The Calgary Flames were looking to end their road trip on a high note in Dallas on Monday night and, well, that didn't happen.
The Stars jumped out to a 2-0 lead and managed to hold off a good late push from the Flames en route to a 2-1 win.
Some notes:
1) The Flames did a nice job of fighting back in the 3rd period but as a whole their performance was quite bad and they certainly ended up with the result they deserved.
They had a plethora of bad turnovers - including one by Mikael Backlund that led to Jason Spezza's goal - and were very sloppy on the defensive side of things. At 5 v 5 the Stars out attempted 56-32, out chanced 33-17 (17-4 in terms of high-danger chances) and put on an absolute clinic for much of the night.
Again, credit to a tired Flames team for pushing back in the 3rd period but their first 40 minutes were as bad as I've seen all season.
2) Kris Russell has this weird obsession with blocking shots. On several different occasions he preemptively hit the deck and served as a pylon for Stars players to walk around.
A good example of this would be Jamie Benn's goal.
Kris Russell loves hitting the deck. To a fault, I think. pic.twitter.com/JO8CwMlxTU
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) January 26, 2016Of course you have to respect the shot - especially when it's on Benn's stick - but why not try to close the gap while staying upright (and in the shooting lane) and stick check him?
3) Russell had a dreadful night at the office by all accounts. He was on for both goals against, had a negative-14 shot attempt differential and struggled to make even if the simplest of plays.
Not the best sequence from Kris Russell. https://t.co/2R52xt8B7O
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) January 26, 20164) T.J. Brodie didn't get on the scoresheet but he played another strong game. He made good decisions with the puck and was one of four Flames to come out 50% or higher in possession. Brodie also made that ridiculous defensive play to prevent Dallas from scoring an empty-netter, which kept the Flames alive until the final buzzer.
5) Jiri Hudler was one of the best Flames on the ice in this game. He seemed to have more jump in his step, created some chances offensively and picked up a beautiful assist on the Flames' lone goal.
If not anything else it'd be good for him to get going and drive up the potential return in a deadline deal.
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