.
Heading into Saturday's Game 3 at Dallas, the Flames are well aware of the parallels between their recent playoff failures, especially after a 2-0 defeat to the Stars on Thursday that has the best-of-seven series tied 1-1.
The Flames won their opening playoff game in the first round in both 2019 and 2020, but lost both second games on the way to being eliminated.
"In the past, '18-19, we got really high after the first game and really low after the second game and just could never really recover after that loss at home against Colorado," centre Mikael Backlund said. "It feels way different now against Dallas. You learn from your past mistakes, so for me personally, that's how I go about life and I'm just really excited."
The Flames, who won the opener 1-0 against the Stars on Tuesday, are getting placed under the microscope. Despite being one of the highest-scoring teams in the league, an early Game 1 power-play goal by Elias Lindholm in the opener is their only score, despite holding a significant edge in shots.
"We need to have confidence, right?" Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane said. "We're a good team. We know that. We've had success during the regular season, of course.
Gaudreau: Flames are 'fine' after slow offensive start
The Flames outshout the Stars 29-23 on Thursday, with Gaudreau crediting Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger for being the difference in Game 2.
"I thought we had plenty of scoring chances tonight," Gaudreau added. "Their goalie played well. Couple 2-on-1s, breakaway. I thought we did a good job in their own zone. We've just got to score, got to bear down and put the puck in the net, starting with myself."
In-season addition
said losing a game on home ice has not changed the mindset for Calgary, who had already set a goal of sweeping Games 3 and 4 in Dallas.
"It's playoff hockey," Toffoli said. "It's not easy to score goals in the first place, let alone playing a team like this who plays extremely defensive. We've got to find a way and kind of dig deep.
Playoff return to AAC is good news for the Dallas Stars, and not just on the ice
“Excited to go home and play in front of our fans,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “It’s been a couple years now. … It’s going to be fun. We’ve got some great fans that are pretty loud as well, so looking forward to it.”
The Stars pulled a split from the two games at the Scotiabank Saddledome, in front of a raucous red-clad crowd, silencing 19,289 fans with a shutout victory Thursday. When the Flames come to Dallas, it will mark the Stars’ first playoff home game since May 5, 2019, a 4-1 loss to St. Louis in Game 6 of the second round.
