By Canadian Press

Gaudreau scores winner in shootout, Flames beat Stars 3-2

Oct 11, 2019 | 10:36 AM

DALLAS — Johnny Gaudreau didn’t watch the beginning of a shootout, though he had the best view in the house for the end.

Gaudreau put a backhand past Dallas goalie Ben Bishop to give the Calgary Flames a 3-2 victory over the Stars on Thursday night.

Tyler Seguin was the only one of three Stars who beat Calgary goalie David Rittich in the shootout. It was tied 1-1, with Sean Monahan beating Bishop before Gaudreau won the game on the last attempt in the first round that he didn’t see the start of.

“I was pretty tired, so I didn’t really want to watch,” Gaudreau said.

Rittich had 34 saves, including the stop of a penalty shot awarded to Alexander Radulov with 21 seconds remaining in overtime.

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“(Rittich) is great on the (penalty kill), shootouts and penalty shots,” Gaudreau said. “I had a lot of confidence in him there.”

He might have had more confidence in Rittich than the goalie had in himself.

“Have you seen my record (in the shootout)?” Rittich asked rhetorically. “Don’t even look at it. I’m glad I got my first win in the shootout.”

The Flames erased a 2-0 deficit in the third period on goals by Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.

Dallas newcomers Joel L’Esperance and Joel Hanley teamed up for a second-period goal. Captain Jamie Benn, the longest-tenured Star, scored Dallas’ first power-play goal of the season nine seconds into the third period.

Before the penalty shot, Stars coach Jim Montgomery called a timeout.

“He was exhausted,” Montgomery said of Radulov.

Then Rittich stopped Radulov’s attempt.

“The big save on the penalty shot was huge,” Calgary coach Bill Peters said.

Benn said the overtime, penalty shot and shootout shouldn’t have happened. He lost control of the puck, leading to a 2-on-1 and Mikael Backlund’s pass back to Hanifin for the tying goal.

“The deciding play was my turnover in the third,” Benn said. “It was a stupid play and it cost us.”

Bishop made 27 saves.

Radek Faksa set up the Stars’ first goal by sending the puck across the ice to Hanley low in the left faceoff circle. He sent the puck to the slot, where L’Esperance redirected it past Rittich at 16:39.

L’Esperance and Hanley began the season with Texas of the AHL. L’Esperance’s goal was his third in the NHL and first of the season. Hanley’s seventh career assist was his first NHL point since April 2, 2016, with Montreal.

Hanley was playing in his first game for Dallas this season; L’Esperance scored in his second game back with the Stars.

Calgary had lost its previous six games to Dallas since December 2016.

The Flames improved to 2-1-1; Dallas is 1-3-1, with each game decided by a one-goal margin.

Dallas won the third-period faceoff. Benn skated down the slot and took a pass in front to beat Rittich for his first goal of the season. Dallas had started the season 0 for 13 on the power play.

Calgary scored 1:29 later on its first power play on Lindholm’s shot from just inside the blue line. Hanifin tied the game at 2 at 5:32, trailing a 2-on-1 rush and taking a pass back in the slot from Mikael Backlund.

NOTES: Flames D Michael Stone played for the first time this season after being a healthy scratch for the first three games. Stone replaced D Oliver Kylington in the lineup. … Dallas D Taylor Fedun was scratched, allowing Hanley to make his season debut. … The Stars had started the season 0 for 13 on the power play.

UP NEXT

Flames: Play on Saturday at Vegas in the second game of a three-game trip.

Stars: Host Washington on Saturday to complete a two-game homestand. Dallas won on Tuesday at Washington 4-3 in overtime.

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The Associated Press