The Flames got off to a tough start, surrendering the first goal on the first shot only 1:13 into the game. A bad pinch at the offensive blueline created a partial 2-on-1 back the other way. Jamie Benn sent a pass across to Wyatt Johnston who briefly cradled it at the right circle before squeezing a shot under the arm of Markstrom to make it 1-0 Stars.
While the start – surely – was far from ideal, the Flames got right back on the horse and produced back-to-back shifts with sustained offensive-zone pressure. Their best chance came off the stick of Nikita Zadorov, who took on a clear-cut 2-on-0 with Martin Pospisil, but his shot sailed high and caromed out of play.
The Flames made it a 1-1 game at 8:19 courtesy of a hard-working fourth-line shift. With Jake Oettinger sitting in the blue paint after making a strong save off Dillon Dube, Greer muscled his way to the cage and lifted a backhand over the sprawling netminder to record his third of the year.
The Stars pulled back in front at 11:27 when Jason Robertson fired from a sharp angle, beating Markstrom up high over the right ear.
Shots on goal favoured the Stars 11-6 after one.
The Flames came flying out of the chute to open the second period and quickly tied the game with an absolute beauty. Sharangovich was the beneficiary of a pretty play between Mangiapane and Lindholm off the rush, allowing No. 17 to snap home his fifth of the year, 43 seconds in.
Sharangovich arguably had his best game as a Flame with five shots, 14+ minutes of ice time, and some nice work on both the powerplay and penalty-killing units. He now has goals in back-to-back games and three in his last four overall, while his five tallies on the year rank second only to Coleman.
But for the third time in the game, home team tallied the go-ahead goal when Johnston fired home his second of the night, beating Markstrom off the far post at 4:44.
A powerplay goal from Joe Pavelski put the Stars up by two at 8:53. With Backlund off serving a questionable slashing penalty, Pavelski took a diagonal feed from Matt Duchene at the far circle before whipping his ninth of the season under the glove of a sprawling Markstrom.
The Flames, though, made it a one-goal game again with 6:33 to play in the period – and again, it was a pretty one made possible by some nifty passing off the rush.
This time, it was Chris Tanev leading the charge, displaying great speed down the right side before dishing off to a streaking Ruzicka, who quickly dragged it before whistling a shot past Oettinger.
The Flames outshot the Stars 12-6 in the middle frame and took a 19-17 advantage in that department into the third, where it was all Flames.
"They were good between periods. And they have been. It's like we talked about all year, there's been a resolve with them to go out and whether it's play well or be a difference-maker. I thought we had good contributions from different lines tonight, which is important. Your fourth line scores two goals - that's a big thing. Elias' line was probably the best they've looked as a trio so far this year.”
