Stanley Cup Playoffs: Calgary Flames vs. Dallas Stars series preview

Key Players

Which players should fans keep an eye on?

Calgary Flames

The second pairing of Hanifin and Anderson looked as good as they’ve ever looked. Granted, they were playing against the Jets. But they were confident with the puck and didn’t spend much time in their own zone. If the Flames second pairing plays as well against the Stars as they did against the Jets, the Flames will basically have two top pairings.

Also, I’m curious to see how their top line does against the Stars. They rely a lot on rush chances, especially since the top line doesn’t really have a puck retriever. The Stars were effective at limiting them during the regular season, so that’s going to be quite the chess match.

Dallas Stars

Denis Gurianov is someone to watch. He’s quite skilled and the Stars have steadily given him more ice time. Gurianov is one of the few Stars players capable of taking over a game by scoring goals, so shutting him down is key for the Calgary Flames.

Prediction

This series is a coin flip. I could see either team winning. However, the Stars have simply not looked like a good hockey team since late February. They’re in a really bad funk and even though they got a shootout win against the Blues, they were less than a minute away from getting shutout. The Flames are a flawed team, but those flaws were much less visible against the Jets.

Flames in seven.