Dallas Stars 3, Calgary Flames 2 FINAL OT

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - The Dallas Stars ruined the Calgary Flames' big night.

Defenseman Philippe Boucher scored with 55 seconds left in overtime to give the Stars a 3-2 victory Thursday night in the Flames' home opener.

It was the third straight loss for Calgary, which raised the 2003-04 Western Conference championship banner before the game in front of a sellout crowd.

The Stars knew what to expect.

``We talked about this for a while now, knowing what was coming before the game,'' Boucher said. ``What they did two years ago was pretty special and a lot of those guys are still here.''

Mike Modano had three assists for Dallas, which also got goals from Jere Lehtinen and Martin Skoula.

Steve Reinprecht and Chuck Kobasew scored for the Flames with Matthew Lombardi assisting on both goals.

Miikka Kiprusoff, who led the Flames on their run to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004, had 19 saves.

``I'm happy we came back, but I'm not happy we didn't come all the way back,'' Flames coach Darryl Sutter said.

Sutter, who rarely gives out accolades, praised the play of rookie Dion Phaneuf, who had three shots on net and sparked the crowd with a fight against Bill Guerin late in the second period.

``His whole performance should give our team life,'' Sutter said.

Jarome Iginla of the Flames had only two shots on net, none in the third period.

Dallas came into the game 2-for-22 on the power play, but the Stars matched that total with their first two goals of the game.

Lehtinen scored at 9:04 of the second period and Skoula made it 2-0 4:04 later.

Boucher said the new-look NHL has been great for Modano.

``This is working to his favor, the no hooking, no holding and flying through the neutral zone. He's sure making the most of it,'' Boucher said.

Reinprecht scored with five minutes left in the second and Kobasew tied it with 5:32 left in regulation.

The Flames have yet to score in the first period, something Sutter says must change.

``I'd like to score seven, eight, nine, 10 goals in the first period one of these games,'' he deadpanned.

The Flames had a chance to win the game late in the third period, when Chris Simon came crashing in on Marty Turco, but the goalie snatched the puck as it was headed for the top shelf.

Lehtinen and Modano set up Boucher's second goal of the season on Dallas' fourth shot of the overtime.

Dallas finished 2-of-6 on the power play, adding to Calgary's league-worst total of 13 goals allowed with a man advantage.

Turco made 18 saves.

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