Flames visit Stars in critical point race
Posted March 9, 2011 12:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An impressive road trip bolstered the Dallas Stars’ playoff chances. They hope a season-high seven-game homestand can do the same.
Dallas begins that critical stretch Wednesday night against the Calgary Flames, who will try to sweep this season series for the first time since the Stars relocated 18 years ago.
Viewers will join the game in progress on Sportsnet West at 7:30 p.m. MT.
Calgary, which posted a 3-2 shootout win in its last visit to Dallas on Dec. 23, are coming off Sunday’s 3-2 victory over Nashville.
Captain Jarome Iginla scored the tying goal on a penalty shot in the second period to become the 10th player in league history to score at least 30 goals in 10 consecutive seasons. He has 471 goals and 986 points.
“I definitely feel extremely blessed to hit that and be able to do it 10 years,” said Iginla, named the NHL’s first star Monday. “It’s something that when I started out, I never would have dreamt that.”
Iginla has scored in all four of Calgary’s games this month, totaling five goals and three assists.
The Flames have been outstanding on the power play in that span, going 6 for 16.
Fantasy notes: Alex Tanguay has 6-11-17 in his past 16 GP since the start of February. Alex Goligoski has 1-5-6 in 7 GP with DAL, including a +5 rating. | Follow Chris Nichols on Twitter
“The power play, it’s huge for us,” defenseman Mark Giordano told the Flames’ official website. “Games right now come down to a single chance so if you can capitalize when you’re on the power play, there’s a good chance you’ll have a good end result.”
Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff has started 21 straight. He’s beaten the Stars twice this season and is 4-1-1 with a 1.79 goals-against average in his last six starts against them. Kiprusoff is 3-1-1 in Dallas after losing his first six career games there.
Seeking its first postseason berth since 2007-08, Dallas (36-23-7) has endured an up-and-down second-half ride. The Stars went 7-0-1 to open 2011 before a 7-4 loss to Calgary on Jan. 21, ending their franchise-record eight-game road winning streak. That defeat began a 2-10-1 skid which dropped them into a last-place tie in the Pacific Division.
Even with leading scorer Brad Richards out the last 10 games with an apparent concussion, Dallas has worked back into the thick of the Western Conference playoff picture with a 5-0-1 run.
The club capped a 3-0-1 trip and tied the Flames in the standings with Monday’s 4-3 overtime victory over Los Angeles.
Captain Brenden Morrow’s game-winner came after the Stars rallied from three one-goal deficits.
“The last game of the road trip you sometimes get excited about getting back home, so it was huge for us to get those two points,” Morrow told the Stars’ official website.
Dallas hasn’t lost in regulation since Feb. 22 against New Jersey but faces a potentially tough homestand with every matchup against a team in the playoff hunt – Minnesota, Los Angeles, San Jose, Chicago, Philadelphia and Anaheim.
Dallas has killed off 13 of 15 penalties over its last six games but has allowed one power-play goal in each of its three meetings with Calgary this season and lost them all. The Flames last pulled off a season sweep in 1991-92, the Stars’ second-to-last season in Minnesota before moving to Dallas.
Kari Lehtonen started two of this season’s defeats – Andrew Raycroft allowed a career high-tying seven goals in the Jan. 21 loss – and has been in net for Dallas’ last seven games.
