Preseason Game 3 AfterThoughts: Top Line Tops Wild
Wyatt Johnston and Mavrik Bourque Did Some Things in this one
As far as the game goes, Dallas stifled Minnesota expertly in the first period of what I can only assume the coaches called the perfect opening road period.
Or, more accurately, the perfect opening 18:55 of a road period. Because Matt Boldy would set up Marco Rossi for two goals in ten seconds to turn a great defensive display into a two-goal deficit before the Stars had a chance to say “intermission pizza.”
That’s when everything changed. The Stars went on to score five unanswered goals after moving Justin Hryckowian up to play beside Wyatt Johnston and Mavrik Bourque, and the Wild’s ostensibly stronger roster went gently into what turned out to be a good night, for the Stars.
We’ve got a bunch of fun video clips to review down below, but because it’s the preseason, I think it’s best to lead off with what matters:
Which Players Helped (or Hurt) Their Cause Tonight?
With Jamie Benn’s prolonged absence looming over the start of the Dallas season, there is suddenly another NHL roster spot up for grabs in the forward group, as we discussed earlier today.
That puts a bit more important on the preseason all of a sudden, as these games are very real chances for players to help their stock in the eyes of a brand-new coach.
So, let’s talk about a few of those players, and some others.
Justin Hryckowian got the nod to move up to the top line, and he rewarded that choice by Gulutzan, scoring a goal and assisting on another. He also went 8-for-10 on faceoffs, which matters to coaches. That is a very big point in his favor for a team looking for reliable pieces who can play on the left side.
Adam Erne was the player who started the night on that left side, but he ended up seeing a puck glance off his skate and get put in by Rossi right after he was trying to clamp down on Rossi, and that’s a rough impression to leave right at the end of the period. Overall, I don’t think he played particuarly badly or anything, but clearly the coaching staff didn’t love what they saw in the first period, and he was put on a mishmash of a line with Oskar Bäck and Antonio Stranges for the final two periods. He also didn’t get any meaningful time on special teams, so it’s safe to say this game probably didn’t help his cause, even if it didn’t necessarily hurt it. Simply standing his ground might not be enough right now if other players keep pushing hard.
Vladislav Kolyachonok scored an empty-netter, but he also had a pretty bad mistake in the first period to surrender a two-on-one that resulted in a goal right after the Wild had just scored their first one. I thought he had a lot of quietly decent moments tonight, but making a mistake like that can really put doubt in a coach’s mind about whether you deserve an NHL spot over someone like Alex Petrovic, who is coming into the preseason with a lot more trust and a longer track record. It can even make their mind up altogether.
Mavrik Bourque and Wyatt Johnston were outstanding tonight. For all the great players the Wild dressed tonight—and Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy were dynamite for a bit there—the Stars’ dynamic kids were the stars of the show. Bourque continues to have the best preseason of perhaps any Stars player (albeit through just two games), and Johnston looked like his old (young) self. That is one heck of a preseason debut—even if all the goals came against the Wild’s less-noteworthy goaltender.
Defensively, I thought Oskar Bäck was very solid tonight aside from one failed dump-in, though he continues to be a Radek Faksa starter kit in terms of goal prevention and lack of goal creation. Good player, but the ceiling is pretty clear. Still, I think I like his game best on the wing with Faksa in rather than centering his own trio.
Nathan Bastian took Bäck’s spot next to Faksa starting in the second period, though perhaps that was more because the Stars needed Bäck to center a line after moving Hryckowian up to wing. Bastian was getting chances, but like the other two players we just mentioned, the offense doesn’t appear to be something that will come naturally.
Colin Blackwell played with confidence and aggression tonight, looking to hit gaps and exploit space, even if it meant going to the net front. He’s an easy player to appreciate.
Christian Kyrou got to run a power play with Wyatt Johnston and Mavrik Bourque on it, and I believe he was enjoying himself. It’s hard to see Kyrou really grabbing a spot in Texas this year after struggling to stay in the lineup last season (and with Capobianco and Trey Taylor likely QBing the power plays), but you need a lot of players to make it through an AHL season.
Arttu Hyry might have trouble getting into the NHL lineup again this year. Just a feeling right now, but Hyry’s main virtue as a player is his ability to play center with some size and stable defense, and the Stars have a lot of those players right now—including two who can both play center, as they did tonight (Faksa and Bäck).
