Game 67 AfterThoughts: Mikael Granlund's Grand One (and Two)

Ducks Trail, WooHoo

When you’ve lost a couple of frustrating games to division rivals like Dallas did over the weekend, the fans are going to look for a convincing win to assure them that things are Back on Track.

Tonight was, ah, not that. But the Stars did get one of the two words in the phrase “Convincing Win,” and it was the more important one. Even if the Stars had to convince themselves a bit at times.

Dallas racked up more shots than Anaheim, ending the night with a 31-25 advantage in shots on goal. But Anaheim also missed the net on some good looks, while Dallas didn’t capitalize on some great rushes.

This wasn’t a win that tells you the Stars of Edmonton, Colorado, or Winnipeg are all better now. But then, would such a win against the Ducks really have meant that, anyway?

There’s something about this Anaheim team that has pulled Dallas off their game in all three contests this year. But tonight, they found a way to get a messy, grimy, win in overtime. Over the course of 82 games, that’s something you don’t mind. But when it comes in this stretch, it feels less satisfying.

Thankfully, the Stars don’t exist to make you feel satisfied, or confident. At least, not directly. Their main goal is to win games, knowing full well they will not win them all. So you have to balance out the missteps with superior problem-solving skills. A little bit of luck thrown in can help, too.

Tonight, Dallas had the better goaltender, and they were better in overtime. That ended up being the difference despite a game that was pretty ugly for long stretches.

---

Head Coach Pete DeBoer was pretty blunt about his message to the team in the second intermission.

After the Stars outshot Anaheim 9-2 in the first period en route to a 1-0 lead, Dallas didn’t have nearly as much luck in the second. They were called for three penalties, resulting in a 5-on-3 tally and a penalty shot goal for the Ducks, who put up three goals and 16 shots on goal in the second period to stun Dallas.

“I felt our group was getting frustrated with the officiating, and we needed to park that,” said DeBoer afterwards. “We couldn’t waste energy about whether it was a good call or a bad call, and the bottom line was, we’ve taken ten penalties in the last two games. So if a couple of them are bad, there’s still eight. That’s still too many. So stop bitching about it and play.”¹

It’s been a rough go of it for Dallas in the last few games. So when the Stars jumped out to a lead and looked miles ahead of Anaheim in the first period, you could sense the satisfaction that had to be running through the bench.

But the Stars didn’t score on nearly enough of those chances, and that allowed the Ducks to grab the lead back in the second period. And even after Dallas tied it in the third on a great shot from Thomas Harley (who had three points on the night), they nearly gave it away late in regulation, only for Anaheim to hit and post, and for Oettinger to make a lunging, game-saving stop on Jackson LaCombe.

That’s been the way of things for Dallas against Anaheim this year.

Dallas has only failed to beat three teams this season: Carolina, Florida, and Anaheim. Two of those teams are very good ones who will be in the playoffs. The other one is a perennial thorn in the Stars’ side, and that’s held true this year, too.

Back in November, Anaheim humbled Dallas 4-2 in a game the Stars really weren’t in for far too much of the contest. And in February, Dallas couldn’t beat John Gibson often enough in Anaheim, and that led to a frustrating 2-1 loss.

So you can imagine that after a questionable penalty shot call and an equally questionable interference penalty on Mason Marchment, the room was probably filled with frustration in the second intermission.

When asked about the penalty shot awarded to Leo Carlsson in the second period, Deboer said he didn’t get an explanation from the officials.

“I had asked for an explanation on the Marchment penalty. I was still waiting on that, so they were behind on the explanations a little bit,” said DeBoer with a chuckle.

---

If you’re similarly mystified at the penalty shot call, then yeah, join the club. It’s almost a running joke in the NHL that referees never call penalty short on borderline situations, but when Oskar Bäck whacked Carlsson’s stick from behind after Esa Lindell overskated a puck in the defensive zone, it sent the puck off Carlsson’s stick.

