Game 29 AfterThoughts: Persistence, Resistance, and Well-Earned Smiles

Matt Duchene is not shy about telling you what he thinks. He’s been clear, ever since his arrival in Dallas, that it’s important to him to be honest, and sometimes that means being candid about tough things. But other times, it means having a pretty good laugh.

In this game, for instance, Lian Bichsel trucked Brayden Schenn, the Blues captain. Schenn was sitting in the bench like he’d been lawn-chaired, and Duchene had a great description of the event afterwards:

“We had a good laugh. A lot of us know Schenner pretty well, and he was giggling. He couldn’t get up; he was like a turtle on his back.”

This game nearly didn’t end in laughter, though. Despite turning things on and outshooting the Blues 24-9 in the second and third periods, the Stars still needed to survive the coin flip that overtime can be. Jake Oettinger still had to be sharp, and they only made it to overtime to begin with because they got a crucial power play goal.

DeBoer put it this way: “The power play goal is big….Jason Robertson shooting one in is big.” And indeed, that’s what the team has been looking for. DeBoer said the team has been hard-scoring lately, for whatever reason, but despite that stinginess continuing, they had a night where four lines were rolling, and that’s really important to the identity of this team.

It hasn’t been as big a story as Jason Robertson’s production, but Matt Duchene scored a goal for the first time in eight games, and he did so by making a play and using his skills. Given all the talk about his adjustment to a Seguin-less line, it felt pretty huge for him to show that he’s still one of the Stars’ best players on any given night. He was put on an overtime trio with Miro Heiskanen and Robertson to start overtime, and indeed, he would finish overtime with Robertson (and Lindell, who got the primary assist for his defensive zone pass before he then headed to the bench, where he arrived long before Duchene’s goal).

It’s a long season, and the Stars aren’t whole right now. They’re missing Tyler Seguin for a long time, Matt Dumba (who is indeed sporting a pretty nasty shiner over part of his face) for an unknown amount of time, and then they lost Casey DeSmith and Nils Lundkvist for this contest because there’s a bug going around the locker room. But coming out on top in a contest you should win is Job One. Being that better team every night is the next step in the process. But this once again was a game in which they came back from a deficit, and that’s not nothing.

In fact, tonight was quite something.

***

After Thursday’s game against Nashville, the phrase “trap game” seemed a poor descriptor of what had really taken place. After playing 13 games in 25 days, the Stars took two full days off and another day for a team practice, then essentially played the board game Mouse Trap on ice for 60 minutes against the worst team in the NHL, with only Lian Bichsel providing a brief interlude to the tragic hijinx in his NHL debut.

Casey DeSmith was absent at practice the following day, having come down with the flu, and indeed, it wasn’t a shock to learn that some of his teammates were fighting something as well—though of course none of them will admit it until they have to, as we found out tonight.

To a man, the team agreed the Nashville loss had been a sobering moment in their season, but spectators probably chose the opposite of sobriety after the Predators scored three goals in three minutes to announce that Jake Oettinger could only stave off the impending disaster for so long. Coming after other bad losses to Anaheim and Chicago in prior weeks, it felt like a wake-up call. Dallas was now hovering just above a .600 points percentage, which is generally the cutoff line for a top-three division spot rather than falling into the uncertainty of the Wild Card race.

So with all of that recent history, one would certainly have expected Dallas to come out like a house afire against another Central Division opponent on Saturday.

But the house may actually be on fire, in terms of fevers, as line rushes in warmups brought the news that the Stars would be rolling with five left-handed defensemen, because Nils Lundkvist was a late scratch, requiring Brendan Smith to play. DeBoer confirmed that Lundkvist indeed came down with the flu, necessitating the change.

The forward lines were the same, but the defense started thus:

Heiskanen-Harley
Bichsel-Lindell
Smith-Lyubushkin

It was Brendan Smith’s first game since the Team Disaster of November 27 in Chicago, but that’s why you have veterans as your seventh defensemen, right? Here is where everyone talks about Joel Hanley, so just imagine that in your brains, please.

Anyway, the Stars did not start out well in the first period, but it’s not how you start, I’m told; it’s how Matt Duchene finishes.

***

Former Stars GM Doug Armstrong made a move this morning out of what I can only conclude was pure delight at messing with his friends in Dallas, trading for Cam Fowler early enough Saturday morning to ensure the longtime Anaheim Duck would be able to fly to Dallas in time for the game.

Interestingly, Armstrong mentioned that he made the trade, in part, because they were leaning on their top-4 defensemen far too much, one of whom was nearly 40 years old. You folks may not remember this, but that player Armstrong alluded to actually used to be on the Dallas Stars! That’s right, we are talking about Team USA veteran Ryan Suter, who started St. Louis’s last game paired with Colton Parayko before being moved next to Justin Faulk in the third period.

