Preview: Calgary Flames vs Dallas Stars 3/27/19 (77/82): Testing The New Lines

Calgary Flames vs Dallas Stars, 7:30 PM MT

Calgary Flames 47-22-7 (101 Pts) vs Dallas Stars 39-31-6 (84 Pts)

The Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars will met for the third and final time this season with tonight’s tilt at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary currently has a six point lead on San Jose with six games to go, and can also clinch home ice in the first round tonight with at least a point as well. Meanwhile Dallas finds themselves in the middle of a tight playoff race, currently sitting in the 1st wild card spot with 84 points. They’re three points up on Colorado and Arizona, with the Avs being the only team in action tonight.

This is the third matchup between these two clubs this season, with Dallas having won both previous games. The Stars picked up a controversial 4-3 overtime victory on November 29 after Jamie Benn clipped David Rittich in the crease, but the league deemed that Rittich had enough time to reset before Tyler Seguin’s game winning shot was taken.

The second meeting of the year was much more straight forward as Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin made a combined 24 saves in a 2-0 Dallas victory. The Stars have won the last five meetings between the two teams, with Calgary’s last win being a 3-1 victory on March 17 2017. The Flames are 3-6-1 in their last 10 against Dallas and 77-76-25 all time.

The story of tonight’s game will be all of the lineup changes the Flames are trying out before the playoffs begin. After a 3-0 shutout loss to Los Angeles on Monday, and some generally ineffective play by the top line of late, Bill Peters has chosen to shuffle things up now rather than waiting until the playoffs. It’s very possible these new look combinations may not even last the full game, but it will be interesting to see if anything gels tonight.

Starting Goalies (E = Expected, C = Confirmed)

Flames: Rittich (E) 26-7-5, 2.63 GAA, .911 SV%

Stars: Bishop (E) 26-15-2, 2.05 GAA, .932 SV%

Team Leaders

Flames: Goals – Gaudreau (35), Points – Gaudreau (92), PIM – Bennett (91), SV% – Rittich .911

Stars: Goals – Seguin (31), Points – Seguin (73), PIM – Polak (65), SV% – Bishop .932

What’s Happening with the Opposition?

Dallas Stars Coverage: Defending Big D

Last Time Out

Calgary Flames 0 – Los Angeles Kings 3

Dallas Stars 5 – Winnipeg Jets 2

Players to Watch

Calgary Flames

Derek Ryan (C): All signs are pointing to Ryan having a big role in tonight’s game as he plays alongside Johnny Gaudreau. He’s been one of the Flames best players since the All-Star break and has looked good in a few other appearances up top.

Dallas Stars

Tyler Seguin (C): He has four goals and four assists in his last five games and has been propelling the Stars playoff run lately. In 19 career games against the Flames he has 10 goals and 11 assists, so yeah, he likes playing Calgary.

by Michael MacGillivray