'You Always Want To Score First'

Thursday night’s a great night for a rubber match.

The Flames will close out the month of November against the same team against whom they opened it, when the Dallas Stars pay a visit to the Scotiabank Saddledome. Get tickets

The three-game season series draws to a close, with each team holding one win thus far.

Tonight, Calgary’s focus is on starting the game - and finishing the month - with a bang.

The Flames are one of only five NHL teams with more wins this season when surrendering the opening goal than when scoring it.

But according to Blake Coleman, early deficits don’t necessarily translate to a lack of energy out of the gate.

"We’ve had pretty good starts, some games better than others,” Coleman said following Thursday's morning skate. “But I think this is a game where there’s no excuse not to have a lot of energy from the jump, and an opportunity for us to get on top of a team.

“In this league, you prefer to play with the lead than chase it, but the good news is, we’ve found ways to be successful in both situations.”

So far this season, Calgary has earned 10 points from the nine games in which the team took a 1-0 lead.

According to Head Coach Ryan Huska, a strong start benefits everyone.

“One of the goals for us is to always win a first period,” Huska said in his morning media session Thursday. “You give yourself a better chance of winning if you’re playing with the lead, instead of always having to chase games.

“You always want to score first, but I feel like we’ve come to play.”

The Flames’ ability to come back in games has generated a lot of chatter over the past month, including a third-period rally six nights ago against the same Stars team they’ll face tonight.

A.J. Greer’s third-period goal helped kickstart Calgary’s rally three nights ago against Vegas (a 2-1 overtime win), putting his season tally total one shy of the five he collected as a Boston Bruin last year.

As he and his linemates prepare for a series finale against Dallas, the message is simple - and it’s a message that holds its roots in defensive responsibility.

“Strong opponent, very gifted offensively, and their transition’s very fast,” Greer said. “What we have to do is just make sure that we limit the turnovers, and we take care of things in our own zone, and just do our thing in the O zone.”

For Greer’s line, the game plan is simple against a Stars team that is only a few months removed from an appearance in the Western Conference Final.

“As forwards, we just have to be ready to do our job in the D zone,” he said. “Then, (we need to) make sure that we make the right plays in the O zone.

“We’ll get our chances.”