Per the NHL rulebook, here are the four conditions that must be met in order to award a penalty shot:

• (i) The infraction must have taken place in the neutral zone or attacking zone, (i.e. over the puck carrier’s own blue line);

• (ii) The infraction must have been committed from behind;

• (iii) The player in possession and control (or, in the judgment of the Referee, clearly would have obtained possession and control of the puck) must have been denied a reasonable chance to score (the fact that he got a shot off does not automatically eliminate this play from the penalty shot consideration criteria. If the infraction was from behind and he was denied a “more” reasonable scoring opportunity due to the infraction, then the penalty shot should be awarded);

• (iv) The player in possession and control (or, in the judgment of the Referee, clearly would have obtained possession and control of the puck) must have had no opposing player between himself and the goalkeeper.

So, yes. I think the infraction qualifies for a penalty shot. Now, are there a whole lot of other examples this year of a clear penalty shot not being awarded? Yes, yes there are. You just thought of one right now, and another one. Forget about them! If you expect this standard for penalty shots in the future, you will probably be disappointed. The NHL does not want a ton of penalty shots in the game, and that’s why there’s a four-point checklist before one gets awarded. Maybe Justin Kea and Eric Furlatt are just very good at going through that checklist.

The crowd, by the way, was furious when the penalty shot was finally announced, probably because they forgot what the initial call had been for. The Ducks had carried the puck for nearly a minute on the delayed penalty, and I don’t think anyone in the entire building expected a penalty shot to be called there.

That gave the official time to really think over what he was going to do, and I wonder if maybe that ended up making the difference in his decision to call the penalty shot. If the Stars grab the puck immediately, does he just give a power play? We will never know, even if you get a time machine and a whistle and travel back to see it play out otherwise. DO NOT DO THIS, we do not need more realities than the one we already have. It is plenty.

---

The Stars didn’t do themselves too many favors in this one, and they won it besides. No point crying over spilt milk when you end up licking the gravy, as Radek Faksa (probably) would say.

As for the Marchment penalty on Gudas, what can you say? Marchment skated over to the bench even after the penalty call, allowing himself to do an Incredulous Skate to the Penalty Box, which was worth the price of admission all on its own.

Marchment has not gotten the benefit of the doubt this year, and you can understand why. Players like Marchment, who was fined for embellishment a couple years ago, are on referees’ naughty list. So when said player diverts from his path after passing the puck and plows an unsuspecting Radko Gudas up high, it wasn’t entirely surprising to see a penalty called, if only for “doing that, whatever it was.”

Dallas could’ve scored a second power play goal on their own four chances, but they only put one away. That’s fine, as a 1-for-4 night is perfectly decent, all things considered. But tonight, as with February, the Stars just weren’t converting their looks. And that’s a concerning thing for a team that is hoping for its best defenseman and one of its best wingers to hit the ground running.

For a player like Gralund to score twice tonight was very much a relief, I think. DeBoer said afterwards that he thought the lack of goals for Granlund as a Star was weighing on him—Granlund had just one goal in 15 games entering tonight. And when asked about it after the game, Granlund said he doesn’t really worry about scoring too much, as his game is about much more than scoring.

But when you trade a first-round pick for a player, you want to see them succeed. If Granlund can contribute a bit more down the stretch, it would ensure he stays out of Ladislav Nagy territory when it comes to mid-season acquisitions for Dallas.

Speaking of deadline acquisitions, Rantanen has yet to really have a “$12 million player” sort of game. His first outing against Edmonton had some good moments, but some concern is going to start percolating if Rantanen doesn’t impose himself upon games like this one, against opponents giving Dallas time and space in the zone.

There’s a chemistry that has to be built, but the thing about superstars is that they’re also supposed to be the primary catalyst in said reactions. You could see Hintz wanting to get the puck to Rantanen on that 2-on-1 tonight, and that’s never a good sign. In a weird way, the more selfish a player is on a 2-on-1, the better his game probably is. Confidence is important. (Breaking news, that.)

Rantanen is more than skilled enough to be that player, and it’s early days yet—DeBoer referenced Joe Pavelski’s slow start in 2019 when talking this morning about Rantanen’s acclimation process—but it gets late early around here. We are a month from the playoffs beginning. Now would be a great time to make fans feel a lot better about things before everyone starts feeling the traditional amount of terrible anxiety, come playoff time.

