Game 1 WCF AfterThoughts: Third (Period) Time's the Charm

That was a big statement, if you know how to interpret it

When a play has been running for a long time, the actors will often start to develop sort of in-jokes with one another. They’ll riff on a scene in subtle ways, and they’ll extend a pause just a bit longer each time. When you give the same performance over and over again, you have to find some ways to freshen it up now and then.

The Stars have staged 40 minutes of a dog’s breakfast many times before this postseason. They’ve pulled such a performance out of the fire with a heroic third period more than once or twice, too.

There was the Mikko Rantanen Firestorm in Game 7 against Colorado, but also the crucial tying goals by Dadonov and Benn, respectively, before Game 2 and Game 3’s overtime winners.

Don’t forget how good Winnipeg looked early in Game 6, either, for a small-scale version of turning it on late. But whichever you fancy, the story remains the same: Dallas keeps getting the crucial goals they need in the final period. The only difference is how they’ve kept things fresh with the different paths they’ve taken.

Since dropping their first game of the playoffs, the Stars have won seven straight home games and six of their last eight playoff games. They’re 3-for-3 in overtime, too.

If you really want to understand just how good Stars fans have it right now, look no further than third-period comebacks. When trailing after 40 minutes in the regular season, Dallas was 3-20-2. In the playoffs, when one goal is supposed to decide most games, and when comebacks are supposed to the most difficult? Well, Dallas has won four times.

It’s magical, fantastical, and just a bit preposterous. You hope for maybe one such glorious comeback per postseason, if you’re lucky. And overtime winners can be similarly rare, as the Stars went eight years without one from 2008 until 2016. As Tyler Seguin said after the game, the Stars know that you don’t get back to this spot year after year, even if they’ve done so recently. You have to make hay while the sun shines.

Speaking of sunshine, if you haven’t watched Duchene and Seguin’s postgame podium, I highly recommend it. There were like five distinct moments of genuine delight here, for my money, but Seguin’s whisper of “he’s so good” when Duchene answers a question about Miro Heiskanen is equal parts genuine and relatable.

Something that’s also been recently rare for Dallas is a power play goal in the Western Conference Final. But despite what we’ll assume was an excellent fake-out with that mess of a first power play, the Stars tackled their next three power plays like a set of crunches, dispensing with any lingering narratives as quickly as a kid washing his hands before a pizza party, which is to say perfunctorily.

How much of an anomaly was this game? It featured four power play goals, which is the same number of PPGs as the entire six-game series had last spring. Now, we know that power plays tend to decrease as a series goes on, but special teams have been a huge advantage for the Stars so far this postseason, so taking advantage of the chances they got in this game was as big as could be. I mean, just imagine what they would have been feeling had they not capitalized on those opportunities, after all, given Edmonton’s dominance on the penalty kill last year. Maybe it’s best not to think about it, actually.

Something that is good to think about is Tyler Seguin’s performance last night, when he looked like a player whose hips and knees worked every bit as well as they did a decade ago. You’ve heard about how Seguin worked incredibly hard to complete his six-month recovery from hip surgery 45 days ahead of time, but something you might not hear as much is how hard Seguin has been working for years now, just to continue being one of the premier NHL players of his generation.

Take a moment to look back at the 2010 NHL draft, when Seguin was picked second, just after Taylor Hall. Now look at those other names and think about how many of them were once elite talents, but have faded enough to where they were traded this year. Taylor Hall and Cam Fowler were both dumped at the deadline for not too terribly much, even if their fortunes have improved after a change of scenery.

Charlie Coyle and Brock Nelson were both traded to Colorado, or at least I heard they were; some people in Colorado, however, are saying they never showed up.

Vladimir Tarasenko has faded so much that no one ever bothered to acquire him from Detroit, while Jeff Skinner played one playoff game for Carolina before being relegated to the press box. And other players like Jack Campbell (I know), Ryan Johansen, and Evgeny Kuznetsov aren’t even playing in the NHL anymore.

A few other names are still doing all right, like Jaden Schwartz up in Seattle. But the only other name in that draft that really jumps out at you is the one Dallas traded for: Mikael Granlund, who scored his own beautiful goal last night (with an assist from Seguin).

The point of this exercise in 15-year hindsight is just to show how remarkable Tyler Seguin has been able to be, even with the injuries he’s battled over recent years. It shouldn’t have been all that surprising that he moved heaven and earth to get his body ready for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, given that he’s been pushing himself harder than most for the bulk of his career, now. He’s a special player, and he plays especially hard.

When he was bearing down on Stuart Skinner last night after Leon Draisaitl fumbled that puck (under pressure from Seguin), I couldn’t help but remember how automatic Seguin was in the shootout all those years ago, how quick his feet would look as he danced into the zone and turned goalies into knots.

For a moment, you wouldn’t be able to tell that this Seguin was older, wiser, and with the scars to prove it. Because despite being 90 seconds into his shift, Seguin pounced on a turnover he pressured Draisaitl into (Marchment might have also got a stick whack in there to help), and he left everyone else in the rearview mirror.

