Heading into tonight’s game, Dallas Stars Head Coach Pete DeBoer was asked if his team was facing a potential “trap game” against his old club:
Well history sure likes to repeat itself: once again, the Stars found themselves in quite a pickle against San Jose. Thanks primarily to some heroic goaltending by MacKenzie Blackwood (and some unfortunate Stars turnovers that directly led to goals against), the Stars never held the lead against the Sharks, last year’s NHL basement team. Perhaps rubbing some salt into the wound, one of those two Sharks’ goals came courtesy of Ty Dellandrea, the former Stars first round pick who was shipped off to San Jose this offseason.
Each time the Sharks took the lead, however, the Stars were able to answer right back, first thanks to Matt Duchene, later Roope Hintz. And with Jake Oettinger also putting in a great game on the other side of the ice, the Stars were able to avoid a regulation upset and secure at least one point as they headed to their first overtime game of the season.
There, Blackwood once again kept Dallas in check, despite the Stars having spending roughly the first entire half of the period in the offensive zone and getting a power play for the last 45 seconds. Once the shootout came up, however, the Sharks netminder finally buckled, as the Stars went a perfect 3-for-3 on the shootout to reach the 4-0-0 mark for the season.
Dallas will now hit the road for the second time this year as they head to D.C. to take on the Washington Capitals this Thursday at 6:00 pm CDT on Victory+.
First Period:
We were treated with a long stretch of uninterrupted hockey to start things off, as the first whistle didn’t come until 5:59 into the game. During that stretch, the Stars’ fourth line had a potential scoring opportunity off the rush, but Sam Steel elected not to shoot and instead send it back to Colin Blackwell, which did not turn out well.
Then again, a lack of chances was the story of the first half of the period: the at one point, the San Jose Sharks were outshooting the Stars 8-2. But then Logan Stankoven got hi-sticked in the face by Barclay Goodrow, giving the Stars a four minute power play. This helped them flip the script and take the lead in shots on net, but unfortunately it didn’t amount to any goals — the puck never seemed to bounce the right way, with the Stars failing to get solid chances off the rebound and everything else getting stopped by Mackenzie Blackwood.
The result was that both teams headed to the locker room scoreless, while both no doubt thanking their goaltenders for bailing them out during their opponents’ respective offensive spurts.
Score: Dallas 0, San Jose 0
Shots: Dallas 10, San Jose 9
Second Period:
The second started a little more low key, as neither goaltender was really challenged at first. About six minutes in, however, Jason Robertson turned the puck over to Tyler Toffoli, who proceeded to sprint down the left side of the rink before sniping one past Jake Oettinger, giving San Jose the first lead of the night.
That seemed to kindle a flame within the Stars, who started to get more aggressive and began putting the pressure on Blackwood. A holding by Jan Rutta put Dallas back on the power play yet again, but once again the anemic power play accomplished squat against the Sharks season-long perfect penalty kill. The dam finally broke two minutes later, however, as Mason Marchment set up Matt Duchene for a perfect redirect to tie things up:
Unfortunately, the Stares aren’t allowed to have nice things — just three minutes later, it was Jamie Benn’s turn for an ugly turnover, giving Nico Sturm a rush opportunity himself. He shot the puck wide of Oettinger, but it banked off the endboards back towards the front of the net. There, Miro Heiskanen was beat out by none other than Ty Dellandrea, playing his first game against the team who drafted him in the American Airlines Center, who proceeded to notch his first career goal for the Sharks.
Fortunately, the Sharks also aren’t allowed to have nice things — just two minutes after that, the top line made some magic happen as Roope Hintz seemingly effortlessly sniped one past Blackwood, tying things up once more for the Stars:
Once again, both teams headed to the dressing room with a tied game, only this time around the goalies looked mortal.
Score: Dallas 2, San Jose 2
Shots: Dallas 25, San Jose 14
Third Period:
The Sharks would quickly get a chance to reclaim their lead as Nils Lundkvist took a rather unlucky/unfortunate tripping penalty early on in the period. Just 24 seconds later, Blackwell took a much more blatant slashing call, breaking Toffoli’s stick, which gave the Sharks a 5-on-3 power play for a minute and a half.
Thankfully for Dallas, the Sharks seemed to have difficult keeping control of the puck, coughing it up often and allowing Dallas multiple clears. That not only resulted in a successful kill for Dallas, but also gave Blackwell a rush opportunity as he came out of the box. He was able to set up Roope Hintz beautifully, but unfortunately the newest Finnish alternate was unable to drive the puck home past Blackwood.
The Stars continued to apply offensive pressure, but the Sharks netminder continued to deny them a lead. The Sharks then got a few good chances of their own, including another power play courtesy of a Matt Duchene hold, but Oettinger refused to buckle as well. Really, that was the story for the entire period, as both teams continued to earn solid scoring opportunities while both goalies stood tall, sending us to overtime.
Score: Dallas 2, San Jose 2
Shots: Dallas 37, San Jose 25
Overtime:
Although the Sharks won the initial draw, it was Dallas who primarily held possession to start overtime, with the Sharks unable to get their first shift change until halfway through the period. The Stars weren’t able to capitalize on it, however, and in fact it was the Sharks with the best scoring opportunity as Toffoli got another chance off the rush. This time, however, he waited to get a pass off, and Oettinger was able to stop the ensuing shot.
With just 43 seconds remaining, Klim Kostin took an interference penalty after setting a pick on Jason Roberston. The Stars had a couple decent looks, but ultimately weren’t able to score on the abridged power play, sending us to the shootout.
Shootout:
Robertson: ✅ Smith: ❌
Duchene: ✅ Granlund: ✅
Johnston: ✅
Final Score: Dallas 3, San Jose 2
Final Shots: Dallas 38, San Jose 27
Mood:
