Flames' top line held in check again in Game 3 loss to Stars

DALLAS -- Johnny Gaudreau took a pass from Tyler Toffoli near the blue line and skated in on a breakaway with 3:33 remaining in the third period.

It was a great scoring opportunity for the Calgary Flames forward, who tied for second in the NHL with 115 points (40 goals, 75 assists) during the regular season. However, Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger turned aside Gaudreau's shot to preserve the one-goal lead.
"Those guys have got to put it away," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said after a
4-2 loss in Game 3
of the Western Conference First Round at American Airlines Center on Saturday. "That's their job."
The Flames have scored three goals in as many games, and their lack of offense is a big reason why they are trailing 2-1 in this best-of-7 series.
RELATED: [Complete Flames vs. Stars series coverage]
The top line of Gaudreau at left wing, Elias Lindholm at center and Matthew Tkachuk at right wing has been especially quiet. After combining for 301 points during the regular season, they have a total of just six in the series (Lindholm has two goals, and Gaudreau and Tkachuk each has two assists), and though they did have opportunities in Game 3, Gaudreau and Lindholm each had a team-leading five shots on goal while Tkachuk had three, only one shot was able to get past Oettinger.
Regarding the failed breakaway attempt by Gaudreau, forward Blake Coleman said he shouldn't beat himself up over it.
"He's getting the looks," Coleman said. "I mean, that was just one of many chances we probably could've finished on. Things get magnified based on the time of the game, and that's just the situation with that, but Johnny's a great player. He was a great player all year, he's going to bounce back. We have all the confidence in the world in his game. He's going to be a big reason why our team bounces back the next game."
The Flames will need a big effort in Game 4 on Monday. Since moving to Texas in 1993, the Stars are 12-0 when taking a 2-1 lead in a best-of-7 series.
Still, this is a situation the Flames didn't find themselves in much during the regular season, when they were sixth in the NHL in goals per game (3.55).
"I think it's tight. It's tight out there, there's not a lot of room," forward Trevor Lewis said. "I think we've just got to dig down a little deeper and find out what we're made of and get those second, third efforts."
It's not for lack of trying. The Flames had 41 shots on goal in Game 3, including 13 shots on four power plays, on which they went 0-for-4. The Flames also outshot the Stars 12-8 in the third period.
"Yeah, we had some good looks, started getting pucks to the net, a couple of bounces the other way and probably would've had a one- or two-goal lead," Coleman said. "But we have to find a way to finish. I think the strength of our game is 5-on-5, and we spend too much time with ticky-tacky 4-on-4 hockey."

The Flames aren't getting too worried yet. They expected games to be close. They expected this to be a tight series. But they know they have to take advantage of prime scoring opportunities when they get them.
"There's a lot of games that go like that," Lewis said. "Like I said, it's more about just everyone digging a little deeper, you know? Those second and third efforts, more of that, get those greasy goals.
"I think we had chances to win the game, for sure. They got a power-play goal there late and we still had a few chances there, so we just have to keep going."