Alex Tanguay, as dressing-room neighbours Jarome Iginla and Ales Kotalik were sharing a hearty laugh, beamed at the incoming reporters after the Flames 3-2 shootout win.

Then he, too, broke up.

“Just wanted to make it interesting for you guys, huh?” the hero said with a chuckle. “I didn’t want you guys to write your stories too quick.”

Calgary Flames game stories, in fact, had become rather boiler plate. A grim sameness.

Read all about it — Flames Score Once And Lose.

Again. And again.

So when Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow made it 2-1 in Thursday’s third period, it had not been a stretch to assume that the Flames were goners. Connect the well-established dots.

Especially as the clock wound down and goalie Kari Lehtonen heated up.

Mark Giordano admitted that he had his own groan-worthy moment.

“It definitely goes through your mind — I looked up and there was three minutes left,” said Giordano. “It looked like it was going to be the same thing — ‘Oh, here we go again.’ "

But a minute after Giordano’s glance at the clock, Tanguay, shaking off the shock of a clear break, roared in on Lehtonen and buried a pretty shot — with the goalie pulled, with only 81 seconds remaining in regulation.

“I was so surprised to be all alone, I didn’t even think,” said Tanguay. “Maybe that’s the best thing that could’ve happened to me.”

Overtime proved nothing — except for Giordano’s ever-impressive shot-blocking (he ably/bravely smothered a dangerous drive off Trevor Daley’s stick).

The shootout served as the setting for only one conversion — Tanguay’s.

Going first for Calgary, he swooped in and deposited his second high shot in a matter of minutes. Flames netminder Miikka Kiprusoff, who’d already made a splendid save on James Neal in the extra period, permitted nothing from Loui Eriksson, Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro.

And there it was — a slump-breaking, eye-catching, holiday-making triumph in National Hockey League action at American Airlines Center.

“That’s a big two points,” said Tanguay, whose club outshot the high-flying Stars 33-16. “We’re in a position where we have to win regularly. We have to find a way to get to 94, 95 points if we want to get in the playoffs. The move for us to make is right now. We all know the task at hand. We’ve got a veteran group. We can’t give you guys or our fans or anybody any more excuses. We have to find ways to win hockey games.

“I don’t know what you guys think, but I thought we deserved it (Thursday).”

No argument. Tanguay is right — the Flames did deserve it.

Aside from a curiously shaky opening shift, the travellers controlled the contest.

Leaving the Stars, one of the league’s hottest outfits, with only six shots after 40 minutes. Imagine that.

“We’re one of the last-place teams in our conference and they’re one of top-placed teams in the conference,” said Tanguay. “But you look — we were the most desperate team out there. We were the ones that wanted it the most. We took the play to them. I think that just goes to show that we can beat one of the best teams in the conference.”

Anton Babchuk and Ribeiro traded power-play strike in the first period. But in the third — and despite that distinct territorial disadvantage — Morrow pushed the locals ahead.

Somehow, amazingly, that didn’t knock the starch out of the guests.

“If you saw us play tonight, it looked like a really desperate team,” said Giordano. “We’ve been working hard — hey, it’s not our work ethic — but it’s one or two breaks going the other way. But tonight — finally! — we get one late. Those are good feelings, those wins when you come back and tie it . . . and win it. We’re pretty happy.”

As impressive a performance as it was — given the quality of opposition, perhaps the season’s best — the Flames remain in 14th place in the conference.

But the players insist that there’s worth beyond the two points.

“Hopefully, that’ll provide us with the confidence that we need,” said Tanguay. “Like I told you guys, we need to make a push right now. If we wait, it’ll be too late very soon. We all feel we’re better than what we’re showing.

“The only guys that can fix the problem are the organization, the coaching staff, and the players. We have to put it all together.”

scruickshank@calgaryherald.com