Cam Talbot’s shutout win leads Calgary Flames past Dallas Stars

Cam Talbot’s exceptional effort in Game 3 led the Calgary Flames to a shutout win over the Dallas Stars.

Game 3 for the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames brought some changes to the lineups prior to puck drop. Matthew Tkachuk ultimately sat out this game after being listed as a game-time decision and Cam Talbot once again got the nod for the Flames.

The Stars also made a surprising change in net by giving Anton Khudobin the start.  Ben Bishop earned a win in net for the Stars in Game 2, but starting Bishop on back to back nights is not something the Stars decided to do.

Another lineup note came from the Flames when the team announced that Austin Czarnik left the bubble for personal reasons. He was on the outside of the starting lineup in this series but may have slid in the lineup to replace Tkachuk.

Overall, this game ended up not being one of the most exciting playoff games that have been played in recent nights, but either way, the Flames were able to come up with the win. Some notable moments included Cam Talbot being a brick wall for the Flames and stopping all 35 of the shots he saw.

Scoring held off until the second period, making this game the first of the series without a goal in the first period. Mikael Backlund narrowly squeezed a loose puck past Khudobin that Elias Lindholm chipped at to secure the goal. Official scoring still credited Backlund for the goal as the puck had already crossed the line by the time Lindholm got his stick on it.

The Stars got a late power play in the second period that ended up shortening the period altogether. On the broadcast, a piece of the glass by the Dallas bench was shown to be shattered but the explanation for the damage seemed questionable. It was not until the intermission that Blake Comeau was seen to be the cause of the damage.

No calls were made for this event and it actually put the Stars in a better position to start the third period well-rested for their power play however, they do not capitalize on this opportunity. It is actually the Flames that light the lamp again and it is done by a slapshot at the blue line from TJ Brodie. The Flames hold their lead to the end and the Stars finish the game unable to get anything past Talbot.

The Flames team as a whole did not play an exceptional game either. They did what they needed to do to win and, in this case, it was enough. Physicality was not as noticeable as the night prior, but shots were blocked when they needed to be and goals were scored in good time to take some of the pressure off of Talbot.

As Matthew Tkachuk’s injury is undisclosed, it is unclear if he will rejoin his team for game four of this series. The Flames now lead the series 2-1 after this shutout win and after two back to back nights, Dallas and Calgary get a day’s break and will be back in action Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. MT (2:00 p.m. EST).