Things felt familiar Wednesday night.
Dallas and St. Louis faced off for the third time in six games. The Stars blew a lead for the third time in six games. But for the third time, the Stars pulled off a last-minute win against the Blues.
This continues Dallas’ six-game win streak heading into the Olympic break, where six players will represent their countries, while the rest of the team gets some time off. This success is naturally welcomed by the Stars, but it mirrors the streak before Christmas that ended in a five-game slide that shook the team.
“I kinda hate the timing of this, to be honest,” Matt Duchene said postgame. “Feeling good as an individual and then as a team we’re rolling, but you know I think that hunger will continue to fester on the break…”
St. Louis got the first power play of the night when Miro Heiskanen got sent to the box for delay of game. Pavel Buchnevich took advantage and slung the puck past Jake Oettinger to open up scoring.
Just under five minutes later, Mikko Rantanen approached Jordan Binnington’s net and showcased some agile stick handling that allowed him to send a pass to a waiting Jason Robertson. The forward shot the puck in a wide open net from the red line and evened things out for the Stars. This is Robertson’s 32nd goal of the season and 200th of his career, making him just the sixth Dallas player to score 200 goals.
As the game went on, the power plays began to rain down. These teams typically play a physical game against each other and tonight was no exception. Robertson drew a tripping penalty from Jake Neighbours, but Dallas could not find the net.
Jordan Kyrou did, however. With just under two minutes remaining in the first, the forward went five-hole on Oettinger and sent the Stars into the first intermission trailing by one. St. Louis only recorded five shots on goal in the first twenty minutes, while Dallas had 12. Heiskanen managed to give the Stars a power play after Robby Fabbri tripped him up, with four seconds remaining in the period.
Looking to capitalize on that advantage, the Stars came into the second swinging. But the two minutes winded down with no goal until Duchene snuck one by Binnington at the last second. Duchene has scored six goals in the past six games after missing the beginning of the season due to injury.
Mavrik Bourque joined the scoring Stars two minutes later when he knocked Robertson’s rebounded shot by Binnington and tallied his 11th goal of the season.
Oskar Bäck gave the Stars another man advantage when Binnington tripped him up while tried to get a shot off. A few passes from Esa Lindell and Duchene later, Jamie Benn added another goal for the Stars and doubled their lead.
St. Louis got two more power play opportunities in the second and one in the third before the Blues could put a puck past Oettinger. Jimmy Snuggerud weaved through three Dallas players and cut the Stars’ lead in half with just under nine minutes to go. St. Louis kept applying pressure when Alexey Toropchenko tied things up with a goal.
“In the third we weren’t pushing. We were a little complacent,” head coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I felt a couple turnovers early just kind of fed their attack. They made us take a penalty. And then, we started to press a little bit after their it was 4-3, so I give them credit.”
It felt eeirly similar to the past two Blues games, right up to the last sixty-seven seconds of play.
With time winding down, Heiskanen controlled the puck down the ice and slid a bullet to Benn, who fired it up and over Binnington. The captain is the third different player in the past three Blues games to score a last-minute game ender.
The Stars will head into the break with six wins in a row in their back pocket. The next game will be at home against Seattle on Feb. 25, at 7:00 p.m. CT.