Game 69 AfterThoughts: Minnesota Not So Nice
Dallas is 16-2-2 in its last 20 games
Song of the Game
Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today to get through this thing called life
At its heart, 3-on-3 overtime is always a bit of a coin flip.
Sure, there are players that can make it easier for your side, like Miro Heiskanen or Quinn Hughes, but Gulutzan has always said this year that the way overtime works is that one team will get chances at one end, then the other team usually has a chance to win it down at the other.
Today, that played out in protracted fashion. Miro Heiskanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Jason Robertson began overtime, playing carefully with the puck, and they were able to outchange Minnesota early, with Quinn Hughes doing a lot of defending. Matt Duchene had a great chance to win it, in fact, only for Gustavsson’s stellar play to last long enough to get his team a win that meant a lot, as wins over Dallas always do to that city.
Because while Miro Heiskanen started opposite Hughes for Dallas, he got off to get some rest, and never got back on the ice. Because after a couple of chances early in Harley’s shift, Minnesota owned the puck for the rest of overtime. And in the end, Harley had to do a whole lot of skating over more than two minutes, while Hughes took a brief respite before popping back out on the ice to assist on another Minnesota goal.
How he got that assist was pretty simple: He drew the entire Stars team to himself, then dished the puck off to Bobby Brink, who found Vladimir Tarasenko tilling wide-open farmland:
Brink’s pass just got through Bourque’s stick there, but there is absolutely zero reason for all three Stars players to be this far away from their own net without the puck, with the relatively fresh Jason Robertson first among names who ought to have been back there, I think. Three-on-three is basically man-on-man coverage, and Robertson never really had a man on the backcheck.
(This is also, by the way, why everyone who loves to chirp at Bill Guerin every time Robertson makes a good play would do well to appreciate the fact that Guerin doesn’t take moments like this one and send laminated posters of it to the entire state of Texas.)
Of course, the Stars also wouldn’t have gotten to overtime without Robertson, who scored their only goal of the game. Though really, they had no business being in a 1-1 overtime game at all, considering the four-minute power play they were gifted—Steel will rightly say his face earned it—with eight minutes to play in the third period. The Stars’ power play had absolutely owned Minnesota before today, having scored three times in three power plays in two prior meetings this year. This was their chance to keep that wound open and festering. Instead, Gustavsson cauterized it.
“You’re not gonna score every time,” Gulutzan said of the power play, “But as long as you’re getting chances. We had some Grade-A, Grade-A, Grade-A there. I liked the way we moved it around.”
And yes, Gustavsson deserves much praise for his game in this one, including this top-drawer stop on Wyatt Johnston—also on the power play (of course):
Gustavsson was the main reason that, after scoring on their first chance of the day, Dallas’s power play went 0-for-4 the rest of the game, including the two sets they got in the third after Brink’s penalty on Steel. The Wild goaltender stopped all eight shots on goal the Dallas power play mustered after Robertson’s early tally, and that was that.
But overtime works that way. You don’t usually monopolize the chances, so you either have to trade them at some point, or else play so cautiously that the thing descends into a travesty. Thankfully, this overtime at least had some interest to it, even if the result went against Dallas. The game as a whole, in fact, felt like a playoff contest.
“It was a good game,” Gulutzan said afterwards. “We a little bit lost some momentum in the second, early in the second, just with some of our neutral zone play. We turned it over a little much. I thought we played better in the second half.”
The Stars’ power play got them a point in this one, and Jake Oettinger also came up big a couple of times, too. But if we’re being honest, Dallas looked a bit worn-down in this one, and momentum was certainly building for Minnesota before that late double-minor, as Dallas was doing more and more in-zone defending before getting a chance to grab the lead amid tons of boos following the Brink penalty.
This matchup is great that way. The home fans have decided to hate Dallas, whether justifiably or otherwise, and that sort of little brother complex can fuel very big reactions, as fans in 2023 will remember from these two teams’ last playoff matchup.
After today, it grows even closer to a certainty that we’ll see these two clubs play a first-round series once again. And while I remain firmly of the belief that the current playoff seeding—where Dallas as the 2 seed will play the 3 seed, while the 6 seed gets to face the 7 seed—is basically an affront to the integrity of the regular season, we all know it won’t be changing before next month. So all we can do now is look for clues about what the playoffs will look like when these two teams lay it all out there. And today had a few.
But maybe not all that many, other than the goaltending. Both sides were missing a superstar winger and a key center (or two, in Dallas’s case), and both sides had really good players not playing their best game, with Matts Boldy and Duchene near the top of that list.
