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Jason Robertson and Braden Holtby vs the Entire Winnipeg Jets Roster: Robertson and Holtby Victorious

Posted on by Ann Atkinson

The Dallas Stars were in the frigid north for this season’s last game against the Winnipeg Jets. Three games this season have all gone to overtime in which the home team has never lost.

[UNTIL NOW?? WHO KNOWS????]

The Stars were without Miro Heiskanen and Tyler Seguin tonight due to a non-covid related illness. Braden Holtby was back in net for the first time in about three weeks after the knee on knee collision against the Washington Capitals.

First Period

Please note from the outset that the biggest narrative through the first two periods is entirely driven by the overactive whistles from the referees.

That said, 68 seconds into the game, Joe Pavelski was called for hooking, but the Stars killed the first penalty rather handily.

Jason Robertson then scored his team-leading 24th goal of the season off assists from Ryan Suter and Pavelski. This assist was Pavelski’s 900th point and he’s the 14th American-born player to his this milestone.

Also, the goal was pretty filthy.

And the overhead view:

Roope Hintz was called for hooking, which again seemed a little overzealous on the part of the refs. Then Jamie Benn was called for hooking, which was around the time that Daryl Reaugh started talking about how overzealous the refs were. The Stars killed both penalties.

Winnipeg finally had their own penalty called when Nikolaj Ehlers was called for hooking Radek Faksa. While on the power play, the Stars turned the puck over at the Winnipeg line and lead to a breakaway for the Jets but Holty held on and saved not only the initial shot but also the rebound.

One goal, four penalties, and that was the first period.

Shots: Stars 14, Jets 16
Goals: Stars 1, Jets 0

Second Period

Remember, there were a lot of penalties in this game. The Stars got the first power play opportunity in the second off a tripping penalty by Dylan DeMelo against Roope Hintz. They got their second power play chance four minutes later when Pierre Luc-Dubois had a holding penalty on Jason Robertson, who does indeed look huggable.

The second penalty had another heart-attack-inducing shorthanded breakaway for the Jets, but Holtby poke checked it away, but not before Ryan Suter took an interference penalty trying to stop the breakaway.

About 40 seconds into that penalty kill, Radek Faksa was called on a tripping penalty as Nate Schmidt went down.

Joel Hanley broke up yet another breakaway for the Jets without even committing a single penalty.

And then Riley Tufte was called for slashing against Neal Plonk but again, the Stars were (almost) able to kill that penalty with the assistance of the crossbar. The refs did call a good goal on the ice, but called it back under review.

It was almost though because with one second left in the With a second left to go on the power play, the Jets actually score a good goal when Paul Statsny scored his 14th of the season.

The shots on goal in the second were pretty even given the penalties, but the Jets really controlled the pace while the Stars chased and struggled. With less than a minute left to go in the period, Robertson scores again to bring the Stars ahead.

Not quite as filthy as the first, but (could have been) a good momentum shift going into the third.

Shots: Stars 21, Jets 24
Goals: Stars 2, Jets 1

Third Period

The Jets started the third period while the Stars were still back in the locker room, which seems like the only plausible explanation for the ambush that Holtby faced in the early part of the period. The result of which was Kyle Connor, top five goal scorer in the NHL, doing what he does best.

The Jets managed to sustain the pressure for most of the rest of the third period, really. Mark Scheifele and Michael Raffl took matching minors on roughing each other just after the 10 minute mark. The resulting 4-on-4 lead to the Jets tying the game up on a goal from Paul Stastny.

But then, three minutes later, Denis Gurianov roared in like a lion to tie the game up again, which ended up taking the game to overtime for the fourth time this season between the two clubs.

As such:

Shots: Stars 29, Jets 40
Goals: Stars 3, Jets 2

Overtime

Well it was Jason Robertson’s game to lose, right? Less than a minute until they’d go to a shoot out, Jason Robertson took advantage of a Jets turnover for a breakaway down the ice, after which he collapsed against the boards in victory. His first NHL hat trick in his 100th game.

The Stars continue the road trip in Minnesota on Sunday. Puck drop will be at 3 pm.

Talking Points