Calgary Flames claim victory over Stars in playoff series opener – Calgary | The Canadian News

Elias Lindholm scored the only goal for the Calgary Flames on Tuesday in a 1-0 win to open their playoff series against the Dallas Stars.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday at the Saddledome before heading to the American Airlines Center for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday.

Lindholm scored a power play goal early in the first half. Jacob Markstrom stopped all 16 shots he faced in front of a packed Saddledome for his second career playoff shutout.

The playoff win was only Calgary’s second at the Saddledome since 2015.

Dallas starter Jake Oettinger refused 25 of 26 shots for the loss in his NHL playoff debut.

Calgary (50-21-11) topped the Pacific Division, while the Stars (46-30-6) entered the playoffs via the Western Conference’s top wild card spot.

Calgary led 1-0 after a dominant opening period. The Flames limited the Stars to three shots, and the first didn’t happen until 11:05.

Both clubs had to absorb the loss of key defensemen late in the first period when Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson and Dallas’ John Klingberg were issued in-game misconduct for fighting at the buzzer.

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That fight followed Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Raffl also throwing punches late in the period. Tkachuk pushed Klingberg hard into the boards behind the Calgary net in the dying seconds.

Without Klingberg, their power quarterback, the Stars went 0-for-5 with a one-man lead.

The clubs exchanged chances in the third. Dallas put more sustained pressure on Calgary’s side in the second period, but was still down one goal after 40 minutes.

A Blake Coleman goal for Calgary midway through the second period was disallowed due to his interference penalty.

All-Star defenseman Jani Hakanpaa was penalized for an illegal check on Coleman’s head in the first period, and the Flames made the visitors pay for the result of the faceoff.

Lindholm won the toss and took a Tkachuk sign from the boards. Lindholm bent his right knee to get momentum behind a wrist strike that beat Oettinger under his glove at 5:01 of the period.

Coleman, who signed with Calgary last year after winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning, went to the bench distraught after Hakanpaa’s hit, but the winger finished the term.