Flames rally past Stars with 4 goals in 3rd

DALLAS -- The Calgary Flames scored five straight goals, including four in the third period, to rally for a 7-4 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Friday.

Yegor Sharangovich had a goal and two assists, and Blake Coleman, A.J. Greer, Elias Lindholm and Adam Ruzicka each had a goal and an assist for the Flames (8-9-3), who are 4-1-1 in their past six games. Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves.

“Resilience. We’re down 4-2 again and we found a way to come back and probably play our best period in the third,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “When you see a 7-4 game and the coach says, 'I liked our defense,' that probably doesn’t make sense. But I thought our guys on the back end made some plays with composure tonight, and I thought that was a big part of our game that allowed us to have some success off the rush.”

Wyatt Johnston scored twice, Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, and Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadonov each had two assists for the Stars (12-5-2), who have lost three of four (1-2-1). Jake Oettinger made 20 saves.

“We got what we deserved I think,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “I think the score was probably flattering for us in our favor at different points. You’ve got to win all kinds of different ways. Couldn’t put together 20 minutes to find a way to win a game. We weren’t great, we weren’t perfect by any means, but we had a chance to win that game in the third period. Just couldn’t put it together for 20 minutes, and that’s disappointing.”

Coleman tied it 4-4 at 1:53 of the third period with a backhand in front after Benn tried to glove down MacKenzie Weegar's shot from the point.

“There’s something to be said about just simplifying the game on the road,” Coleman said. “I thought we started to do that as the game went along. Made the [Stars] go back for pucks and just kept wearing them down as it went. It’s a quiet confidence for our group and we’re playing for each other. We’re finding ways to put points on the board, and that’s important right now.”

Lindholm scored 29 seconds later to put Calgary in front 5-4. He scored on a rebound in front that trickled in off the left pad of Oettinger at 2:22.

“I feel like we weren’t as sharp as we should have been,” Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa said. “They came out hard and we just didn’t match that. Something we need to figure out here as a group going forward. A lot of games are going to be decided in the third, so we need to find a way to be better at them more consistently and find ways to win games.”

Mikael Backlund extended the lead to 6-4 at 7:28, finishing a saucer pass from Connor Zary in front.

Nazem Kadri scored into an empty net at 18:21 for the 7-4 final.

“We came out with some good jump, and we wanted to dictate right away that we wanted to get that next goal,” Backlund said. “I thought everyone chipped in, all lines and pairs were involved in scoring and playing well at both ends. Really big third from the whole group.”

Johnston gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 1:13 of the first period, scoring from the top of the right circle on a rush under the right arm of Markstom.

Greer tied it 1-1 at 8:19 when he lifted in a rebound over a sprawling Oettinger.

Robertson put the Stars back in front 2-1 at 11:27, roofing a shot from the bottom of the left circle between Markstrom's mask and the post.

“Every game is important. We didn’t play well enough to win tonight,” Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen said. “We have to be a lot better than that. We played 20, 40 minutes well, but after that we kind of stopped playing. They capitalized on those chances. We have to play a full 60 minutes and try to win the games.”

Sharangovich scored 43 seconds into the second period to tie it 2-2, burying a one-timer from the right hash marks off a backhand pass from Lindholm on a 3-on-2 rush.

“I think it’s really a good comeback because our first two periods were not good. We did not play well,” Sharangovich. “When it comes to the third period, we played more aggressive. Better forecheck when we’d make a couple of turnovers, and we’d make a couple of good plays and score goals. It’s really good for our group.”

Johnston responded for the Stars to make it 3-2 at 4:44. He skated into the top of the right circle and scored blocker side off the far post.

Joe Pavelski pushed it to 4-2 at 9:53 when he finished a quick cross-ice pass from Matt Duchene on a power play.

Ruzicka cut it to 4-3 at 13:27 with a wrist shot glove side from the high slot.

“Once you’re up two goals, you should be able to close those games out. Not a great start to the third. That’s on us not coming out great,” Johnston said. “A little bit of beating ourselves. When you’re up, teams are going to come out hard, especially start of periods. They’re going to want to get back into the game. We also want to try to close out the game and not give them any life.”

NOTES: Sharangovich has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past four games. ... Calgary is 6-2-2 since a 4-3 loss to Dallas on Nov. 1, which extended its losing streak at the time to six games. ... Pavelski extended his point streak to six games (four goals, three assists). ... Heiskanen was minus-4 in 25:06 of ice time.