EDMONTON | Winger Denis Gurianov scored four goals Thursday night as the Dallas Stars won 7-3 over the Calgary Flames to eliminate them in six games in the first-round series between the two teams.
It had started well for Calgary: the formation of Alberta, thanks to Andrew Mangiapane, Johnny Gaudreau and Rasmus Andersson, led 3-0 after only seven minutes of play in the first period.
The match was far from over, however. The Stars got to work and the first helping hand they received came from Milan Lucic, as the Flames forward received an unnecessary penalty halfway through the opening.
The excellent defender Miro Heiskanen was quick to take advantage and the Stars returned to the locker room with a deficit of two goals.
The Flames remained mentally in the locker room when the second period started: the Stars scored five unanswered goals, including three from Gurianov. Radek Faksa and the indestructible Joe Pavelski also scored in the second. The Flames retired goaltender Cam Talbot in favor of David Rittich after the Stars’ third goal, but that didn’t change much. So much so that Talbot was back in goal in third.
This last third he was much calmer, with the exception of Gurianov’s fourth goal, who also had an assist in the victory. Moreover, Heiskanen added three assists for the Stars and Pavelski, two.
Despite a poor start, Anton Khudobin finally pushed back 38 pucks in front of the winners’ net. For the Flames, Talbot made 11 saves, compared to six for Rittich.
The portrait is almost complete for the second round of the series. In the West, there is only the series between the Vancouver Canucks and the St. Louis Blues to conclude. In the East, only the clash between the Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers is still ongoing.
These two series must also continue on Friday.
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