Flames 4, Stars 3
DALLAS -- The Calgary Flames allowed three unanswered goals in the second period, then scored three of their own in a decisive third period to hand the Dallas Stars a 4-3 defeat before 17,340 fans at American Airlines Center.
In the final period, Calgary got goals from Roman Horak, Matt Stajan and Steve Begin, who all scored for the first time this season. The Flames overcame a 3-1 deficit after two periods.
Horak and Stajan scored just 45 seconds apart early in the third period made it a 3-3 game.
Horak knocked in a rebound after Stars goaltender Richard Bachman made a pad save on a shot by Jay Bouwmeester.
Stajan scored from 15 feet after some nice passing by Curtis Glencross and Lee Stempniak to set up the equalizer.
Begin netted the eventual game-winner with 9:30 to play. He put a 16-foot wrister into the left side of the Dallas net after a long-distance slap shot from Chris Butler was deflected in front of the Stars goal and the carom fell in his vicinity.
Calgary took a 1-0 lead 8:11 into the game when Michael Cammalleri beat Bachman with a 20-foot wrister that sailed over the goaltender's right shoulder from the edge of the right face-off circle. Cammalleri's shot from one knee came on the Flames' second power play of the period.
The Stars rebounded to take a 2-1 lead early in the second when Cody Eakin and Reilly Smith scored 56 seconds apart.
Eakin, who has three goals this season, all in his past four games, beat Calgary goaltender Joey MacDonald with a 45-foot wrister to the short side 1:51 into the second to make it 1-1. MacDonald was screened on the goal by Dallas' Antoine Roussel.
Smith then gave Dallas its first lead when he lifted a backhand into the left side of the net at 2:47 of the second. The Stars rookie winger collected a rebound off a shot from distance by Derek Roy, and after his initial attempt was denied by MacDonald, scored his second goal in as many games. Smith scored his first career goal in Friday's 4-3 win at Vancouver.
Dallas added a third goal in the second period when Ryan Garbutt netted his third of the season at 15:23 with an easy tap-in at the left post. Garbutt and Stephane Robidas were rushing up the ice. After Garbutt laid the puck off to Robidas, whose initial shot from the left circle was stopped by MacDonald, Garbutt knocked in the ensuing rebound to make it 3-1.
The Stars played the third period with just five defensemen after losing Trevor Daley to an upper-body injury late in the second period.
MacDonald stopped 27 of 30 shots for Calgary in his first NHL start since March 2012 with Detroit. Bachman finished with 22 saves.
NOTES: MacDonald, 33, was claimed off waivers on Feb. 11. His previous NHL start came for Detroit on March 14, 2012, when he stopped 20 of 24 shots in a 4-0 loss at Anaheim. ... Cammalleri has four goals this season, all of which have come against Dallas. He had a hat trick in a 7-4 win over the Stars in Calgary on Feb. 13. ... Stars right wing Michael Ryder, who assisted on Eakin's goal in the second period, now has four assists over the past three games.
