When the clock struck midnight and I turned 21 years old, my friends all took me out barhopping for my first time on 6th Street in downtown Austin. Far more people accompanied me than I expected, given we all had classes the next day. But then I reminded myself that we were all college students, and that I pretty much just gave them a socially acceptable excuse to go out drinking on a Monday night.
I highly doubt Logan Stankoven stayed up till 3 or 4 in the morning, drinking free before being dragged home by his friends – he had to get his rest so that he could prepare for a professional hockey game. Even after the game, celebrations wouldn’t be possible, as he and his team had a flight to catch heading out to Denver. And yet, I can’t help but think he had a lot more fun with his 21st birthday.
Oh sure, he would have love to have won last night’s game as opposed to settling for an overtime loss, as would the rest of the Dallas Stars. But otherwise, you couldn’t have scripted up a better night for the Stars’ newest rookie, playing in just his second career NHL game.
In the second period, with the Stars down 1-0, it was Stankoven who drew an interference penalty on Ryan Poluck, putting Dallas on their first (and only) power play of the evening. That resulted in Matt Duchene scoring to earn his 800th NHL career point, all but guaranteeing him the puck for his milestone collection… had Stankoven not notched the secondary assist for his first NHL career point.
The New York Islanders would go on to reclaim their lead about 8 minutes later, but Stankoven apparently has a knack for tying up games – with a little help from *checks notes* a porcupine in a balloon factory, the rookie earned his first career goal with an absolute beauty of a sniper up close:
That game, a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, was another strong performance from Stankoven as well, even if he didn’t end up on the scoresheet. Or, if you’ll grab your tin foil hat with me, he expertly waited until his birthday and first home game to notch his first scoring milestones. Honestly, I wouldn’t even blame him – those of you watching the game from home should have heard the roof of the American Airlines Center nearly blow off when Stankoven’s face was shown on the jumbotron, before Jeff K. could even begin announcing his first NHL goal.
So yes, the Stars would have liked to leave with a win, and I would have liked to leave the arena without witnessing another overtime (loss) this season (perhaps I’m the problem). But you know they were all grinning ear to ear anyways, ecstatic for the new kid. A dazzling forward who, if we’re being honest, might not let Jim Nill send him back to Cedar Park ever again.
• Someone else who I think had a solid night was Ty Dellandrea. He had several solid scoring chances on the second line, and applied good pressure off the puck. For the third period, however, he was sent back down to the fourth line, swapping spots with Sam Steel.
It’s a weird case where, even though I thought Dellandrea was doing well, I think the move down was warranted. Because you couldn’t help but wonder what a more offensively gifted player like Tyler Seguin, who Dellandrea was slotting in for, might have been able to do with those same scoring opportunities. So it made sense to try someone else in that role, and given how well the third line was buzzing, that left only a “demotion” to the fourth line. The swap didn’t have a meaningful impact, but it was worth a shot.
• Rather than go through (nearly) everyone’s Game Score as I’ve done before, I just want to highlight two players from the below chart: Joel Hanley and Derrick Pouliot:
That’s, uhh, not good, at least as far as defensive impact is concerned. Which makes me think back to a flurry of reports that hit the interwebs yesterday from Elliotte Friedman, Pierre LeBrun, and Sean Shapiro among others. Namely, that not only is Jim Nill looking to be aggressive this trade deadline when it comes to improving the blueline, but that he might be trying to add two defensemen, not just one. In other words, a second pairing transplant.
And when you think about it… it makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? Hanley is a career 7th defenseman, Jani Hakanpää brings value only on the penalty kill, and Nils Lundkvist is still not trusted by Pete DeBoer and staff to take meaningful minutes in important and/or tight games. And while Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley have been a fantastic top pairing, you have to wonder if placing not just your top two defensemen, but your only Top 4 caliber blueliners on the same pairing will be sustainable come playoff time.
That’s where adding another defenseman at the deadline is important, but adding two could be transformative. It would knock those first three defensemen out of the lineup (assuming they weren’t a part of the trade as assets) while placing Esa Lindell and Ryan Suter on the third pairing, where they would be much more effective. And depending on who Dallas obtains, it could lead to some interesting options in the Top 4. For instance, a LHD and RHD would allow you to either keep Heiskanen and Harley intact or split them up, while two righties would allow you to shift Heiskanen back over to his strong side. Could you imagine Heiskanen paired with Chris Tanev and Harley with Sean Walker? Or (so long as we’re daydreaming) Tanev remaining paired with Noah Hanifin, just now in Victory Green?
Of course, adding another defensemen ups the assets the Stars have to give up. But assuming the top three prospects in Stankoven, Mavrik Bourque, and Lianm Bichsel don’t go anywhere, Dallas is setup well for the present and the immediate future. All other prospects and picks are expendable, and if there’s ever a year to be as aggressive as possible, this might be it.
• Stepping away from the Stars for a moment, I want to highlight the player who’s name actually made it into the headline: Islanders forward Mat Barzal. For your viewing pleasure (or, I suppose, torture):
That’s not even all of the highlights, mind you – I distinctively remember Scott Wedgewood having to make an amazing save in the third period as Barzal flew down the ice and receive a pass when he was all alone in front of the Stars’ netminder. Or the time Ryan Suter had several strides on him and (this being Suter vs. Barzal) the Islander still almost managed a breakaway. Honestly, when you don’t watch him on on a regular basis, it’s easy to forget just how fast Barzal is.
So while he only registered a single point, his fingerprints were all over this game. Interestingly enough, his GameScore didn’t view his performance very kindly. But if I were to say “analytics vs. eye test” three times into a mirror, my former colleague David Castillo will appear behind me with some piano wire, so I’ll just leave it at that.
• Finally, it was Black History Night for Dallas, and the Stars had a nice video spot on Texas Stars legend and current assistant coach Maxime Fortunus during the second intermission, detailing his initial exposure to hockey and his playing career. I wish the Stars had published it so I could share it, but hopefully they do so soon – Fortunus was one of my favorite players to follow and cheer for, even though he only appeared in 9 NHL games, and it was an excellent tribute video.