Postgame Beats: Stars Manage to Lose a 4-0 Playoff Game for Third Time in 12 tries

That was not a fun game for Dallas

Well, I guess it’s a good thing they don’t add up the scores across every game in a series, right?

Winnipeg has two shutouts and 13 goals scored in the series, whereas Dallas has only 11 tallies. Winnipeg has also drastically out-shot the Stars, as I believe shots on goal are at 149-119 in the series for the Jets.

Still, Dallas is up 3-2 in the important stat, with the next game on home ice, where the Jets (and their goaltender) look more like the Wright Flyer. Dallas will have to hope the home/road splits continue on Saturday, as the idea of returning to Winnipeg for a Game 7 seems less appetizing than ever after Thursday night’s display.

Power plays in the series are 21 to 15 in Winnipeg’s favor as well, but after this game, I don’t think the penalty calls were really the problem (though they seemed pretty unpredictable on both sides, for my money). It was Dallas’s ability to sustain pressure and generate some bounces for themselves. They were far too one-and-done when it came to generating chances, and the second Jets’ goal after a bad break led to a 5-on-3 power play early in the third was back-breaking, given that the Stars entered the final period in a very manageable 1-0 road game.

Still, teams tend to find that dead cat bounce when they’re trying to save their season. Now it’s up to Dallas to do exactly what they did against their second round opponent last year and stop the comeback in its tracks in Game 6.

The game will be at 7pm on Saturday in Dallas, and it should be an interesting hockey game. They often are.

Lineups

The Stars began the game with this lineup:

Granlund-Hintz-Rantanen
Benn-Duchene-Seguin
Marchment-Steel-Dadonov
Robertson-Johnston

Lindell-Ceci
Harley-Heiskanen
Bichsel-Petrovic
Lyubushkin

Oettinger

The forward lines featured Benn and Marchment swapped, and as in Game 4, there was the possibility of further swapping in game.

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As for Winnipeg, they went with the same lineup, only with Gabriel Vilardi back on the top line, with Alex Iafallo plunging back down to the fourth line.

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Tanev-Barron-Iafallo

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Fleury-Schenn

Hellebuyck

First Period

Cody Ceci made the first big play for Dallas of the game, as he smartly got to a Josh Morrissey rebound off the endboards just in time to prevent Vladislav Namestnikov from tucking it home.

The Stars got called for the first penalty of the game in the offensive zone after Sam Steel reached out with his free left hand while racing Brandon Tanev to a puck. Tanev fell down as a result of a subsequent toe pick, and a borderline holding call put Steel in the box.

Jake Oettinger had to make the first save of the game off a Grade-A one-timer from Kyle Connor off a won face-off, and it seemed a good sign that Oettinger began this game the way he spent Game 4: breaking Connor’s heart.

Vilardi also got a chance in tight right after that, but he didn’t have much room to work with, and Oettinger had the ice sealed. A couple more long-distance chances rattled around down low, but Oettinger tracked the puck well, and the Stars got through the penalty.

After the Johnston-Rantanen-Robertson trio forced an offensive-zone turnover, the Jets took a penalty of their own after Adam Lowry gave Heiskanen a cross check to the lower back away from the play.

Lowry sat for it, putting Dallas on the job. They got one good deflection attempt from Hintz early in the set, but they otherwise threatened more than they shot, and in the end, both sides had an 0-for-1 start on the advantage through eight minutes of play.

Matt Duchene got a surprise chance after Morrissey lost a wobbling puck and cleared it off Duchene’s leg. But Duchene could only whip a shot in the area of the net from a dangerous spot, and the Jets didn’t pay for the mistake.

Mason Marchment made a strong move to the net from below the goal line, and the puck actually jump up onto Hellebuyck’s pad before Marchment was smothered by two Winnipegians (Winnipeggers?). The puck didn’t go any further.

Luke Schenn then demonstrated what playoff officiating looks like, when he clocked Sam Steel, who made the foolish mistake of looking at the goaltender after a whistle.

Mason Marchment did reciprocate on the next shift though, laying a great "first forechecker” hit on Schenn. All’s fair, they say.

Connor got another great chance after a broken play, when Johnston poked a puck off Vilardi’s stick, only for Connor to find it and whip it through Harley’s legs, but into a waiting Oettinger.

Cole Perfetti then got whistled for another Jets penalty after laying a pretty obvious hit on Steel in front of the Dallas net.

Dallas didn’t generate a lot for most of the power play, but Miro Heiskanen finally did get a great look from about 30 feet away, and he shot it glove side, as you’re supposed to do on Hellebuyck. But the wrister just got a piece of Hellebuyck’s glove and went over the net. It was one of a couple nearly-theres for Dallas in this one that could have changed the complexion of the game.