Given how out of reach Colorado was even before Dallas dropped another point today, things are basically Whose Line style, which is to say the points don’t matter. Dallas is five points ahead of Minnesota with two games in hand, while Colorado is three above Dallas with one game in hand. Both of those, at this point in the year, are enormous gaps to make up. Not impossible ones, but just about.
So yes, today was a bummer for Dallas, but not as much as it would have been if Jake Oettinger hadn’t made one of a few key stops in the first 60 minutes. The most likely outcome before today remains the most like outcome after it: The Stars to finish second in the Central Division.
Nearly everyone would have taken that outcome before the season, I think—just as everyone also would have been pleased to hear the Stars went 16-2-2 across games 50-69.
Dallas’s B game today with key bodies missing was still one big Filip Gustavsson save away from yet another regulation win. It’s good to remember just how absurdly high a bar this team has set, that such a game against a division rival can feel like a letdown. Go crazy about the mistakes if you want, but the Stars still have this thing pointed in very much the right direction.
Highlights and the Lowdown
After a big Jake Oettinger save on Marcus Johansson on the game’s first shift, Daallas nearly got a rush the other way. But a pass eluded Jason Robertson, and then a quick Quinn Hughes turn led to an accidental boarding penalty on Robertson, putting Minnesota on a power play.
Hughes stayed out for the power play, alleviating any concerns about his wellbeing, but Dallas killed it off nonetheless, and we played on.
Oettinger looked just as composed as he had in Denver, and his wraparound save on Faber had to feel good, considering Faber scored with a similar move in overtime last year.
On the other end, the Stars didn’t really test Gustavsson until Hryckowian set up Tyler Myers for a sneaky one-timer from the circle that tested the Minnesota goaltender. Bobby Brink would later make a pretty dangerous deflection off a Bichsel point shot to further challenge his goaltender’s reflexes.
Jason Robertson was instrumental to some of the Stars’ best chances in the first period, as Dallas started to lean on the Wild pretty heavily midway through the frame. That included this takeaway and setup by Robertson to Johnston, who put it over the net:
Nate Bastian and Mats Zuccarello got into it behind the play, and the smaller guy would end up taking Bastian down with a headlock, which put Dallas on the power play.
And that meant Jason Robertson had room to shoot, and he did just that, giving Dallas the 1-0 lead thanks to a bit of a fortunate deflection:
The period ended with some more Hockey Conversations, as the game very much had Playoff-style intensity to it that lingered after whistles. Regardless of who all is healthy or not on both sides for Game 1, this likely first-round matchup will be a very entertaining one, surely.
Jason Robertson rang a post early in the second period, but his takeaway from Matt Boldy in the defensive zone is something the coaches probably will make a point of emphasizing. This is the hard work that they love, and rightly so.
Tyler Myers then got a bit turned around by Hunter Haight, and Jake Oettinger had to make a pretty premium stop from the front doorstep, which he did:
Oettinger had another big stop to make on Brock Faber, who got a quality look off that Matt Duchene didn’t quite close down in time off a Minnesota rush, but when your goalie is going like Oettinger is right now, you can get away with those. Likewise with Gustavsson, who saved Zach Bogosian’s bacon on this egregious giveaway:
But the Wild would finally convert a Dallas defensive lapse, when Quinn Hughes (of course) saw the play developing up the ice, and found Bobby Brink at speed, who came in all alone to beat Oettinger and tie things up:
Bichsel looks worse on that play, but his exchange with Myers makes sense if Hughes carries the puck up the boards, so Myers probably has to be sagging back into middle ice there, as you can see on the main camera angle:
It’s the sort of wide-open neutral zone that Gulutzan doesn’t love, but in the second period, the long chance is going to open up the ice at times, and hey, what are ya gonna do? It’s Quinn Hughes, man.
Mavrik Bourque very nearly got the lead right back for Dallas minutes later, putting a puck just wide after getting out in front of the net following a beautiful exchange with Wyatt Johnston:
Minnesota got another power play after Bichsel was called for holding Matt Boldy, but another efficient penalty kill got them through it, and Mavrik Bourque would wind up drawing a power play for Dallas on the following shift. But the Stars’ chance was, if possible, even less dangerous than Minnesota’s had been, and it marked an ignominious moment for Dallas: their first unconverted power play of the season against Minnesota, after going 3-for-3 across two games coming into today’s matchup. It would not be their last unconverted power play of the day. Anyway, we made it to the second intermission without any further scoring.
Oettinger had more work to do off a broken play early in the third period on both ends, as a failed rush pass and a failed clearance bounced Minnesota’s way, forcing a flurry of saves from Oettinger:
As the period went on, things got more tense, with the Stars’ fourth line spending an entire shift in the offensive zone, then later spending all of one in their own. But Dallas got a chance to pull ahead when Bourque got high-sticked in front of the net by Jonas Brodin, and the Stars had a clear look at the game with the best weapon they had.