Stars fans can well imagine how a GM might not want to lean so heavily on Suter & Company when the team is struggling to grab a playoff spot. For reference, here’s a snapshot of the Blues’ defense icetime from HockeyViz, wherein you can see the 4-2 split Armstrong referred to:

The results from this game were that Suter played about 16 minutes, good for fifth on their blue line (while P.O. Jospeh played just eight), while Parayko played over 28 minutes, and Faulk 25. So, one suspects the “Top Four Heavy Usage” thing isn’t purely a resource question, but also a deployment one. For tonight, the main change was Fowler bumping Suter out of that top four group. We’ll see what else changes for St. Louis as the year goes on.

As for the forwards, Radek Faksa was still recovering from what can only be described as a real whoopsie-daisy, so his glorious return to Dallas will have to wait. The belated returns do seem to happen so often with former longtime Stars like Trevor Daley and John Klingberg after their departures, so I suppose it’s only fitting that Faksa will get to see anticipation build for his very public thank-you card. (Suter got decent applause for his “thank you, Suter” spot on the board in the first period).

Jim Montgomery also returned, again, with a different team, though this transition was of the more normal variety in the NHL, which is to say he was fired because of his hockey team’s poor performance rather than for his unprofessional conduct.

***

The first period wasn’t very enjoyable, unless you were Philip Broberg, who went for a skate in the final minute and nicked the crossbar from a severe angle. Jim Montgomery has already started to establish a bit of the defense-first, third-man high mentality in St. Louis, which was desperately needed as you can tell from their obscenely high shots-against line on the below graph (which has begun to plummet, you’ll notice):

Oskar Bäck made a nice touch play with Mavrik Bourque at the offensive blue line to set up a scoring chance, forcing Jordan Binnington to do a snow angel on his belly (snow flop?) out of desperation, but it worked well enough to keep things scoreless. It was also the Stars’ best chance of the period outside of a bit of scramble incited by the Duchene line, but Binnington wasn’t severely tested through 20 minutes.

Colton Parayko got the first great chance of the game six minutes in, being set up in the slot when the Blues got numbers down low, but he missed just wide far side. But Jordan Kyrou didn’t miss on the power play shortly afterwards, although technically the goal came just after Sam Steel had served his tripping call, but before he got back to help.

The Stars had effectively killed 90 seconds of a 5-on-3.5, after Ilya Lyubushkin’s stick got knocked away, forcing him to exchange with the (thankfully) same-handed Colin Blackwell. It was tense and dramatic, with St. Louis slowing creeping closer and closer towards the net, but despite a valiant block by Blackwell late in the penalty, the Blues eventually did get the puck to Kyrou, and the penalty killers were just too exhausted and bunched in to prevent the shot that traveled cruelly through Lyubushkin’s legs (despite his kneeling to block it) and into the net past Oettinger’s blocker to make it 1-0.

Lyubushkin went right back into the box a minute later for a hooking call, and the game began to feel a bit too familiar for Dallas. But Dallas would kill this one completely, with Heiskanen even getting a decent shot off a 3-on-3 rush after the penalty’s expiration that Binnington had to blocker aside, and from there on, Dallas started to remember that they were perfectly capable of being the better team.

Dallas started the second period with a couple of good shifts that led to a Delay of Game penalty on Brayden Schenn. And that, after some hesitant power play work, led to a very confident goal from Jason Robertson. Hintz and Benn moved the puck quickly to find Robertson alone in the center of the penalty kill, and Robertson ripped a one-timer into the net with authority, followed by a fist pump.

For those of you irate about the power play, you’ll notice that Robertson was not in his usual spot on the half-wall to curl up to the point. This appeared to be a pretty deliberate bit of positioning and setup, with Robertson clearly ready for the Benn alley before his oop. In fact, one might even say that Steve Spott is making tweaks to the power play, and one of them worked. One might say that, of course, but I suspect some of you will find an alternate explanation in order to hold onto your anger. That’s a choice you can make, I guess.

His second goal in three games must have felt pretty good, and he looked far more confident after the goal, which was an encouraging sign. He whipped another one-timer on the ensuing power play that Binnington saved, and he made a couple of really nice defensive plays, turning one puck over at the blue line to start a rush the other way, as well as weighting a pass for Hintz perfectly to send him in 1-on-1 with speed. It’s amazing what belief can do.

It was impressive that Dallas kept pouring it on, because Binnington was at his frustrating best in this one, repeatedly being in the right position to make a save, and never being completely out of even the very good chances. Duchene mentioned after the game that he thinks Binnington is one of the more underrated goalies out there, and that there’s a reason Binnington is for starting Team Canada. But This American would simply say to that: we shall see in February.

Dallas didn’t get discouraged like they seemed to in the third period against Nashville, when they couldn’t quite capitalize on some early chances. Alexandre Texier then decided to try the Dallas method of taking two penalties in quick succession, as he held Esa Lindell’s stick in the offensive zone and got nailed for doing so.

Dallas’s power play continued to look really good, and Evgenii Dadonov was a missed back-door chance and a doorstep one-timer away from converting some sharp passing, and the game began to feel like Stars home games have felt for a lot of the year, once again. The power play would get other chances and not convert, but that first one, by Robertson, still made a 1-for-4 performance feel pretty darn successful.

