It only took nine years, but what many Dallas Stars fans long felt was impossible finally happened:
Jason Robertson scored another goal.
Okay, okay, that was only nine games, but it was still a huge goal by the Stars’ slumping scorer. What I’m really talking about though, obviously, is the Stars snapping their absurd eight game losing streak in Ottawa, with their previous win dating back to March 6, 2016. To put things into perspective, that game-winning goal was scored by Antoine Roussel and assisted by Ales Hemsky and Alex Goligoski. I’m also pretty sure the pilgrims were somewhere in the stands.
But all terrible things must come to an end, with the Stars securing a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. Not that it was easy, mind you — the Stars went down 2-0 early (again) in what honestly might be their worst first period of the season, and it took overtime to complete the comeback win — but when throwing a monkey off your back, you don’t really care how it’s done, only that you did it.
Of course, the how is important in its own right. And it should come as no surprise that the win came off the backs of the usual suspects:
The aforementioned Robertson led the way (did you see the chart?), scoring the game-tying, power play goal on an absolute laser and picking up both of the primary assists for the other two goals. Of course, such a goal wouldn’t have been possible without Mikko Rantanen juking out Shane Pinto at the blue line, and it wouldn’t have been a game-tying goal were it not for his breakaway goal near the end of the second.
Miro Heiskanen meanwhile continued his Norris Trophy push with a fantastic defensive game (did you see the chart?) a pair of assists, and probably should have netted the game-winner had it not been for Pinto, who might somehow be a better goalie than forward. Instead, Roope Hintz got to be the hero, although Robertson was also robbed of a game-winner, although at least that stop came courtesy of a real goalie in Linus Ullmark.
And let’s not forget Jake Oettinger (did you see the-oh wait), who shook off a shaky start and dialed in the rest of the night. And outside of more or less the entire third period, the Senators kept him quite busy the whole night — both he and Ullmark put in the type of performances that make you almost feel sad that one of them had to lose. Almost.
So all in all, it was a win where (most of) the Stars’ best players were their best players, and it’s hard to be upset with that, especially when it comes against *double checks standings* one of the better teams in the league right now. Speaking of the standings, the Stars are now tied for second in the league, behind only the Colorado Avalanche. So yeah, good vibes after last night.
• If the Avalanche keep on rolling like they have been (and, by extension, their players keep lighting up the scoresheet like they have been), it’s gonna be hard to not pencil in Cale Makar for the Norris Trophy… or is it?
Heiskanen currently sits tied for second in defenseman scoring, although he has quite a handful of secondary assists propping that number up. But if he’s able to keep scoring at a relatively high rate, he has a very, very good chance to take home the trophy regardless of Makar’s gaudy point totals. For starters, he has his strong defensive game working for him. Not that Makar is a slouch by any means, mind you — just that Heiskanen’s defense is, in my extremely biased opinion, second to none.
But what really works in Heiskanen’s favor is the narrative. The Norris, even more so than the other NHL Awards, has always had a reputation of often being awarded to players who are “due” for one, and how many times have you heard Heiskanen being mentioned as a Top 5 defenseman in the NHL despite never finishing higher than 7th in Norris voting? Throw in Makar already having a pair of trophies, including the most recent one, and Heiskanen winning his first over his 2017 NHL Draft-mate makes for quite the story. Which, need you a reminder, is literally what the sportswriters voting on the award do for a living.
• Meanwhile the Stars’ other No. 1 defenseman, Thomas Harley, could have had a much better night. It’s not easy playing alongside Ilya Lybushkin, but the top defenseman hasn’t looked like his normal self for much of the season. We’re note even a quarter of the way into the season, so I’m not gonna hit the panic button yet, but… I mean, you do have to worry a little bit, right? Especially with how top-heavy the Stars’ blueline is?
• Speaking of the blueline, Lian Bichsel had… a game. As Robert Tiffin pointed out, he was involved in no less than four penalties, taking the first two and drawing the other pair. I’d be lying if I said I could distinctively remember three of those, but I can clearly picture the first penalty taken, in which he got called for holding on a Tim Stützle breakaway. That was a good penalty if there ever was one, keeping one of the Senators’ most dangerous players from getting a clean chance at Oettinger to make it a potential 3-0 deficit.
Outside of the penalties, however, I’m with David Castillo in that he didn’t really seem all that noticeable, and hasn’t been for much of the year. Like Mavrik Bourque, he’s a player that Dallas would really love to get going, as it would go a long way to at least partially solving one of the Stars’ weak links.
(By the way, notice how I managed to shamelessly seamlessly plug both my friends’ recaps in the same bullet point, plus my previous Afterwords? It’s all those years of Daily Links, I’m telling ya).
• In case I was in danger of selling it short, the first period was really, really bad. I mean, the Stars looked completely aimless out there, with the Senators just bullying them into giving up the puck and allowing them good scoring chances. I mean, it took over six minutes for the Stars to register their first shot on goal, and even that was taken away before they quickly got their actual first shot on net in.
The third period, however, was more or less the total opposite, with the Stars skating all over the Ottawa to the point that I’m honestly surprised the game went to overtime as opposed to ending with a Stars’ regulation win. It’s always nice to see the other team turtle for a change, and I can’t imagine there are any Senators fans too happy with the result.
• Finally, the Stars are now 7-0 in games I watch (semi-)live. Yes, I am taking full credit for the team’s success in these games. No, I will not watch every single game (semi-)live from now on. Yes, I am aware that it’s bad to spit in the face of hockey superstition. Sue me.