Series Preview: Dallas Stars vs. Calgary Flames

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas Stars begin their playoff journey towards Lord Stanley's cup on Tuesday night when they take on the Calgary Flames. 

Puck drop for game one is scheduled for 9:00 P.M. in Calgary.

The Stars finished with a regular season record of 46-30-6 going 5-3-2 in their last 10 games of the season. Jason Robertson led the team in scoring with 41 goals, followed by Roope Hintz with 37. In total, the team had four players with at least 20 goals. 

Rookie goalie Jake Oettinger has been in net for the majority of the games since Braden Holtby's lower body injury in March. Oettinger gathered 30 wins and a .914 save percentage during the regular season. He'll likely get his first-ever playoff start on Tuesday night while Scott Wedgewood looks to serve as backup goalie for the majority of the series.

On the other side of the puck, the Calgary Flames ended the season with a 50-21-11 record going 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Dallas will look to stop leading goal scorers Matthew Tkachuk (42 goals), Elisas Lindholm (42), and Johnny Gaudreau (40). Goalie Jacob Markstrom will get the start for Calgary. He holds a .922 save percentage and has 37 wins over 61 games this season.

The two teams faced each other 3 times during the regular season. In November, the Stars took down Calgary in overtime. However, the flames would go on to beat Dallas in February (4-3) and in April (4-2). 

Dallas was last seen in the playoffs in 2020 when they made it to the Stanley Cup finals. They lost in six games to the eventual champions Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Games one and two are in Calgary with game three happening at American Airlines Center (AAC) on Saturday night. They'll play one day after game three of the NBA playoff series between the Mavericks and Phoenix Suns. AAC will be busy hosting playoff games Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday switching between the Mavs and Stars. 

"It's great for the city," Dallas Stars president and CEO Brad Alberts said. "It's a really cool thing that we can't take for granted."