---

Jake Oettinger’s save late in the game on Jackson LaCombe was a absolutely fantastic one, full stop. That’s the sort of save that you need from your number one goalie in the playoffs in crucial moments. It’s the difference between winning and losing, and tonight it meant Dallas got another chance to do the former. And they did.

The Stars as a whole were sloppy in the second half of this game, but Oettinger’s play was largely solid. He got out-deked on the penalty shot by Carlsson, who is a legitimately great player, but his save late in the third on LaCombe easily made up for that.

And while the weird Carlsson goal on the 5-on-3 was a moment where Oettinger actually had the puck and ended up having it slide out from underneath him, that play was chaotic, and the puck had just deflected off his own defenseman’s skate. You have to make a guess about what movement is going to freeze the puck (or keep it from moving further) in that moment, and he guessed wrong.

The first Ducks goal was a beautiful redirection by Nikita Nesterenko that no goalie is going to stop. In fact, it was a mirror image of Johnston’s goal to open the scoring. The only real howler in this one was Granlund’s first goal, where Dostál let a puck get through at the near post that absolutely shouldn’t. Oettinger wasn’t perfect, but he ended up being better than the other guy. That’s the job.

---

A couple of players had good Moments in this game.

• Matt Dumba hit a crossbar, and made a great block that probably saved a goal.

• Lian Bichsel laid a big hit, and generally did well in a game without much rhythm to it.

• Thomas Harley was everywhere, it seemed. He could’ve had five points in this one, easily. DeBoer said he thought Harley was the best player on the ice in the game, and it’s hard to disagree. Having a number one defenseman to fill in for your number one defenseman is a pretty great plan B, it turns out.

• The Stars’ fourth line deserved a goal in this one, especially early. Then again, you don’t get rewarded for deserving goals, but for scoring them. I have not heard of any plans to change this system.

• Wyatt Johnston’s deflection goal was very nice to see. If that sort of thing had been happening on the power play at the start of the season, maybe it doesn’t start out slow, and maybe things go a different direction. But it was good for Johnston to get that tally after a tough game in Colorado playing against Nate MacKinnon.

---

Tonight was Noche Mexicana, and the Stars gave away the below bandanas at the door (well, just inside of it).

Throughout the night, the Stars Ice Girls had themed dances and outfits in celebration of Mexican culture, and the team also had guests for both the singing of the USA anthem and the PA announcing. I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of other things, too. It was a fun celebration.

It was jarring at first not to hear Jeff K’s voice welcoming the Stars to the ice, but if you’re going to do themed nights, you might as well go all-in.

Lineup

The Stars began the game with this lineup:

Robertson-Hintz-Rantanen
Marchment-Duchene-Granlund
Benn-Johnston-Bourque
Bäck-Steel-Blackwell

Harley-Lyubushkin
Lindell-Ceci
Bichsel-Dumba

Oettinger

Evgenii Dadonov sat for the first time this year, as we covered earlier today. Mavrik Bourque moved back up to Johnston’s wing opposite Benn.

Brendan Smith was the other scratch for Dallas.

Lukáš Dostál started in his third consecutive game for Anaheim.

Game Beats

There was a bit of role-reversal early, as Oskar Bäck got the Stars’ first chance of the game three minutes in with a wrister from the slot, and Jason Robertson made a solid block in the defensive zone on a Jacbo Trouba effort.

Matt Duchene got nailed for a slash on the hands of Troy Terry in Transition (T3) five minutes in, sending Anaheim to the power play. Anaheim’s puck movement wasn’t very quick, but they generated one good tip chance, albeit no shots on goal.

Bäck also made a fantastic play both to create a chance and prevent a counter rush after the power play, when he reached in and won this puck away from two Ducks players preparing for an odd-man rush the other direction.

