They say the great teams each year find ways to win games they aren’t supposed to. That’s exactly what happened Sunday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
The Stars looked disconnected for a majority of the evening, amassing 23 giveaways and being outdueled in the faceoff circle, winning 22 out of 47 faceoffs. The Pittsburgh Penguins would strike first and ultimately finish the game outshooting the Stars by six shots (29 to 23), but it would be the Stars that would take home two points thanks to gutsy performances by Miro Heiskanen, Mikko Rantanen, and Jake Oettinger.
The game would go into the third period with the Stars down by two, and as time wittled down, the Stars would take advantage of a 6 on 5 after pulling Otter. That’s when the Norris Trophy candidate (hometown-biased), Heiskanen, would strike with 1:49 remaining in regulation. “It felt good, of course, it’s a big win again, important goal, good play by Johnny (Wyatt Johnston) there, and I just tried to shoot it as hard as I could.” Miro would say postgame after the Stars would defeat the Penguins in a shootout after an exciting period of overtime.
“Not our best game for sure, especially in the first two periods,” said Rantenen, who is right. The Dallas Stars only registered three shots in the second period, but still found a way to keep themselves in the game with a perfect night on the penalty kill against a top-5 power-play unit in Pittsburgh. The Stars look to continue their point streak (10 games) against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night in Winnipeg.
It’s been a while since we have taken a moment to catch up with all things Stars, and there are plenty of updates as the Stars play the next two games on the road.
- Both Nils Lundkvist and Matt Duchene returned to the ice for the Stars on Sunday, both of their first times back on the ice in 20+ games. Regarding Duchene, head coach Glen Gulutzan said, “It’s been hard for him because he did come back right away and then had to kind of take a step back. He was feeling that he wanted to play, but sometimes you’ve got to protect those competitive guys from themselves.”
- Nils Lundkvist has officially moved on from the scooter life, loaning it to fellow defenseman Lian Bichsel.
- Ilya Lybushkin will not travel with the team to the north and is expected to be sidelined for 5-7 days.
- Thomas Harley will travel with the team but is unlikely to participate in the games.
- Jake Oettinger was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week. Otter finished the week a perfect 3-0-0 in his starts, along with a 0.98% GAA and .961 SV%, and one shutout.
- With Oettinger getting the ‘Star of the Week’ nod, the Dallas Stars are the first team to receive the honors for three different players. (Oettinger, Johnston, and Robertson)
- With the win on Sunday at home, the Dallas Stars record wearing The ’99 throwbacks bumps to a still perfect 3-0
- Former Star Craig Smith announced his retirement from the NHL after 14 years in the league. Smith played in 987 NHL games with the Preds, Bruins, Caps, Blackhawks, Stars, and, most recently, the Red Wings. Smith finishes his career as the fifth-highest scoring Wisconsin-born player behind a few fellow former Stars in Joe Pavelski and Ryan Suter.
The Morning Skate 