Game 16 AfterThoughts: A Mason Marchment Kind of Game

And a Tyler Seguin Kind of Game-Winning Goal

When Mason Marchment was in Dallas, he became known for drawing and taking penalties, often winding up on the ice, and finding ways to score big goals. Sometimes, you wondered how he didn’t score 30 every year, what with his big frame, strength, and reach.

Well, this game was a Mason Marchment Game in many respects, as a night that saw both teams trying to collapse to the net and restrict the best chances still end up with some premium scoring opportunties that didn’t find the net. And also, there were some penalties, and some big hits, and a bit of feisty play.

It wasn’t Game 27, but it would have been entirely appropriate, if it had been.

Anyway, Marchment wasn’t the hero tonight. That would be Casey DeSmith, who saved every single shot he had a chance to stop tonight, as the Stars swept their back-to-back weekend against Nashville and Seattle.

DeSmith didn’t have to go full Oettinger-in-Colorado mode, but it was still a sparkling performance from the Stars’ backup netminder, particularly during a second period that saw Dallas get outshot by more than a 2-to-1 margin, including a 10-1 disparity to open the frame.

DeSmith said afterwards (in answer to a question about it) that he felt like he was tracking the puck well in this game despite good traffic by Seattle, and it showed with some great side-to-side saves, including one on Mason Marchment in the third period.

“All the ones on Mush were special, for sure,” DeSmith said with a smile.

“I thought they did a really good job with generating shots and taking my eyes away when they could,” DeSmith added. “I thought they generated a lot, and I felt like I was seeing the puck really well. Obviously it went better as the game went on, and just started to gain confidence, and started to play my game a little bit more.”

The one goal Seattle did get came off an offensive zone faceoff win and a nice tip that probably could have been defended the tiniest bit better, as Heiskanen couldn’t quite close down Schwartz’s stick here.

It was a great tip though, and one DeSmith doesn’t really have a chance on. But it was also the last one Seattle would get, as DeSmith shut them out for the final 56 minutes of the game.

Glen Gulutzan also said DeSmith was the first star of the game for them.

“I thought he was outstanding tonight,” Gulutzan said. “Made some big saves. Certainly he would be our first star.”

Gulutzan also made a point to praise the penalty kill, which went a perfect 3-for-3. Gulutzan pointed to Ilya Lyubushkin and Colin Blackwell in particular as players who made big blocks to prevent dangerous shots from getting to the net.

“It’s not really the back to backs that concern me,” Gulutzan said. “It’s these three-in-fours. And I could tell for the first time tonight, we started to look a little bit fatigued. So it was good to get the points, and kudos to Casey, too.”

Dallas was able to get past allowing the first goal thanks to, of course, the power play.

It was Heiskanen who drew the first power play for Dallas, though he also gave up an immediate shorthanded chance for Seattle by turning it over high in the offensive zone.

But Roope Hintz got back just in time to prevent the pass from connecting, allowing the Dallas power play to do what you’d expect it to do against the 31st-ranked Seattle power play: This.

The old “give it to Wyatt Johnston by the net” play is a tried-and-true one, as Jason Robertson well knows. Thus, the game was tied.

However, Tyler Seguin decided that going into the intermission with a tie just wasn’t how he wanted to do things in this game, and he corralled a bouncing puck and pulled off a highlight of a move to beat Matt Murray.

So much has to go right here for Seguin, but he also forces the issue each step of the way. He gets the first touch on the pass from Hintz (which also bounced off a stick on its way), and Seguin gets a handle on it just as the puck lands. He doesn’t hit it too hard, and he keeps his balance enough to make a hard cut to his backhand, and the puck cooperates.

“It’s kind of a goal-scorer’s goal, you know?” Gulutzan said. “They find those little crevices that things sneak in. Got a bounce off a flip, and he’s got good hands, and in tight, so it was nice.”

DeSmith was more unequivocal about Seguin’s game-winning goal.

“That was a great finish. I mean, not many guys can finish that play like that,” DeSmith said. “Even I was shocked at the other end, seeing that go in. I was like, ‘How did it go into the net?’ It was crazy.”

Seguin himself demurred after the game.

“Saw the puck go in. That was pretty exciting,” Seguin said. “I don’t know. Bouncing puck, good play by Roope, and I didn’t have much but trying to get it underneath him, and yeah, it went in.”

That’s a humble way of describing a highlight reel goal, certainly. Matt Murray decides to try to stop a potential backhand attempt a few inches off the ice, so he opens up the surface, and that’s all Seguin needed to make it 2-1 in the final minute of the period.

Dallas had to kill a couple of penalties in the second period early on, including a bit of 5-on-3 overlap. But even accounting for that, you don’t love to see a team defend a 2-1 lead by getting outshot 10-1 in the first half of a second period. This is just some Hockey Analysis for all the folks out there.

At last, the Hintz and Johnston lines would string a couple of good shifts together with good time in the Seattle zone, and that relieved some of the pressure that had been building. But it’s not been the first time this year that Dallas has found the ice tilted against them for a long stretch, and you wonder at what point that Bug will begin to wade into Feature territory.

After Dallas got a power play after Heiskanen was interfered with, the Stars spent the better part of the two minutes in the Seattle zone, but without testing the Kraken’s third-string netminder once. A similar sequence happened in the final minute of the period, too, where Dallas hemmed Seattle in for a while, but really struggled to put anything of high quality on the net.