Jake Oettinger would equal Hellebuyck’s save with a big stop of his own on Nikolaj Ehlers a minute later. Ehlers got around Dadonov, who was cosplaying as a defenseman, and the Jets forward tried to tuck it past the far side of Oettinger, only for the Stars’ goalie to once again get a piece of it. Ehlers has tried this again and again in the series, and it would eventually work—just not this time.

Lowry got aother Jets chance on a 2-on-1 right after that, but once again, he couldn’t beat Oettinger, and you began to feel like the Stars had a big chance to build some frustration up in their opponents’ heads early, if they could just get the first goal.

Darren Pang pointed out at the end of the first period how Winnipeg was firing pucks from the point much more liberally, and that did indeed seem to be an emphasis for Winnipeg, who had over 70 shot attempts in Game 4. I know this number because both Scott Arniel and at least one Jets player mentioned it repeatedly after the game, and even the next day. Hooray for shot attempts.

Evgenii Dadonov nearly got that frustration goal for Dallas after another Jets turnover, wafting back and forth off the rush and slipping a puck back against the grain that Johnston deflected through the crease, but just wide.

And finally, Mikko Rantanen saved the day when Kyle Connor looked to be open for another doorstep tip play, only for Rantanen to close just in time to send the puck over the net. Barely.

Dallas was probably fortunate to escape the period with a tie, but in a tough road rink like Winnipeg, they’ll take that every time, I’d imagine.

(Jake Oettinger would probably have preferred a quieter first period, though.)

Second Period

Hellebuyck made his best glove save in a long time after Harley had joined a rush and stuck around down low, getting a puck from Duchene. Harley then lifted a backhand right into Hellebuyck’s glove, after which the Patrick Roy windmill came out to fire up the crowd.

Benn and Seguin combined for some excellent forechecking to create a slapshot for Heiskanen with traffic, but Hellebuyck was in position to let it hit him, which is the job. And right afterward, Namestnikov’s stick got up high on Seguin, but the officials also dealt an interference penalty to Duchene for reasons I couldn’t quite divine. On the broadcast, Shane Hnidy (I think) said Duchene had bumped Namestnikov off balance to precipitate the high stick, but I suppose you should be the judge, as I couldn’t see merit for that call on the video.

Anyway, on the 4-on-4, Johnston and Rantanen nearly combined for a goal down low, only for Hellebuyck to knock the puck away to start a counter rush. And on that rush, Scheifele went wide and whipped a puck that deflected off Johnston’s stick, then hit Harley’s skate in front of the net, and you can guess what happened: a bad bounce.

It was a bummer for Dallas, but given that Winnipeg was on a bit of an odd-man rush to begin with, a bit of good fortune wasn’t entirely unearned.

In any case, it was 1-0 to Winnipeg, and Dallas had some work to do. Shots on goal were 13-8 for Winnipeg with eight minutes to go in the second, and Dallas was beginning to really regret not getting more out of their earlier power plays, one suspected.

Miro Heiskanen hit 10 minutes just past the halfway point of the game, so you knew that his minutes were likely to take a big step up from his 15 minutes in Game 4. But despite Heiskanen looking more like his usual self, Dallas continued to require much of their goaltender, as the Jets kept spreading out in the offensive zone and firing pucks with traffic to test Oettinger.

Lian Bichsel took an opportunity to give Perfetti the business high in the Dallas zone during one stretch, pinning him down for something like ten seconds, as the crowd began to voice their displeasure, but a sore Sam Steel could certainly testify that playoff standards are different.

Esa Lindell had a dangerous moment when he tried to step up and fire a wrister in the slot, only for the puck to slide off his stick and nearly end up getting sent for a breakaway. But Matt Duchene saved the breakaway, and then he got a puck up at the offensive blue line and took it in fed a pass across to Seguin for a glorious chance that he fired past Hellebuyck’s glove and into the post.

It was a reminder that, much as shots looked uneven, chances were just one shot apart from a tie game. But Dallas then tempted fate a bit when Mason Marchment reached out with the free hand and Ehlers spun into him, which Marchment adjudged pretty cynically, feeling that Ehlers had done a bit extra to draw the call.

Jake Oettinger was at his absolute best during the subsequent kill, during which Ceci lost his stick and ended up with Roope Hintz’s stick, which is the wrong handedness for him. Oettinger even made a save he knew nothing about, as it hit his posterior while he was turning around in the crease at one point.

