The Saddledome’s playoff farewell run was the kind of night that sticks. On May 15, 2022, the Calgary Flames finally finished off the Dallas Stars in Game 7, taking a 3-2 overtime win in front of a crowd that had spent seven games waiting for somebody to blink first.
It was also the Flames’ most recent playoff series victory, and it came after a first round that was tight almost all the way through. Calgary entered that spring coming off one of the best regular seasons in franchise history, a year built around a dominant top line of Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk and a roster that had plenty of believers around the league. The Flames had finished as the top seed in the Pacific Division, while Dallas came in as the second wild-card team.
The road to that point had been anything but straight. Under general manager Brad Treliving, Calgary bounced between strong seasons and disappointing ones. The stretch leading into 2022 included the 2018-19 team that won 50 games and finished second overall before being knocked out by Colorado in the first round, the 2019-20 season that ended with Geoff Ward taking over after Bill Peters resigned, the pandemic pause, the bubble loss to Dallas in Edmonton, and then the empty-arena 2020-21 season that ended with Darryl Sutter returning behind the bench late in the year.
By 2021-22, though, Sutter’s first full season back had the Flames rolling. That set up a first-round matchup with a Dallas team that leaned heavily on Jake Oettinger, who turned in a huge series and kept the Stars alive for as long as he could.
Game 7 itself had all the drama the series had been building toward. Jamie Benn scored just 40 seconds into the game to put Dallas ahead, and the Stars later went up 2-1 on Vladislav Namestnikov’s goal in the second period. Calgary answered through Tyler Toffoli and then Matthew Tkachuk, who tied it 2-2 in the second.
The game stayed there until overtime, where the Flames finally broke through. Tyler Seguin’s hooking penalty at 5:08 of the first overtime period opened the door, and Johnny Gaudreau finished it at 15:09, scoring off a setup from Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk to send Calgary through.
Jacob Markstrom got the win after allowing two goals on 28 shots. Oettinger took the loss despite stopping 64 of 67 shots.
After the final horn, one of the night’s most memorable scenes came in the tunnel, where injured Sean Monahan waited for Gaudreau and gave him a big hug during the postgame celebration.
The Flames’ reward was a first playoff Battle of Alberta since 1990, but that series went badly for Calgary. After being pushed hard by Dallas, the Flames couldn’t slow Connor McDavid, and Edmonton won in five games. McDavid’s Game 5 overtime winner may have been the final Stanley Cup playoff goal ever scored at the Saddledome.
That 2022 team ended up being the last great run for that group. Tkachuk was traded to Florida that summer, Gaudreau left in free agency for Columbus, and the Flames struggled the next season. By the spring of 2023, Sutter and Treliving were gone, replaced by Ryan Huska and general manager Craig Conroy.
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Aydar Sunievs first full pro season gave the Flames something they did not have much of a year ago: a legitimate young winger forcing his way into the conversation. After making his NHL debut at the end of the 2024-25 season, he spent most of 2025-26 with the Calgary Wranglers, where his game steadily climbed as the year went along and his production followed suit.
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Flames Just Created A Power-Play Dilemma Ryan Huska Cant Ignore
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For Ryan Huska, this is the kind of internal competition that can sharpen a roster but also force a difficult decision sooner than later. Parekh has already claimed that spot, and Nemec did not come to Calgary to stand around and wait for a turn, so the Flames suddenly have two players with a strong case for the same job. Calgary can live with that kind of depth, but it also means the coaching staff will have to decide whether to keep the current setup intact or rework the first unit around a new look. [Read more 🡒]