Stars Steal One In Calgary: Viewpoint From the Glass

High above the ice in the Scotiabank Saddledome, the press box hangs over the arena in the most unique setup in the NHL, swaying with every roar from the crowd and putting the fear of God in anyone scared of heights who has to cross the catwalks to get there.

That is where the press usually sits, but thanks to a connection made with an incredibly nice and generous Calgarian, my perspective of the game was far below the suspended press area and up against the glass for the Stars 5-2 win Thursday night.

The Stars were more than fortunate to get out of Alberta with two wins, and the second of the back-to-back in Cowtown was an absolute steal of a win. Casey DeSmith made 46 saves and the Flames set a franchise record with 102 shot attempts.

Here are my observations from ice level:

The Stars defense allowed the Flames to enter the zone easily - too easily - and set up for a shot in the slot too often. DeSmith had to deal with chaos in front of the net all night, and the Stars defensemen did not do a good enough job shutting down dangerous shots. Take a look at the chart below for visualization:

Dallas allowed way too many shots below the dots and between the circles at even strength. DeSmith was miraculous at 5-on-5 to keep the score where it finished.

The Stars only mustered 18 shots on goal, so most of the play was in the Stars defensive zone. Take a look at the difference in deployment below. The blue indicates a face-off in the offensive zone, while the red signifies those players took a face-off in the defensive zone.

That is not a recipe for winning hockey, and for Dallas to have won this game by multiple goals is shocking when simply looking at the stats on paper. Dallas had to start in their own zone all night, which makes creating offense even tougher.

There were really two reasons why the Stars came away with the win, and one of them was the video team. After referees Garrett Rank and Francois St. Laurent called off the initial Flames goal by Conor Zary due to a kicking motion, video coaches Patrick Dolan and Chris Demczuk radioed in for the Stars coaches to challenge the next score from Blake Coleman due to goaltender interference.

The Flames fans saw no interference, but the referees agreed with the Stars and kept the score at 1-0 thanks to the Roope Hintz tally in the first period.

Soon after, Nazem Kadri took the roof off of the Saddledome with the first counted Flames goal, gesturing from the bench for a good goal after scoring.

As the Flames kept fanning the fire closer and closer to taking the lead, DeSmith stood tall and two individual efforts created two quick Stars goals to silence the crowd and pull away.

Wyatt Johnston scored a beautiful unassisted goal, weaving around Calgary players, gathering his own rebound and lifting it past Dustin Wolf. Then, Mikael Granlund took a perfect feed and buried the puck into the empty net for a 3-1 lead soon after.

Calgary kept the onslaught going in the third, scoring on the power play mere seconds into the period. DeSmith stood tall again and again as the shot clock kept creeping higher and higher for the Flames.

Finally, another individual effort by Hintz and Jason Robertson led to a rebound chance that Mikko Rantanen chipped home for the crucial two goal cushion that led to the Stars sealing it with an empty net goal. Rantanen needed the goal to gain some scoring confidence, and the Stars needed the goal to stop what felt like inevitable Calgary momentum.

After going to the Seattle-Calgary game at the Saddledome on Tuesday night, it felt like a preseason game compared to the Stars-Flames game Thursday. The intensity was higher, the crowd was more passionate, and the stress was palpable all night.

Watching from the press box is always a privilege, but seeing a hockey game on the glass is a needed reminder of how much faster and intense the game is from up close.

The Stars continue on their road trip to Seattle, where they will play two games Saturday and Monday night.

Stay tuned for more Stars content on The Hockey News.