Game 25 AfterThoughts: Big Save…Mikey Anderson?

If you’re reading this, it’s because you stayed up until midnight to watch the Stars play the Kings. Or you’re reading this because it is the next day, and you sensibly went to bed on time. OR it’s the past, and you somehow read this before it was even written. But I know that’s the not the case, because if someone could see what I’m writing before I publish it, they would surely stop me with far more frequency than they do, which is Almost Never.

This game also started not at 9:00pm, but at 9:22 CST because it was also picked up by TNT, and that means NBT (National Broadcast Time). We all got very skilled at complaining about these start times over the last two playoff runs, so you know the drill: apparently national broadcasts need an additional 15 minutes to really pad their viewer numbers and ensure the highest possible ratings or something. I dunno, I’m not a media mogul, but let’s just assume it’s all about money. It usually is, in the television business.

Los Angeles went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, including center Samuel Helenius, who was born in Dallas. That’s because he is the son of former Stars player Sami Helenius, who was a teammate of Brenden Morrow. The Stars captain called out the elder Helenius in his Stars Hall of Fame induction speech as an example of the quiet, humble teammate he never wanted to overlook, and I just think that story is worth highlighting as often as I have an excuse to do so.

Also worth highlighting: Anže Kopitar, who is amazing. Did you know he hasn’t taken a single penalty so far this season? Personally, I think the USA hockey team should try to naturalize him before the Four Nations Faceoff in February. This is the sort of wisdom I could contribute if named as an assistant general manager to Team USA in the future, if someone would just give Bill Guerin my phone number.

One other bit of editorializing before we get started: the one thing I don’t love about the Kings’ uniform redesign is the matte black helmet they employ. Major League Baseball has seen a lot of teams go this way as well, and there’s just something far less professional looking, to me, about the matte domes vs. the traditionally glossy headwear. You be the judge:

***

Roope Hintz took a rough tripping call from Adrian Kempe less than a minute into the game, giving the Stars an early chance to prove their power play revival was well and truly underway. And while the majority of the power play looked one-and-done, Wyatt Johnston got a great backhand feed from Jason Robertson, and found his own rebound. More accurately, Johnston found Dave Rittich’s goal reaching out right in front of the puck to drag it back and cover it, and Johnston just hammered everything he could find, putting the puck back through the five-hole for a 1-0 lead.

Rebounds were an early trend for Rittich, with the Stars piling up a 7-0 lead in shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the game, some of which were pretty plump chances. But one of the most sumptuous such opportunities was a 2-on-1 with Jamie Benn and Sam Steel, when Dadonov sent the pair on an odd-man rush where Benn waited long enough to open up a lane past Brandt Clarke and fed Steel, who couldn’t beat Rittich. (Maybe he should have tried sending the puck in for Rittich to cover.)

The Stars really did own the first period, and Mason Marchment put an exclamation point on that fact when he took advantage of the Kings’ failure to clear a puck they really ought to have done better with. After Stankoven did some great work to dig the puck out and kick it on, Marchment found his way into the slot, kicked the puck to himself, and ripped a puck off the post and in. It was a good sign for a line trying to keep things going without Tyler Seguin, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out Brent Severyn calling out the “hacky sack” work by Stankoven and Marchment, which you can see on the replay.

Stankoven and Marchment continued their chemistry early int he second period, when they went back and forth before Marchment got a chance on the doorstep, but this time Big Save Dave gave no quarter. They got another chance just after Los Angeles made it 2-1, when Stankoven fired a great pass just a tad ahead of Marchment, who was busting to the net. It wan’t enough to beat Rittich, but it was a continued sign of the post-Seguin chemistry bubbling.

Wyatt Johnston’s second period didn’t start as well as his first, when he turned the puck over high in the offensive zone, and Los Angeles took the puck the other way, as old nemesis Warren Foegele and new old nemesis Tanner Jeannot outworked a tired Stars defense. Jeannot got to a rebound off the boards before Heiskanen, and before Oettinger could get to his post, and suddenly a dominant first period meant the Stars were defending a one-goal lead, and only just barely.

Johnston nearly redeemed himself (or would that be a double redemption, since he’d already scored? Math majors, help us out here) later in the second period, when Sam Steel found him on the rush, but Johnston rang his shot off the bar and out. (Maybe he should have tried sending the puck in for Rittich to cover, again.)

After Roope Hintz was taken down near the boards on a borderline trip that wasn’t called, Jamie Benn then got sent to the box when he got his gloves up high on Clarke, who purports to be two inches over six feet. Clarke recovered from that interaction sufficiently enough to run a fruitless power play during which his most interesting contribution might have been attempting to go off for a change, only to receive a drop pass.