All right, let’s get to the lineups, then we’ll watch some fun videos.
The Stars began* with these lines:
Erne-Johnston-Bourque
Bäck-Faksa-Blackwell
Stranges-Hryckowian-Bastian
MacDonell-Hyry-Becker
Bichsel-Lyubushkin
Kolyachonok-Petrovic
Bertucci-Kyrou
DeSmith
Tiefensee
Minnesota, meanwhile, rolled out a much stronger lineup, as home teams in the preseason generally do:
In the second period, however, Dallas changed up the lines, presumably looking to create more offense facing a two-goal deficit by moving up Justin Hryckowian beside Johnston and Bourque. It would work quite well.
Hryckowian-Johnston-Bourque
Bastian-Faksa-Blackwell
Stranges-Bäck-Erne
MacDonell-Hyry-Becker
Fun Preseason Video Clip Time
The Bourque/Johnston chemistry certainly was noticeable early on, even before results followed, as you can see with this nice bit of work.
Tristan Bertucci (I believe) put a point shot on goal that slid off the post after getting through traffic , but I didn’t take a video of it because it wasn’t interesting to me. Just try to picture that, though. I guess this shouldn’t really be in Fun Video Time, sorry.
Glen Gulutzan will be pleased with forechecks like these, I think:
Adam Erne was forced to do his best defenseman impression to protect against a pass from behind the goal line by Matt Boldy, but after clamping down on Rossi’s stick initially, the puck glanced off his skate and bounced perfectly, and Rossi got his stick free and found the puck first.
And the same line would score on the next shift after Vladislav Kolyachonok got caught too high in the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 for Boldy and Rossi that they once again converted:
Despite only having two of their presumptive 10 power play skaters in the lineup, the Stars still created a chance on their first power play, early in the second period:
Dallas would actually keep the five-man unit out for the entire two minutes, with Christian Kyrou quarterbacking Johnston, Bourque, Stranges, and Hryckowian. The second power play unit showed up later in the game, but you will not be able to guess who played on it, I am betting.
It’s preseason for goalies, too, as DeSmith handed a puck off to nobody, which forced him to make a big save seconds later. Maybe he thought Petrovic was carving in to pick it up, or maybe he just wanted the practice.
The teams switched roles a bit as the second went on, with Dallas finally recording their first shot on goal of the period eight minutes in. But Marco Rossi intercepted an Oskar Bäck dump-in attempt and immediately found Boldy at the other end for what looked like a sure goal, but wasn’t, thanks to Bichsel and DeSmith:
Mavrik Bourque continues to have a very strong preseason, and he looks confident here as he curls back and sauces a nifty backhand over to Johnston, who comes off the bench just to time to grab the puck and rip a shot worthy of his quality, cutting the lead in half late in the second.
And speaking of quality, how about an even more individual effort by Johnston to tie things up on the opening shift of the third period?
And here’s a fun moment where Radek Faksa was trying to be the Net Front Presence™ only to have a Lian Bichsel Missle™ cause all sorts of problems.
Did we mention that Bourque and Johnston were having fun together tonight?
The Wild finally began to push after falling behind. Kaprizov joined his fellow Russians Tarasenko and Yurov, presumably because something had to make the player who saw $16 million as a comedown show why he was worth it, right?
Anyway, another line made Casey DeSmith have to make a big stop:
But after the Stars got a late power play, Mavrik Bourque would join the goal-scoring party of his linemates, looking pass but opting to shoot, surprising Samual Hlavaj—the goalie who surrendered all four Stars goals in this one after swapping in for Wallstedt midway through the game.
The Wild would draw a late power play after Yurov got tripped (I’m told) by Alex Petrovic, but did someone order a helping of some Oskar Bäck penalty killing?
The Wild power play would end as haplessly as it began, but after Minnesota pulled their goalender, Mavrik Bourque had one more bit of excellence left in him, knocking down a puck to send Adam Erne and Radek Faksa in for what probably should have become a goal:
But the Stars would eventually get said goal, as Kolyachonok finally decided to fire a chest-high wrister past a bunch of would-be goaltenders to ice the whole thing. Ballgame:
The end. Thanks for reading and watching and generally just being here.
I like what Hryckowian and Blackwell bring to the table depth-wise.