Alexander Radulov was the hero as the Dallas Stars scored late in regulation and then beat the Calgary Flames 5-4 in overtime on Sunday in Edmonton to even their opening round Stanley Cup playoff series at 2-2.
Seconds after his team rang a shot off the post, John Klingberg, who collected three assists, rifled a point shot that Radulov deflected for the game winner on his team's 62nd shot.
Joe Pavelski collected his first career playoff hat trick -- capped by a game-tying tally with 11.9 seconds left in regulation -- and goalie Anton Khudobin made 36 saves -- the biggest against Johnny Gaudreau early in overtime -- for the Stars, who have the momentum heading into Tuesday's Game 5 in the best-of-seven set.
Calgary was the better team through the first period, but Pavelski gave Dallas the first lead while on the power play. Pavelski was on the doorstep and chipped home the rebound at the 18:11 mark. It's the first time in a dozen games the Stars opened the scoring.
Calgary's Gaudreau set off a wild stretch with a power-play goal 1:54 into the second period to tie the game, chipping home a rebound amidst a scramble -- the first of three goals in 123 seconds.
Pavelski restored the Dallas lead 80 seconds later when he used his linemate as a decoy on the rush before burying a shot off the far post and into the net, but Sam Bennett netted Calgary's second power-play goal of the period just 43 seconds later to tie it 2-2.
Bennett netted his second of the game to give the Flames a 3-2 lead with 5:10 left in the second period, converting a rebound for his team-high fifth goal of the postseason, but Denis Gurianov replied with a second power-play goal for the Stars with 36.1 seconds left in the period.
Tobias Rieder's third short-handed goal of the playoffs restored Calgary's lead at 3:11 of the third period, scored after Derek Ryan created a rush that he joined to convert the crossing pass for his team's third short-handed goal of the series, but Pavelski converted another rebound chance on his team's 50th shot to force overtime. Pavelski's goal is the latest game-tying goal in the postseason in Dallas Stars history. He is also the first Dallas Star to record a playoff hat trick.
Stars No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop, who played in Game 2, didn't even dress as a backup for the game, with Jake Oettinger taking that role. The Flames were without Matthew Tkachuk, their top point producing player during the regular season, for the second straight game. It's suspected he suffered a concussion in the second clash of the series.
Cam Talbot stopped 57 shots for the Flames.
--Field Level Media
Dallas | Calgary | |
Joe Pavelski 3 | Points | Sam Bennett 3 |
Joe Pavelski 3 | Goals | Sam Bennett 2 |
John Klingberg 3 | Assists | Sean Monahan 2 |
Joe Pavelski 1 | Power Play Goals | Sam Bennett 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | Tobias Rieder 1 |
Anton Khudobin .900 | Save Percentage | Cam Talbot .919 |
Anton Khudobin 36 | Saves | Cam Talbot 57 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Dallas | 62 | 5 | 2-7 | 2-4 | 8 | 44 |
Calgary | 40 | 4 | 2-4 | 5-7 | 14 | 42 |