Mason Marchment got called for embellishment on a Robert Thomas interference penalty, but the most frustrating part of the call was the timing, as the referees pretty clearly had only called interference before some heavy lobbying by the Blues (and perhaps some recognition of Marchment’s nameplate) led to the second official going over to the Stars bench and motioning Marchment to the box. Reputation can be a tough thing, but you can’t say it hasn’t been earned.

Lian Bichsel brought the house down when he laid a huge hit on Brayden Schenn in the second period, stepping up at 4-on-4 and forearming Schenn up and out of the playing surface with a disturbing amount of ease. That’s one that you’ll be seeing for a little while, though with more to accompany the montage, I suspect. But this first one was pretty special, indeed.

Whether Bichsel will stay up for good (though of course he’ll be here in the long term) is still not a guarantee, but when you realize that he’s been playing regular minutes and doing so effectively, it’s hard to imagine DeBoer (or anybody) being thrilled about having such a player taken back out of the available options. Bichsel played 14 minutes tonight, and the mixed defense pairs in Lundkvist’s absence had a lot to do with that, as did the tight scoreline for the entirety of regulation. Smith, by the way, played just 8:07 in this one.

Okay, one more Duchene story. The other Bichsel thing he said postgame was that Bichsel had one rim around that he ended up getting himself, because he shot it in so hard, it basically circumnavigated the rink (I’m paraphrasing). Duchene has been wearing an “A” as an alternate captain, and I think being able to razz a rookie in a good-natured way like that shows how confident he is in a leadership role. It’s funny how Dallas has found a lot of these players since Jim Nill arrived, where it was Rich Peverly initially, or Jason Spezza subsequently, and then Joe Pavelski and Matt Duchene afterwards. There are layers of leadership in that locker room.

The second period ended 1-1, and it felt like the Stars left a fair bit of meat on the bone. (Which was the phrase of the year for 2024, I am declaring. Have you also heard this phrase all over the place this year? Yes, you have.) Anyway, here’s what shots looked like through 40 minutes, in what was somehow a tie game.

In the final period, the Stars continued to lean heavily on St. Louis, with the fourth line line in particular—who were quite effective in this one—getting some continuous offensive zone possession. And it all set up a fourth power play that was all set to take charge, until a Robertson shot deflected up into Hintz’s solar plexus, sending him down to the ice for a prolonged period. Hintz was eventually able to skate off, and while it put a bit of a damper on the remaining power play time, Hintz didn’t miss his next shift at even-strength, which almost ended poetically when he put a backhand rebound chance just over the open portion of the net with Binnington flailing. Afterwards, Hintz said it had just knocked the wind out of him, and anyone who’s ever experienced that knows how frightening and painful it can be. Anyhow, it was good to hear good news on that front.

Oettinger was eventually called upon with 11 minutes to go, when Jake Neighbours got a feed on a 2-on-1 rush that he tried to pull back and put near-side, but Oettinger stayed tall and held his post, making the save look relatively routine. That is one of Oettinger’s strengths, you know, making hard things look easy. Also, a strength of all professional athletes.

Things looked dicey in both directions at the halfway mark of the third, with Brendan Smith firing multiple shots on Binnington, and Colton Parayko leading a chance at the other end on what started as a 4-on-2 rush but turned into a scramble with a whole lot of stick checks and an eventual Oettinger save to calm things down. Parayko doesn’t really play on the power play for St. Louis anymore (didn’t he, once upon a time?) now that they have Broberg and Faulk back there, but he’s still a fearsome player to see bearing down on a goaltender.

The Duchene line deserved more than they got (in regulation) in this one, combining for nine shots on goal, five of which were taken by Stankoven, who has now gone a dozen games without a goal. But they were working hard across the ice, and Marchment and Stankoven combined for a dogged takeaway and subsequent zone entry with eight minutes to go that led to a Duchene chance in the low slot by himself that seemed destined to win the game right there. But the Stars’ center wired it just past the net, although he would not miss the next time.

Dylan Holloway made his presence known with just a couple of minutes left, as the Blues made a rare foray into Dallas ice to test Oettinger, who sealed the five-hole to keep things knotted at a buck apiece. They say games like this are tough for goalies, but Oettinger has never seemed to suffer from long periods of inaction. This is anecdotal, but also definitely correct. Good luck proving me wrong, at least.

After another frantic sequence in the Dallas defensive zone, Pete DeBoer called a timeout with 86 seconds left. It was the rare sort of timeout that was neither to rest a power play nor to scold, but instead of focus and bear down in a crucial moment. In other words, it was the exact sort of moment a timeout is good for. And the Stars came out of the timeout with Benn, Duchene, and Johnston on a line that got the puck out and nearly created something in transition, but after the second period failed to give Dallas the lead, this game was always destined for overtime.

In overtime, DeBoer sent out Duchene with Robertson and Heiskanen. Thomas Harley alternated with Heiskanen throughout, except for a brief Esa Lindell faceoff start presumably for defensive purposes if the face-off had been lost, after which he dished the puck to Duchene and skated off quickly to bring Harley back out to earn the easiest plus one imaginable, and so the Stars found a way, eventually, to get back in the win column.

YOU'RE INSANE, MATT DUCHENE!!! pic.twitter.com/z508Ssjzqk

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) December 15, 2024