JOHN KLINGBERG

Rasmus Andersson scored Calgary’s first power-play goal since early in the playoff opener, Jacob Markstrom had 34 saves and the Flames beat the Dallas Stars 4-1 in Game 4 to even their first-round series.

Joe Pavelski scored twice and got the game-winner on the first power-play goal in the series for Dallas as the Stars beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

The combination of jumbled standings in the Western Conference and a flat salary cap has stalled much of the trade market around the NHL.

Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski scored 75 seconds apart late in the third period, and the Dallas Stars stopped Pittsburgh’s 10-game win streak with a 3-2 victory over the Penguins.

The Stars' return comes after 17 players tested positive for COVID-19, even though most were asymptomatic. Their first four scheduled games, all on the road and including an early Stanley Cup Final rematch with Tampa Bay, were postponed. “Right now, listen, we're all ready for a game,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said after practice Thursday at their home arena. Now the Stars are the last team to open the NHL's 56-game, division-only regular season. About 5,000 fans will be allowed for Stars games, well below the hockey capacity of 18,532, though the NBA's Dallas Mavericks are playing their home games there without fans.

DALLAS – The Dallas Stars began their offseason activity after losing in the Stanley Cup Final by bringing back a reliable defender. Dallas re-signed veteran defenseman Andrej Sekera to a $3 million, two-year contract Sunday that carries an annual salary cap hit of $1.5 million. The 34-year-old Slovak blocked 38 shots and had one assist in the postseason while playing third-pairing minutes for the Western Conference-champion Stars. Sekera had eight points and blocked 75 shots in 57 regular-season games during his first year with Dallas. The 6-foot, 195-pound defender has appeared in 764 regular-season NHL games over parts of 14 seasons with Buffalo, Carolina, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Dallas.

This is a Stanley Cup matchup for all of those who like their games to be a bit defensive. “In today’s NHL you need that for your team to be successful,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said Friday. “We're not surprised,” Stars defenseman John Klingberg said. ... He’s doing it all right now.”The Stars signed 14-year veteran Andrej Sekera as a free agent last summer, and he is finally in his first Stanley Cup Final with his fifth team. “Everyone is obviously very hungry to go all of the way,” said Hedman, part of Tampa Bay's loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final five years ago.

The Stars are going to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years. Benn and Joel Kiviranta, a rookie like Gurianov, had goals in the final 10:06 of regulation to tie Game 5 of the Western Conference Final. “We’re a confident group.”The Stars also won 3-2 in Game 3 against Vegas, when Alexander Radulov scored 31 seconds into OT. ,,, Seguin had two blocks only seconds apart on the first Vegas power play in the second period. UP NEXTThe Stars wait to find out who and when they play in the Stanley Cup Final.

Kiviranta was playing only his third postseason game, with Andrew Cogliano unfit to play, after scoring once in 11 regular-season games. There had never been an NHL Game 7 played at a neutral site before the two games. The series was back and forth, starting from Game 1 and tonight the game itself was no different. The Stars beat the Avs in the Western Conference finals in 1999 and 2000 to make it to the Stanley Cup final. His sixth power play goal matched Joe Sakic (1996) for the second-most in an Avalanche postseason behind Michel Goulets seven in 1985.