Dallas, TX – Loui Eriksson had two goals, including the game- winner in the third period, to lead the Dallas Stars to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames.
Eric Nystrom and Erik Cole both scored for the Stars, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Kari Lehtonen made 16 saves in the win.
"It was a big win. I thought we clawed our way a little bit to the surface here. We still have a few feet to go, but I thought our effort in the beginning was good," Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We didn't have the second we wanted, but we stabilized a little bit in the third."
Jay Bouwmeester, Jiri Hudler and Alex Tanguay each had a goal for the Flames, who had won their previous two coming in. Joey MacDonald posted 20 stops in the loss.
"We have to learn to play defense, plain and simple. If we can't play in our zone, it's pretty tough to win games," Flames head coach Bob Hartley said. "That's where championship teams start the building blocks from, and most definitely if you look at tonight we have a lot of work to do."
Dallas had a chance to score 8:24 in when Antoine Roussel was awarded a penalty shot after getting hooked on a breakaway, but his backhand went off the side of the net.
The Stars, though, wound up scoring three times in the frame starting at the 13:07 mark as Cole whipped a shot on net from the right circle that hit off the skate of Derek Smith before going in.
It was a 2-0 game with 4:11 to play in the period after Nystrom snapped the loose puck in from the left side after a rush was broken up, and Eriksson finished off the surge with 1:49 left when he buried the puck from the slot off a feed from Ray Whitney.
Calgary came back in the second period with a pair of power-play goals, the first that came at 11:30 as T.J. Brodie's shot from the right point was re- directed in by Hudler.
The Flames made it a 3-2 game three minutes later as Bouwmeester backhand the puck into net from the slot off a broken pass for his sixth of the season.
Calgary had a chance to tie the game early in the third when Nystrom was called for interference, but were unable to net the puck and the Stars made it a 4-2 game after Eriksson gathered the puck along his feet and snapped it in off a broken play with 7:54 to go.
The goal proved fortunate as the Flames again made it a one-goal game after Tanguay caught up to the puck in the Dallas end and backhanded it home with 4:46 to play.
Calgary got MacDonald from the net with over a minute to play for an extra attacker, but Dallas held the team at bay.
Game Notes
Dallas plays in Colorado on Wednesday ... Calgary plays in Nashville on Thursday ... Calgary had won the previous two meetings with Dallas this season ... Calgary was 2-for-4 on the power play while the Stars were held scoreless on three chances ... Calgary hasn't won three straight since a five-game run from March 6-15 last year.
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