But as Josh Bogorad said on the broadcast, Filip Gustavsson failed to read the script, robbing Wyatt Johnston on his chance to tie Jason Robertson for the team lead in goals (again), as well as grabbing the franchise records for power play goals in a season:
It was a much better-looking power play than the prior one, but with the same result, and Minnesota escaped again.
But the Stars’ power play wasn’t done, because Sam Steel went to lay a hit on Bobby Brink, and Brink got his stick up to defend himself, but did so a little too aggressively, clocking Steel in the face with force:
The officials called a double-minor and reviewed it, but Brink was given four minutes, and Steel a bloody face. You can see he’s just trying to defend himself, but the extension of his stick probably led to the call there, as he ended up basically cross-checking Steel in the face, which the officials felt they had to call. The home fans were not exactly supportive of the officials, as you might imagine, but with about eight minutes to go, the Stars had a gift-wrapped chance to grab the lead.
They wouldn’t take it, though. Wyatt Johnston and company had more chances to convert, but Gustavsson was fantastic—and so was Oettinger, when Sturm got a great shorthanded look off the rush. Duchene also missed the net on a hot one-time pass, and overall, you could feel momentum seeping away as the power play went on, as so often happens with unsuccessful double-minors.
When Brink got out of the box, the crowd roared, and you could feel the Wild feelin’ it themselves. From there, penalties in both directions were summarily ignored, only enhancing the playoff feel of things as regulation ticked away. After 60 minutes, the 1-1 score promised to end 2-1, one way or the other.
This overtime was less exciting than the Colorado version, with both sides playing possession hockey and looking to out-change the other side. Dallas got the first looks of the game, with Duchene having a great look after a nice Harley pick play in front, but it would be Vlad Tarasenko who won it, after Robertson and two much more tired players all got sucked to the Quinn Hughes side of the ice, leaving the veteran winger in front with time and space that he used with purpose:
The Stars will have a chance to even the season series at two apiece next month in Dallas.
Lineups
Dallas used this group, which won in Colorado:
Robertson-Johnston-Bourque
Bunting-Duchene-Benn
Steel-Hryckowian-Blackwell
Erne-Bäck-Bastian
Lindell-Heiskanen
Harley-Lundkvist
Bichsel-Myers
Oettinger
Minnesota brought what they could, which was this:
Johansson-Yurov-Boldy
Tarasenko-Hartman-Zuccarello
N. Foligno-McCarron-Brink
Sturm-Haight-Trenin
Hughes-Spurgeon
Brodin-Faber
Middleton-Bogosian
Gustavsson
After-AfterThoughts
Jared Spurgeon played his 1,000th game today.
The team all wore his number 46 in warmups to honor him—except on their shoulders, where players still sported their own numbers. Each sweater was signed by its respective player, and they’ll be auctioned off for charity. Neat twist on a familiar idea.
Spurgeon’s career has been an easy one to admire, even from a distance. Playing as long and as well as he has in this league as a 5-foot-9 defenseman is nothing short of impressive. Just a very good NHLer, every year.
Jake Oettinger has another new goal mask. It’s pretty scary, so don’t look if you’ve got a weak heart:
Michael Bunting was swapped with Sam Steel during the third period in Denver, as the new guy was moved next to Duchene and Benn. Gulutzan rolled that same trio to start today’s game in Minnesota, perhaps in an effort to see just how much offense Bunting has in him right now. Something to watch, certainly.
Mats Zuccarello will always hold a spot in Stars fans’ hearts for his work in 2019, but he probably doesn’t hold that same spot in Nate Bastian’s heart after his takedown in the first period today. (Then again, Dallas scored on the ensuing power play, so maybe he does.)
This graphic from Victory+ was pretty striking: Four of the seven highest goal-scorers in the NHL were playing in this game.
Victory+ Faceoffs? Dallas won ‘em, today. Other than Blackwell (1-for-3), anyone on Dallas to take at least three draws won 55% or better, including Johnston (12-for-16) and Duchene (7-for-10). But it’s what you do with them that wins you games, and Robertson’s goal off Duchene’s power play faceoff win was the only such capitalization.
HockeyViz.com Dallas looked a bit worn out at times today, which is perhaps surprising after two off days, though less so given where we’re at in the schedule. It’s that time of the year, and they’re missing key guys. Will they do the counterintuitive thing tomorrow against Vegas and look better after being less well-rested? We will find out, because time works like that.