Instead of Clarke, or even Quinton Byfield (who set up Gavrikov for a great shot off some wonderful skating), it would be Joel Edmundson via Miro Heiskanen. Edmunson fired a slapshot from the point that bounced off Miro Heiskanen, who found himself in almost the exact same spot as the first Kings goal, but even more involved in the calamity this time around, as the puck went right off him and into the net. I have created a scientific graph to aid you in understanding this goal:

This was much less enjoyable than the other Joel Edmunson goal I remember, which was a gaffe to gift Radek Faksa a game-tying goal in the 2016 Western Conference Semifinals. But digging up an eight-year-old goal in a series the Stars ended up losing would just be petty, so it’s not worth the trouble oh wait here it is.

Anyway, things wouldn’t get better after Matt Dumba and Esa Lindell collided on a line change, causing the Stars to get caught on the ice with three defensemen and three forwards and a goalie. Again, you math majors could help with this, but the referees didn’t ask before calling Too Many Men on the Stars. But once again, the Stars’ penalty kill held serve, and the two teams went into the third period each having decisively won a period. This is called drama, which is exactly what national broadcasts look for! I am glad that TNT got such a great product.

The third period started with a host of chaos in both directions, with Nils Lundkvist getting multiple great looks at Rittich, only to rip the puck off the torso both times. Personally, I’d love to see Lundkvist shoot either more quickly or take it all the way to the house, though his shot is certainly of a caliber that can beat NHL goalies, so it’s hard to begrudge him the shot. But you know the whole coaching staff is just begging him to take advantage of those opportunities, so it’s tough to see him fail to capitalize on those chances.

Evgenii Dadonov nearly gave the Stars the lead in the final period right off the bat, when he took advantage of a ton of net-front traffic to curl into the low slot and rip a shot off the post. But unfortunately for Dadonov, the only things getting hit were posts and officials, as referee Furman South collided with Brandt Clarke (I believe) behind the play. It didn’t affect the Kings’ mojo, however, as they also failed to hit Jake Oettinger when Warren Foegele wrapped the puck around Jake Oettinger into the far side of the net on a move that worked for me all the time in NHL ’94, too.

The speedy Foegele was moving fast enough to beat Oettinger’s attempted poke check, and he got his stick and puck under the goalie’s paddle to tuck the puck home. It wasn’t a great play by anyone on Dallas, but then, goals against rarely are.

Foegele did escape from Stankoven behind the net, but one of the other Stars players really has to help out there. Dumba had a man tied up on the back door, but Thomas Harley was caught a bit higher up (presumably covering Stankoven’s man), and the two blueliners ended up being both caught at the same post, while Foegele exploited the other.

Thankfully, referee South would be able to continue after the heavy collision, which you can just barely see at the top of the screen here:

Interestingly enough (though probably less so to him), South was the same official who got high-sticked in the Stars/Blue Jackets game last year, too. Is it me, or does he resemble Jason Dickinson just a bit?

The Stars really did wake up after going down 3-2, but they were giving up chances in the process, such as when Kevin Fiala put a puck off the post after beating the Stars down the weak side and getting a nice pass. But the Stars put some pucks behind Rittich too, including a puck that just sat on the goal line for a moment that he was able to clamp down on, unlike the Stars’ first tally.

But the back-and-forth would continue without further goals until the Stars got a late power play with under four minutes remaining, thanks to another great shift by the Duchene line that resulted in Big Save Dave tripping Duchene. It was a power play that felt like it was tailor-made for Jason Robertson, who had a host of guests in attendance, and who looked frustrated all night, but in the good sort of way, like when a student is gritting their teeth and bearing down for midterms. Only this time, it was a misunderstanding, and there was actually a very tragic bear attack that had nothing to do with midterms.

Duchene would come the closest to converting the power play in its waning seconds, only for somebody named Mikey to intervene at the last moment, causing this chance to deflect just up and over the net:

Mikey Anderson is in the NHL, playing 23 minutes a night for a Kings team that is second in the Pacific, and he is choosing to stick with “Mikey.” You have to give him credit for that, I suppose. I don’t, but you have to. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. (I do make the rules.)

The Stars had a flurry of almosts in the remaining time, but even with Jake Oettinger pulled, they couldn’t take advantage of the Rittich Rebound Retail, and I have to believe a couple of pieces of equipment were thrown angrily after the game on the way back to the Stars’ dressing room. This is one of those losses that is just as frustrating to play in as it is to watch, I suspect. One where you didn’t dominate outside of the first period, but where you hit enough posts and made enough plays to normally get at least a point out of the game. But the Stars continued to turn their noses up at the prospect of overtime, and the Kings were able to take this one.

Now the Stars head to Vegas to wrap up their road trip, where I am sure no frustration whatsoever awaits, because what is more fun than playing games in a building where the in-arena music is cranked up so high that even the most lubricated fans start to get annoyed? This is a grumpy sort of thing to finish on, I know, but to quote Gary Larson: it is late, and I am tired.