The third period started with another big Seattle push that only got worse after a melancholic 4v4 gave way to a Seattle power play with Heiskanen in the box. DeSmith had to make save after save while moving side to side, and Dallas couldn’t clear the puck for anything. But with 15 seconds to go on the power play, Colin Blackwell got in front of a point shot to send the puck into the netting and get Dallas off the hook, and DeSmith got a well-earned ovation from the crowd.

From there, it was typically nail-biting for the Stars. But despite the lack of an insurance goal before or after the opposing netminder got pulled, the Stars did what they had to do to get two points.

We’ll see if Canada can get them an empty net goal for the first time in a little while.

Esoteric Song of the Game

Lineups

Dallas began with the same group as they had in Nashville, save one:

Steel-Johnston-Rantanen
Robertson-Hintz-Seguin
Bäck-Hryckowian-Bourque
Erne-Faksa-Blackwell

Lindell - Heiskanen
Harley - Lyubushkin
Bichsel - Petrovic

DeSmith in goal

---

Seattle went with this group:

Schwartz-Beniers-Kakko
Marchment-Stephenson-Eberle
Catton-Wright-Winterton
Kartye-Meyers-Tolvanen

Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Montour
Evans-Oleksiak

Murray in goal

AfterThoughts

• Quick programming note: I’ll be heading up to Canada early Monday morning to cover the Stars’ games in Ottawa and Montreal in person, so Monday writing might be sparse, depending on how travels shake out. I promise to make it up to y’all with in-depth reviews of Timbits and Coffee Crisps, though.

• The Stars gave away a hat at the game today as part of Military Appreciation Night. Here’s a view of the hat, as sent to me by loyal reader John:

• Mason Marchment got a nice little tribute video in this one, though he might have dampened some enthusiasm by his old teammates after laying some big hits on Robertson and Hintz before the game even reached the first TV timeout (which took nearly 14 minutes to happen).

  • Marchment also walked in and got himself a Grade-A scoring chance 9 minutes into the second period, but without converting it. That’s how it’s been going for him this year, with just 1 goal in 13 games so far.

• Also, this whole game kinda felt like a Mason Marchment Game, with some herky-jerky play at times that would occasionally feature a scoring chance created out of practically nothing. Maybe the game was the real tribute.

• Casey DeSmith had to be sharp after the game got to 1-1, as Jordan Eberle tested his blocker on a good chance. Jordan Eberle got another one after the Stars failed to clear, nearly draging the puck across the crease and tucking it around DeSmith, but the goalie glove of the Stars’ backup was there to seal the post. In a low-event sort of game like this was early, you need saves like that.

• Lian Bichsel had a solid first period, including a big hit on Jordan Eberle and a goal-saving play to keep a rebound from getting around Casey DeSmith. Mason Marchment laid a big hit on him in the third, but Bichsel recovered quickly enough to get back into position and win a puck battle to turn things back the other way. Really solid game from the young Stars’ defenseman tonight, I thought.

• Seattle had Jamie Oleksiak playing on his off-side as a RHD, and he had a couple of nervy moments with the puck in his own end early. As much as Seattle made sure to lock him down after getting him in the expansion draft, I’m not sure he’s quite turned into the player they really hoped he would be. But an NHL career is an NHL career, and he’s had himself a good one so far, all things considered.

• Sam Steel and Colin Blackwell continue to be excellent when the Stars are shorthanded, and Blackwell set up Steel with a great chance out in front of the net, much as he had for Adam Erne in Nashville. But Steel didn’t quite get as much on his shot as Erne, and it went for naught.

• Thomas Harley put Dallas on a brief 5-on-3 after sending a puck out of play with Bichsel already in the box, but the Stars didn’t need DeSmith to be heroic for the 25 seconds or so when down two men, as they cleared one puck and got sticks on a couple of others. The penalty kill feels like it’s on the cusp of going on a run, doesn’t it?

• The second period was not a great one for Dallas, as they got outshot 16-7. This isn’t the best way to defend a 2-1 lead, I think it’s safe to say

  

  But hey, good on Casey DeSmith.

• The top line (Johnston/Rantanen/Steel) wasn’t particularly dominant tonight, for a change. And the third period began with another chunk of time spent in their own zone, which ended with matching minors on Matty Beniers and Mikko Rantanen for hooking/holding the stick. Did we mention it was a Mason Marchment Kind of Night?

  • With that said, Rantanen and Johnston did combine for two incredible chances halfway through the third period. But Johnston missed one, and Murray made a pair of saves on the other to keep the game at 2-1.

• Food for thought: Is Jamie Oleksiak the Mason Marchment of Defensemen?

• Rantanen got into it with Ryker Evans after an offside whistle during a late Stars power play, and I thought Rantanen was lucky to escape without a slashing penalty here.

• DeSmith also made a big save here on Mason Marchment going (as he was often tonight) from left to right—though I think Marchment is trying to elevate the puck here.

• Tonight was just the sixth time in 16 games that Dallas hasn’t allowed a power play goal. Esa Lindell said after the game that the team has discussed the penalty kill lately, and they really do believe that they are doing a lot of the right things. The results just sometimes lag behind, and so they’re going to keep doing the things that led to their having one of the best PKs in the league over the past few years. In other words: Alain Nasreddine still knows what he’s doing.