And when he shot, he did so in stride, from a place where he easily could have brought the puck to his backhand for a deke that I think Skinner was suspecting he would see. But nope: it was a shot, and what a shot.

That only tied the game, and of course the Oilers leapt out to a 3-1 lead regardless. But Seguin’s second goal would be equally impressive, in a different way.

After Esa Lindell refuses to grant entry at the blue line, Jason Robertson bumps the puck to Sam Steel, catching a pressing Evan Bouchard who never recovered.

As Steel makes a move to the middle of the ice, Seguin receives a stick check from the immensely strong Draisaitl, lifting his stick into the air.

Seguin eventually discards the stick lift that may have been providential, little though Draisaitl will want to hear it. Because Seguin’s stick is in perfect position to be smacked down onto the top of the puck as Steel sends a backhand over Skinner’s shoulder that may have been going wide (as the SportsNet broadcast thought), until Seguin made sure it wasn’t, swatting it back into the net, to Steel’s disbelief.

“You really got a piece of that?!”

And finally, just to give Seguin one more bit of adulation, don’t miss his earlier defensive play to ensure McDavid didn’t have a free rebound to stash home in the first period, after Oettinger made a save but got swamped with traffic in front. Seguin’s responsible play there wasn’t as skilled as his goals, but you need more than just skill to win in the playoffs.

You’d be forgiven for repressing the memory, but Tyler Seguin also scored twice in last year’s Game 1 against Edmonton in a game the Stars similarly got outplayed in. And that time, Seguin was the only Stars player to find the net, burying two pucks into wide-open nets from mere feet away.

Dallas even got a double-minor in the first overtime, but they couldn’t convert despite a Jason Robertson shot off the post. And despite Oettinger robbing McDavid with a stick save for the ages, Number 97 would eventually put a puck past Oettinger in the second overtime.

This game could easily have gone that route, and you wouldn’t have said the Oilers didn’t deserve for it to happen. But man, this game feels a lot like a bonus, given how well Edmonton played. Because one thing you may find it hard to believe is that McDavid and Draisaitl don’t always buzz quite so well as they did in this game. There will be nights where one or both of them are a tad less world-class than they looked tonight, on account of they are human beings.

So for Dallas to pull a win out of a game where Edmonton got a fortunate bounce for a power play goal in addition to great nights from their two-headed monster just feels like found money. And you need every dollar you can find at this time of year.

---

Matt Duchene deserved his goal, given the chances he’s been generating. And of course, he had to fire it off Roope Hintz’s back before he finally got the puck into the net, drawing a cry of pain from Hintz.

“YEOUCH!”

But the best part of this play might have been the thing Ray Ferraro caught on the broadcast, which is what Hintz did with the puck on his stick a moment before he received a bruise for his efforts.

Hintz had started to play the puck from a prone position, only to lift his stick away, leaving the puck for Duchene. Maybe the latter called him off, but either way, it was an alert bit of work from Hintz not to spoil the play.

(Alternate theory: Hintz’s first touch on the puck annoyed Duchene, so he shot it into the number 24 just as a warning to anyone else who would try to take away a scoring chance for him in the future. Precedents are important things.)

Seguin’s joke about Duchene giving Hintz an “apple” on that play is worth listening to in the above press conference, so again, check it out.

---

Miro Heiskanen played 24+ minutes to lead the Stars, and he looked good doing it, too. The more traditional 12/6 lineup also kept Mikko Rantanen’s ice time just below 20 minutes, though having a lead to defend down the stretch probably did that as much as any lineup choices.

Despite all the biggest goals coming on the power play, it’s worth noting that DeBoer threw the new lines in the trash late in the second period, going back to much more familiar ones down the stretch:

Granlund-Hintz-Rantanen
Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
Benn-Johnston-Dadonov

I would put a fourth line up there, except there really wasn’t one. Robertson got only three shifts in the final 15 minutes, the first two of which were with Rantanen and Steel. He then played a shift with Benn and Johnston in garbage time.

Both of the Oilers’ 5-on-5 goals came against the Robertson-Duchene-Johnston line, so it wasn’t shocking to see it binned with the Stars trailing. Yes, Robertson put in some excellent work before Granlund’s goal as well as the key screen right before the shot, but it seemed clear last night that Pete DeBoer isn’t quite sure where to put him right now. He’s not a fourth-line player, but he’s also not helping the other lines cook, whether he’s with Johnston, Duchene, or both of them. He’s not himself just yet, but he’s also not a Miro Heiskanen sort of player who can still help you in the playoffs at 80% of his abilities. At least, not quite in the same way.

Personally, I wonder if Dallas might be trying to use him like Toronto was deploying an older Jason Spezza, primarily as a power play specialist and situational offensive forward. If that means Robertson only plays ten minutes a night for now, then so be it. He’s such an elite scorer that it would be foolish not to try to find the best situations for him to play, and I really don’t fault DeBoer one bit for rejiggering the lines in hopes of doing just that. The Stars’ league-best forward depth is only a weapon if you can roll the lines accordingly.