The Finnish Mafia showed Anaheim how to generate odd-man rushes properly a minute later, when Mikko Rantanen got a Grade-A chance after some beautiful passing in transition from Lindell and Granlund set up him up for an effort that Dostál was able to turn aside.

Matt Duchene then atoned for his earlier penalty in one of the two ways a player can atone for a penalty, which is to say he drew a tripping call on Olen Zellweger. And from there, the Dallas power play went to work, with none other than Wyatt Johnston in front of the net to perfectly draw a Harley wrister from the point back on net around the blocker.

It was the exact sort of goal the power play wasn’t scoring earlier in the season—and the exact sort of goal the Stars were hoping Johnston would score after taking Pavelski’s spot on the power play to start the season. Obviously, things went differently to start the year.

The power play parade (P3) continued in the first period when Bourque was asked to serve two minutes for holding, giving Anaheim a chance to tie it back up. Frank Vatrano had Anaheim’s one designated chance on the job when he sizzled a one-timer that Oettinger tracked well and swallowed up, but the Stars would kill it off…and go right back on the job afterward, when Mavrik Bourque followed Duchene’s example by drawing a call after taking one.

The Stars’ power play started off with a Harley coast-to-coast rush that just did get defused in the equivalent of Salinas, sending Harley into the corner with a collision that looked a little concerning. He would stay out for the rest of his power play shift, but the Stars wouldn’t convert the remaining time.

Roope Hintz made a beautiful play against Colorado when he dished a puck off after getting a pass in the slot. That resulted in a goal, but his attempt to make the same pass to Robertson against Anaheim left everyone in the building screaming for a shot:

The period would end 1-0 Dallas, with Anaheim having mustered only two shots despite getting two power plays, and also playing 20 minutes of hockey in the NHL. But then, Dallas lives in a bit of a glass house when it comes to talking about shots on goal after the Colorado game, so let’s not throw stones for now.

Second Period

The Stars spent the first couple minutes of the middle frame in the Ducks’ zone, but of course, whenever that happens, you’d darn well better score. Because if you don’t, you are 100% going to get scored on in the next chance against, and that’s exactly what happened.

Nikita Nesterenko nearly copied Wyatt Johnston’s earlier deflection in front of the net, with the only real difference being that he used his stick’s shaft rather than the blade, as Johnston did. Also, he plays for the Ducks. 1-1.

The Stars would restore the (im)balance immediately when Mikael Granlund took a slick Duchene cross and beat Lukáš Dostál in a spot from which golaies would prefer never to get beaten: the near post. For proof, here is a terrible, low-res screecap. I bet you can find the puck.

Dallas got two more great chances right after that, but Hintz once again opted to pass on a 2-on-1, but the puck didn’t get through. Then Colin Blackwell made a great movie to start a rush attack that led to sustained pressure from the Stars’ fourth line, eventually drawing a penalty on Mason McTavish for hooking Sam Steel.

The Stars would generate some pressure, but a Jamie Benn deflection attempt was the best of the lot, and it didn’t go in.

Still, Dallas kept the pressure on from there, with the Ducks’ defensive coverage repeatedly breaking down in the face of the attack. Jamie Benn played catch with Wyatt Johnston, eventually ripping a snap shot from the slot that Dostál just barely caught up to.

And guess what, the Ducks took another penalty in the face of continued pressure. Have I mentioned their defensive-zone coverage was bad? It was bad. The Stars were forcing them to reach, and the Ducks were complying.

But after scoring on their first chance of the night, the Stars power play skipped right to the end when Rantanen was given a cross-checking penalty for basically resting his stick on Jackson LaCombe and pushing him. Technically, it was a cross check. In practice, you usually have to extend your arms more to get called, but with the penalty pollution in full force, a call the other way wasn’t altogether surprising.

On the four-on-four, Hintz finally did put a puck at the net, deflecting a feed just barely over the net, if you can see the blurry puck just over the crossbar there.

But speaking of penalty pollution, the 4-on-4 wouldn’t last, as Mason Marchment leveled Radko Gudas after dishing off the puck to put the Ducks on a 4-on-3 with some 5-on-3 time lurking at the edge of it. It was one of those plays where Marchment probably isn’t expecting to catch Gudas so unawares, but the severity of the hit made the call almost automatic.