But the much-needed whistle finally arrived 1:40 into the penalty after Scheifele had a rebound pop up off Oettinger at the side of the net, and he bopped it in with his glove.

The goal was immediately waved off (by Esa Lindell, then Wes McCauley) as it was gloved in.

The best part of the sequence was probably the “should have kicked it” chant that broke out in, let’s say “honor” of Alex Petrovic’s goal in Game 3.

Anyway, Dallas finished the period still down 1-0, which felt like a miracle after the flurry of shots on the Jets’ power play.

Shots on goal were 22-9 for Winnipeg after 20 minutes, but with Dallas only a goal behind, the game was well within reach, so long as they started to push back.

And man, given how fantastic Jake Oettinger had been through 40 minutes, it sure would be a shame if the Stars didn’t give him some support, right?

Third Period

Dallas started the third period with a great shift from the Benn-Duchene-Seguin line, and Robertson tested Hellebuyck with another puck off the rush right after that. It was an encouraging start, but it got subverted by another Jets power play after Alex Petrovic’s stick got caught between the net and Mason Appleton’s skate, sending Appleton to the ice.

Things got worse, though, when Esa Lindell reached for a poke-check, only to toe pick and slide behind his goal line, where his stick slid into the skates of Gabe Vilardi, putting Winnipeg on a gift of a 5-on-3—without their best penalty-killing defenseman.

Oettinger made the first save of the two-man advantage with his chin, popping the straps off his mask and drawing a whistle with 90 seconds still to kill. But 20 seconds wouldn’t even pass before the Jets got the puck down low with Harley too wide to cover, and Ehlers went to the crease unmolested and shot it in himself to make it 2-0 with over a minute still to kill on the Lindell penalty.

Oettinger had both the cross to Vilardi and the shot to deal with, and Ehlers was able to slip it through him on the far side as a result.

Dallas would kill the other penalty, with Miro Heiskanen notably taking a shift on the kill with Lindell still in the box. But with a good chunk of the third still to play, Dallas had to find a way to ramp things up.

They would get the perfect opportunity to do so after Roope Hintz drew a hooking penalty six minutes into the period that Appleton contested was a dive, by making the diving motion with his hands. But Appleton’s stick was well into Hintz’s hands, and that tends to be what players do when they’re trying to gain separation but a stick gets into that area.

Duchene got a great chance from the low circle, but he had to collect the puck from Heiskanen rather than one-timing it, and that gave Hellebuyck the time to get to the post and take the puck off his mask.

Rantanen would one-time a spot from almost the same spot later on, but he couldn’t elevate the puck on Hellebuyck, and the save was made. Dallas wouldn’t threaten again on a power play they really needed something from, given the time and score.

After a bit of a tussle around the net post-whistle, Lian Bichsel got nicked up high, but he also got called for a penalty—the only one of the bunch, somehow, despite he and Lowry tussling after the whistles. But Bichsel threw a gloved punch over a linesman’s shoulder, and Adam Lowry asked for a call, and got one.

On the fifth Jets power play of the game, Winnipeg would find Namestnikov alone in front of the net, where he would rip it past Oettinger just before the end of the power play.

That kind of sealed things. Oettinger made a glorious glove save on Lowry afterward, showing he, at least, hadn’t quite given up on the game yet.

However, things deteriorated after Benn got accosted on his way to the bench, and after whistles and scuffles broke out, Benn caught Sheifele in the head with a gloved punch that earned him an early shower with a misconduct penalty.

However, out of all of the mess, Brandon Tanev earned an extra minor (presumably for jumping on Benn’s back as the third man in after Benn and Scheifele were already tangled up), and the Stars had a power play that felt pretty undeserved, given Benn’s punch. (Which I wouldn’t expect to draw any supplemental discipline beyond a fine.)

Fittingly, Dallas didn’t score on the ensuing chance, and Benn was done for the night. The Stars had a couple more looks that somehow didn’t go in, including a bouncing rebound chance by Johnston that got put just over the crossbar of an open net. It was that kind of night, for Dallas.

Neal Pionk took Johnston down late after the whistle when Dallas pulled Oettinger with three minutes to go, and it looked a bit uncomfortable for the 22-year-old center. Another player who looked uncomfortable was Miro Heiskanen, who lost his second 100-foot race in three days, after a Jets clearance slid down the ice and Nik Ehlers won the race to pot the empty-net goal for a familiar 4-0 scoreline at the final horn.

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If there was consolation after this game for Dallas, it’s that the formula to fix the mess was easy: don’t take a ton of penalties, and don’t play another game in Winnipeg. And on Saturday, they’ll have a chance to make sure of both.