CALGARY — Dallas Stars goalie Casey DeSmith made 46 saves in a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist for the Stars (47-21-4), who improved to 6-2-2 in their last 10 games and rank second in the NHL's Central Division with 10 games remaining in their regular season.
Wyatt Johnston and Mikael Granlund also scored and Matt Duchene produced an empty-net goal for the Stars.
DeSmith got the start for Dallas after Jake Oettinger's 42 saves in the previous night's 4-3 win in Edmonton over the Oilers.
Nazem Kadri scored twice for the Flames (34-26-11) with 11 games remaining in the regular season to claim a playoff spot.
But the St. Louis Blues, holding down the last wild-card berth in the Western Conference, moved six points clear of the Flames with a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Flames starter Dustin Wolf stopped 14 of 18 shots in the loss. Calgary captain Mikael Backlund returned to the lineup after six games out with an upper-body injury.
Trailing 1-0, Calgary had two potential goals called off before Kadri's stood.
Peter DeBoer won a coach's challenge for goaltender interference after Blake Coleman's wrist shot beat DeSmith at 5:30 of the second period.
A league review determined Calgary's Connor Zary kicked the puck into the Dallas net at 14:02 of the first.
Kadri reversed behind the net and skated the puck out to roof it far side on DeSmith at 8:12 of the second, but Johnston and Granlund countered in a 76-second span starting at 12:55.
Kadri revived the Saddledome 16 seconds into the third period with a wrist shot that DeSmith couldn't get enough pad on to prevent a power-play goal.
But Rantanen restored the visitors' two-goal lead at 13:22 of the third.
After Calgary's Matt Coronato missed a one-timer, Dallas scored going the other way with Rantanen banging in a second-effort rebound on a Hintz breakaway.
Zary went down holding his left knee in the third period when Rantanen slid into him. Zary didn't return to the game.
The Flames out-chanced the Stars over the first five minutes, but it was Dallas drawing first blood on a broken play in Calgary's zone at 7:09.
Hintz beat Wolf low stick side on a feed from Rantanen for Hintz's sixth point in as many games.
TAKEAWAYS
Stars: Weathered Calgary's third-period storm for a second win in as many nights after holding off the Oilers the previous day.
Flames: Couldn't produce a fifth straight comeback win despite a spirited effort. Needed a goal from a power play midway through the period to step up the pressure on Dallas.
KEY MOMENT
Rantanen's goal deflated the Flames after Calgary pressed hard in the third period.
KEY STAT
The Stars have lost just eight games in regulation since Jan. 1. Dallas improved to 17-4-3 since Jan. 24.
UP NEXT
On Saturday, the Flames are in Edmonton to face the Oilers and the Stars play the first of two straight road games against the Seattle Kraken.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2025.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
