The Stars looked to be in control of game five of their best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoff series at Calgary as they headed into the final period of the contest on May 11. Still, the Flames roared back in the last 20 minutes to score three goals, snatch a 3-1 win, and push Dallas to the brink of elimination as Calgary now leads the series 3-2.
Dallas head coach Rick Bowness said the team let one get away.
“They took it to another level and we didn’t,” he said in his postgame conference. “We didn’t handle it very well. We stayed with them for two periods, obviously. They just cranked it up in the third period and we didn’t handle the puck well to give us an opportunity to spend time in their zone.”
Bowness said spending time in Calgary’s zone would have been the key to success for Dallas.
“We just didn’t do that,” he said.
Dallas goalie, Jake Oettinger, came into the contest after suffering a game four loss, 4-1, in which he stopped 50-of-53 (the other two Flames goals were empty-netters) and had next to no offensive support from his teammates playing in front of him.
Oettinger kept Calgary off the scoreboard for the first two periods of play on game five. The Stars’ 22-year-old left wing Jason Robertson – fresh off a regular season where he notched a career-high 41 goals – got his first career NHL postseason goal, giving Dallas a 1-0 lead heading into the final period.
Mikael Backlund knotted the game 1-1 for the Flames nearly seven minutes into the third period, and Andrew Mangiapane scored the eventual game-winner four minutes later.
The Stars were outshot 32-to-21 on the night, and Oettinger, who earned the loss, stopped 29-of-31 shots, stopping the first 27 straight he saw while in net (Calgary added a late, empty-net goal to seal the victory.)
The Stars are hoping for a game seven back in Calgary but can only get there with a win in game six against the Flames at the American Airlines Center on Friday, May 13.