The three big questions coming into the game were, in no particular order:
1. Would Matthew Tkachuk, who left Game 2 on a few occasions, finally going down the tunnel in the third and not returning, play in Game 3?
Answer: He did not. Instead, Tobias Rieder skated alongside Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane. Zac Rinaldo and Alan Quine drew into the lineup skating on the wings with centre Derek Ryan, while Mark Jankowski did not dress.
2. Who would get the start between the pipes in this back-to-back: Cam Talbot or David Rittich?
Answer:It was Talbot making his third start of the series. And he was an absolute beast, the game star making 35 saves and recording the shutout, his second of the post-season. Hard to say enough about his performance. In a word, wow!
3. How would the Flames bounce back after a heartbreaking loss in Game 2 where they trailed 4-2 in the third before rallying to tie it, only to see the Stars get the winning goal with 40 seconds left.
Answer:See the final score above.
If Games 1 and 2 were punctuated by physicality and big hits in the first period, Game 3 was more run-and-gun, with plenty of rushes for both teams.
Early on, Rasmus Andersson showed his speed as he barreled down the right-wing aboards and cut around his defender, throwing the puck to Sam Bennett who got a nice shot off that was saved by Anton Khudobin, who started Game 1 but backed up Ben Bishop Thursday night in Game 2.
The Stars then turned up ice for an odd-man rush, Alexander Radulov - who had a big night with a goal and two points Thursday - pulled up and fed a trailing Tyler Seguin, who wired a laser that went off the far post and bounced back to Radulov, who was looking at a wide-open net but fired it wide.
Milan Lucic was whistled for the first penalty of the game with a slash on young Stars blueliner Miro Heiskanen, the standout hero for Dallas with a pair of tallies in the 5-4 victory.
Backlund had a great opportunity short-handed but again, Khudobin was up to the task.
And again it led to Seguin skating up the ice and, in similar fashion to his earlier chance, ringing one off the crossbar.
Before the period ended, Dillon Dube fed Bennett right in the slot, who whipped a backhand looking to go five-hole but Khudobin slammed the pads.
Late in their first powerplay of the night, Backlund flung a cross-ice pass down low to Lucic, who's one-timer from a tight angle hit the net, the big man shaking his head after.