But if you do that, it means you don’t have four lines to roll the way DeBoer prefers to. So it’s a conundrum, but the upside is Robertson’s elite scoring. You can’t really punt on that if he’s looking healthy enough to help, can you?

Being an NHL coach seems like it is a hard job.

---

As for Johnston, I wonder if he’s also fighting something. He hasn’t quite looked his confident self lately, and his underlying numbers last night didn’t exactly show him dominating with home-ice deployment.

It could be nothing, but it’s something I’m keeping an eye on. Johnston was outstanding in the Colorado series, but the defensive Winnipeg matchups quieted him significantly. He has one goal (on that Game 3 odd-man rush with Benn and Dadonov after his first shot got blocked) and no assists in his last seven games, and he isn’t forcing the opposition to contain him.

Put another way: Johnston has been outscored by Jason Robertson (two assists) over the last seven games. Yes, he’s being tasked with more defensive work than other lines, but the Stars will need him to show he’s more than the next Cody Eakin at some point in this series, one would think.

Then again, Johnston is 22 years old, so maybe Father Time is finally catching up with him. We all grow old eventually.

(Probably he will be fine, in other words.)

---

One other note on the power play: did you see how DeBoer sent out the second unit (Granlund, Seguin, Marchment, Robertson, and Heiskanen) to begin the third period on the power play?

Thomas Harley was consistently deployed with the top unit (Rantanen, Duchene, Hintz, and Johnston), but the second power play group scored the most power play-looking goals before Duchene finally buried a chance past an erstwhile Stuart Skinner.

The two groups are very different, but man, that second unit looks every bit as deadly as the first one, right now. The Stars have 15 power play goals this postseason, but six of those have come from their second unit (Granlund with three, and Heiskanen, Seguin, and Benn with one apiece). It is a monstrous thing to reckon with, is a team with two fully operational power play groups.

Nine players in the league have three power play goals in the postseason so far. Alex Ovechkin and Nathan MacKinnon are two of five who aren’t playing anymore, while Roope Hintz and Mikael Granlund make up half of the remaining such players, with Sebastian Aho and Carter Verhaeghe¹.

Granlund has been incredible as the playoffs have gone on. I really don’t know many more times we need to say it, but it’s true. Dallas has an embarrassment of riches, and DeBoer seemed to sense that the second group of those riches was the one to send out to start the third period. If you’re going to blame a coach for bad decisions, it’s only fair to give them credit when their calls work out as well as they have lately.

Speaking of which, how about Steve Spott? Seems like he might know a thing or two about power plays. Just an opinion I have.

---

There was some nonsense late in the game, with Corey Perry mocking Lian Bichsel for turtling on the ice after everyone starting throwing hissy fits at the final horn. I don’t think anyone need be told that Corey Perry’s opinion of your courage should carry about as much weight as a birthday balloon in space, but for the record: Bichsel’s sweater had been pulled over his head as Perry continued to try to sneak rabbit punches in on a player who had undergone concussion screening just a few weeks prior (and suffered an actual concussion only a couple of months before that).

After Bichsel got up, his sweater was still fully over his eyes.

When he finally got it pulled down, Perry then took the opportunity to mock him for turtling.

Presumably, Perry would have held Bichsel in higher esteem if he had, I guess, swung blindly at Perry, exposing himself to direct headshots with his sweater pulled over his helmet.

Anyway, it’s all par for the course when it comes to end-of-game scraps. But frankly, I think every coach and fan would want their own stud 21-year-old defenseman to be doing the same thing in that situation. Lian Bichsel’s head is immensely more valuable than Corey Perry’s ego.

By the way, that terrifying Jamie Benn photo at the top of this story is from a cutaway during this exact scrap. So if you think Benn wasn’t make extremely precise mental notes for Game 2, you are probably mistaken. Because I saw Benn take a decent run at Klingberg along the bench, only for Klingberg to dance out of the way just in time.

Jamie Benn is clearly a man of his word when it comes to cashing the checks he writes with a microphone, so we’ll see if the same holds true for the daggers he was staring on camera.

---

Lastly, I wanted to point out how the game wrapped up with a really cool moment: Esa Lindell scoring the empty-netter with all four of his Finnish teammates on the ice with him to celebrate it. I believe that might be the first time that’s happened in NHL history.

The laughter and smiles were everywhere, and you have to think those guys appreciated that moment just a little bit more than the average empty-net goal. By my count, the Stars have not allowed a single goal in franchise history when five Finnish skaters are on the ice at the same time. Something to think about it. Analytics, you know.

Appreciating the really good times is the best part of sports, because you never know when another one will come. Heartbreak lurks around every corner in the playoffs (which I’m sure we’ve said before), but you just have to keep trying to outrun it, one game at a time.

Even if it means waiting until the last lap to do it.

1. Whose name I spelled right on the first try, even though nobody will believe me. The key to spelling Verhaeghe’s name is to just put each subsequent letter in the opposite of the place where you think it belongs.