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 Expected to be in the Connor McDavid sweepstakes -- otherwise
known as the NHL basement -- after drafting fourth overall this past
summer, the Flames shot out of the gates with a 17-8-2 start.
However, following a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Friday at the
Scotiabank Saddledome, the Flames are mired in a seven-game losing
streak, and the preseason predictions suddenly don't look so
far-fetched.
It's the first time since the 1974-75 campaign -- when the franchise
was still based in Atlanta -- that the Flames have lost seven in a
row in regulation time.
Meanwhile, the Stars have now won three in a row, thanks to
defenseman Trevor Daley's game-winning goal midway through the
second period.
"It's a tough league," Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said of the two
teams going in opposite directions. "It's the same as Calgary got on
a run and now you get going the other way and you find ways to lose,
instead of finding ways to win. We found a way to win. We've won in
different ways."
 Left-winger Jamie Benn also scored for Dallas and finished with two
points, while Stars center Cody Eakin chipped in with a pair of
assists.
While Daley's goal was the difference, getting the first goal off
Benn's stick was key.
"I just kind of pick-pocketed him there," Benn said. "It was kind of
a lucky break. I think (Eakin) lost the draw and it came right to
me.
"That's what we wanted to do. After the first (period) we came in
here and we got a chance to regroup. It's something that we
definitely wanted. We wanted to get that lead and try to take the
momentum right out of it for them."
Blueliner Mark Giordano scored for the Flames.
Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen made 21 saves for his 13th win of the
season.
Calgary goalie Jonas Hiller turned aside 19 shots in a losing cause.
The Flames have scored just 11 goals in the seven losses.
"We're generating some chances, but it's not good enough," Giordano
said. "I mean, one goal's not good enough. You're not going to win
many. You're asking too much out of your goaltending and team
defense. If we knew the answer, obviously, we'd change it.
"We have to make an effort now just shooting everything and not
looking for any passes, really, unless it's a tap in. We've gotta
grind it, put it at the net and try and grind goals in."
Benn opened the scoring four minutes into the middle frame when he
corralled a loose puck off a scrambled faceoff in the Flames end. He
then out-waited Hiller, and calmly slid the puck past the Swiss
netminder for his ninth of the season.
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Midway through the second period, the Stars killed off an Ales
Hemsky hooking penalty, and six seconds after the infraction had
expired, Daley walked in and beat Hiller upstairs for a 2-0 lead at
the 11:54 mark.
With just over one minute to go in the period, the Flames cut the
deficit to one when Giordano's floater from the point found its way
through a number of bodies and past Lehtonen for the defenseman's
ninth of the season.
Lehtonen, who shut out the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, stymied
the Flames the rest of the way.
"It's been a long time coming," Lehtonen said. "It's been such an
up-and-down season so far. It's been nice to be able to play a few
good games in a row now. That gives confidence to everybody and I
think that's a sign too that our guys are starting to play really
well in front of me."
The Flames travel to Vancouver to face the Canucks on Saturday,
while the Stars will enjoy a day off before heading north to face
the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
NOTES: Prior to the game, the Stars announced they signed LW Cole
Ully to a three-year, entry-level contract. Ully, who has 48 points
(16 goals, 32 assists) in 35 games for the Western Hockey League's
Kamloops Blazers, was the Stars fifth-round pick (131st overall) in
the 2013 NHL Draft. ... Flames G Karri Ramo, who missed Thursday's
practice due to illness and forced the team to take precautions due
to the mumps outbreak across the NHL, skated with the team Friday
morning and was deemed healthy enough to back up starting G Jonas
Hiller. ... The Flames scratched veteran C Matt Stajan in favor of
truculent LW Brandon Bollig. ... Stars RW Ales Hemsky suited up in
his 700th-career NHL game. ... Dallas was without LW Ryan Garbutt,
who served the final game of a three-game suspension for
slew-footing Winnipeg Jets D Dustin Byfuglien.
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