The Stars could not hold a 2-0 lead late on home ice and lost to the visiting Calgary Flames, 3-2, after the skills competition.
David Rittich made 34 saves to get the win as the Flames improved to 2-1-1.
“It was a good game for us, and I’m glad we got the two points,” Rittich said. “We played the right way from the beginning. We had a couple of mistakes early, but that’s part of hockey. We’re going to figure it out, for sure.”
One of those saves was on a penalty shot in extra time by Alexander Radulov.
“The big save on the penalty shot was huge,” Flames coach Bill Peters said. “We got stuck out there for a little bit on that first shift [in overtime], and those guys were tired. We found a way to hang on to the puck a little more as overtime went along, and then a real good job by the guys in the shootout, [Rittich] included.”
Johnny Gaudreau was credited with the game-deciding goal in the shootout.
Joel L’Esperance and Jamie Benn put Dallas up 2-0.
“I mean, we had the effort tonight,” Benn said. “Pretty much the deciding play was my turnover in the third. It’s a stupid play and it cost us, and the game shouldn’t have even gone into overtime or shootout.”
The Stars dropped to 1-3-1.
“We were hungry. It’s a good two points for us, and I’m glad we scored those two goals. We didn’t give up and we kept pushing, so it’s good for us.” Rittich said.
The Flames rallied back in the third with goals from Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.
“That’s life in the NHL. I think we played better today,” John Klingberg said after the loss. “I think we had some really good looks. Our power play was a lot better too, we got one, but we could have had more. We are going to keep working on that as well. I think if we keep playing like this, we’re going to get the result as well.”
[WATCH: All Flames vs. Stars highlights]
Ben Bishop made 27 saves in the loss.
“It’s early in the year. You can’t be results-oriented,” Stars head coach Jim Montgomery said. “We’re not happy with the results. We do think it was our best game of the year, against a really good team. But we’re finding ways to let other teams come back. That second goal can’t happen to us, we’ve got to manage the game better.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.