The Flames take game one in Calgary, shutting out the Stars 1-0. There was no love lost between these two and the ten penalties between them made that clear.

Elias Lindholm opened the scoring for the Flames with a powerplay goal in the first period. That would not be the end of the excitement. Matthew Tkachuk made friends with Michael Raffl and things only escalated from there. After being assessed for fighting majors, Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson and John Klingberg took things into their own hands. Both were assessed for a fighting major as well as a game misconduct.

Jacob Markstrom did not have a heavy workload which ended up working in his favor.. The defense had a lot of work cut out for them after losing their half of their top pairing. The team had to adjust on the fly and did it without any bumps in the road

.The Stars were not able to generate a shot until 11:06 into the first period and ended up being outshot 26-16.

Emotions are heightened during playoff hockey. Everyone is hungry and wanting it as much as the next guy. The Stars eliminated the Flames back in 2020. The Stars’ strong suit was forcing the Flames to take penalties. They were an undisciplined team that couldn’t bury a beach ball. We saw glimpses of that Flames team tonight.

Even strength scoring seemed to get lost in the shuffle. The Flames were killing penalties left and right so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt there. This could be a cause for concern down as the postseason rolls on. Good teams tighten up their game in the postseason. They aren’t giving opponents the man advantage.

Game 2 will call for more discipline and even strength goals. The Flames will be back home at the Saddledome on Thursday.