Then referee Justin Kea waved off a Leo Carlsson goal for what he and Eric Furlatt decided to call goaltender interfernce, and Anaheim challenged. They were right to do so, as Oettinger basically put the puck out the back of his pads himself, and Leo Carlsson slammed home the puck from the goal line.

That made it 2-2, and while Dallas killed the remaining penalty, the Ducks could smell the uneasiness on the ice, and they took advantage of it.

Matt Dumba may have saved a goal with a block next to/behind Jake Oettinger on a Leo Carlsson shot at the end of a Anaheim rush sequence that he and Bichsel had a little trouble keeping up with.

Speaking of which, play continued to deteriorate at both ends, and as the periods wound down, Esa Lindell overskated a puck, and Oskar Bäck found himself having to reach out and disrupt Leo Carlsson’s shot. And, much to the surprise of nearly everyone in the building, Justin Kea awarded a penalty shot for a chance that only became a breakaway about five feet before the play.

And because it’s a Ducks-Stars game, the Stars immediately got scored on, when Carlsson beautiful wound his way back and forth before perhaps too easily tucking the puck around Oettinger on the penalty shot to make it 3-2 Anaheim going into the third period.

Third Period

I’m not sure what a coach says to a team after a period as ugly as the middle 20 minutes were.

With nine combined penalties through two periods, the level of play deteriorated, and that trend continued in the third, until Jamie Benn finally found Harley as the captain was coming out from behind the net, and Harley did what he’d done earlier in the game, whipping the puck over the goaltender’s glove to even the score at three apiece.

Harley emphatically slammed his stick into the ice after the goal, so you’d suspect the play was as cathartic for him as it was for the fans in the building.

Still, one goal does not a complete turnaround make. The teams continued to try hopeful plays, and the icings continued. Harley was one of the best players on the ice, and Johnston sent him in on another foray with about 11 minutes to go, but Harley’s feed into the slot wasn’t quite put away, and play continued.

Oettinger made a game-saving stop late on Jackson LaCombe, who pinched down perfectly for a chance that Oettinger lunged out to save with the blocker. He got just a bit of it with the blocker, sending the puck down into the top of his pad, using the margins of his two appendages to add up to one fantastic save.

Lian Bichsel laid a big hit on Trevor Zegras in the Dallas zone, and that got the crowd into it for bit in the final 10 minutes. It was momentum Dallas sorely needed, but it wouldn’t last, as the Ducks leaned on the Stars hard in the remainder of regulation time.

The post followed Oettinger’s example when it made a game-saving stop of its own to deny Killorn on a chance just as dangerous as LaCombe’s. Dallas’s defensive coverage had managed to mirror Anaheim’s earlier in the game, which is no easy feat. Or at least, it oughtn’t to have been.

Anyway, the teams went to overtime.

Overtime

Dallas won the opening face-off. Then they lost the puck. Then they got it back. It was as messy an overtime as the last couple of periods had been, but in the end, it was—fittingly—a broken play that saved the day for Dallas.

Harley dished a no-look backhan to Hintz, who then tried to curl a no-look pass into Harley as he went to the net. The puck got poke-checked away by Dostál, and Mason McTavish looked to scoop it up and rush the other way.

Except, the puck hopped over his stick.

Thus, a rolling puck went right to Mikael Granlund, who put his backhander on net with ferocity. And with the puck on edge, he was easily able to scoop it up and put it just over Dostál’s glove. Game over.

This game was not pretty, but the Stars managed to come back home and beat the Ducks. And after their last two games against Anaheim this year, an ugly win was no less welcome for being herky-jerky.

---

The Stars continue their homestand on Thursday when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning, whom they beat 4-2 back in November. In all likelihood, the Stars won’t want to take another five penalties against that team. Or any team, really.

1. Here at Stars Thoughts, we do not endorse coarse language, heavens no. But we are not averse to relaying it to you, gentle reader, in order to convey an accurate sense of what was said.