Flames defeat Stars in Game 4 to even Western First Round

DALLAS --Johnny Gaudreau scored on a penalty shot, and the Calgary Flames evened their Western Conference First Round series against the Dallas Stars with a 4-1 win in Game 4 at American Airlines Center on Monday.

"I feel like since Game 1, I feel like I've been playing well, playing hard against this team," Gaudreau said. "Obviously, the results weren't there last game, had a breakaway [three and a half] minutes left, wanted that one back, and then tonight, little different story. Found the net. That's the way hockey is. Can't score them all, but it was nice to find the back of the net and help this team win a game here tonight."
Gaudreau was awarded a penalty shot at 7:47 of the third period after Dallas defenseman John Klingberg hooked him as he drove the net in the slot. Gaudreau pulled the puck to his backhand and slipped it five-hole on goalie Jake Oettinger to give Calgary a 2-0 lead.
"He's good on breakaways," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "Has lots of different moves, this one worked."

Game 5 of the best-of-7 series is at Calgary on Wednesday.
Elias Lindholm scored his third goal of the series, and Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves for the Flames, the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division.
Oettinger made an NHL career-high 50 saves for the Stars, who are the first wild card from the West.
"They were really good, and we were really bad," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "Puck management was not very good. We were on the wrong side of them too many times in all three zones. We were very slow to close on them in the defensive zone, which is why they were able to cycle the puck as much."
RELATED: [Complete Flames vs. Stars series coverage]
Rasmus Andersson gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 10:03 of the second period on a one-timer from Matthew Tkachuk during a 5-on-3 power play.
"I thought we started well, thought our first period was good," Andersson said. "We could've got out with the lead after the first one, but we just stuck with it. We got a big power-play goal there, and then obviously got the second one and the third one. Overall, it was a good game and, you know, it all started with a good start in the first."

Lindholm made it 3-0 at 11:53 of the third period on a shot from the high slot. Calgary won an offensive zone face-off and got the Dallas defense spread out, allowing Lindholm to move into the open ice.
"Sometimes when something does go wrong, it just seems like a domino effect," Stars forward Jason Robertson said. "Passes aren't on the tape and you're not executing. At this time of the year, it's kind of unacceptable."
Tyler Seguin cut it to 3-1 at 15:03 when he picked the top corner from the right face-off circle on the power play after Oettinger was pulled for an extra attacker.
Mikael Backlund scored an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left for the 4-1 final.
"Their forecheck was hard tonight," Seguin said. It's always hard. We gave them some opportunities. We didn't have enough hold-ups. We didn't have enough of those moments where we could get it out, and we didn't."

NOTES: Forward Brett Ritchie was a late scratch so Calgary played with seven defensemen and 11 forwards. Defenseman Michael Stone entered the lineup and had a game-high eight shots in 10:12 in his first Stanley Cup Playoff game since April 19, 2017. … Sutter won his 91st playoff game to move past Mike Babcock for seventh in NHL history. He also coached his 174th playoff game to pass Mike Keenan for sixth all-time.