The Dallas Stars went into Los Angeles hoping to extend their winning streak to four for the second time this season, but Los Angeles was riding their own three game winning streak and wouldn’t be a pushover. The Stars started the game strong and built an early lead, but a few breakdowns in the second period and early in the third allowed the Kings back into the game. Once the Kings grabbed the lead, they didn’t let go and the Stars’ late push wasn’t enough to overcome their collapse in the middle frame
First Period
The first period was everything the coaching staff could hope for from from a road game. The Stars scored twice and controlled play for the full twenty minutes, holding Los Angeles to just four shots and no goals in the opening frame.
The period began with a power play for the Stars in the first minute after Adrian Kempe’s skate caught Roope Hintz’s heel to draw a tripping call after just 40 seconds. With the first line just finishing a shift, Pete DeBoer opted to start the second unit with Miro Heiskanen quarterbacking. The power play did little to inspire confidence in the first minute as the Stars struggled to enter the zone with control and set up once they did. However, once the first unit took the ice, the Stars were able to generate possession in the offensive zone. A late dump-in was collected by Jason Robertson who sent a backhanded pass to the slot for Wyatt Johnston. Johnston’s first shot was saved by Dave Rittich, but Johnston was able to collect his own rebound and slam it past Rittich with just six seconds left on the power play to open the scoring.
The dominance continued after the power play, with the Stars holding the Kings without even a shot attempt until past the halfway mark of the opening period. The Kings’ lack of shots was partly of their own doing. They had a pair of 2-on-1s in the first ten minutes of the period that failed to produce even a shot attempt. With about fourteen minutes left in the period, Quinton Byfield chipped a puck past Esa Lindell to spring a rush, but lost a handle on the puck and was unable to corral it before the Stars were able to get back to break up the chance. Three minutes later, Kevin Fiala had 2-on-1 rush of his own, but curled back rather than attempt a shot or pass and subsequently turned it over.
In contrast, when the Stars had odd man rushes, they were able to create chances. Jamie Benn and Sam Steel had a 2-on-1 opted to pass to Steel on. The pass got through and Steel got the shot off, but Rittich came up with a big save.
With 6:20 left in the period, Mason Marchment continued his outstanding start to the season when he pulled the puck off the wall and walked to the high slot where he fired a shot over Rittich’s blocker. It was a perfectly placed shot through traffic that Rittich couldn’t see until it was too late. The Stars remained firmly in control for the rest of the period finishing with an 11-4 advantage on the shot clock and a 2-0 lead.
Second Period
The Kings came out of the first intermission with much more pace to their game, catching the Stars a bit flat-footed and closing the gap on the shot clock. Tanner Jeannot exemplified the increased energy from the Kings four minutes into the second frame, when he beat Heiskanen to a loose puck in the slot to fire a backhand shot wide of Jake Oettinger. He followed that up with a strong second effort beating Heiskanen and Steel to the bounce off the boards for a follow-up shot. Oettinger couldn’t get back quickly enough, and Jeannot’s second attempt found the back of the net.
The Kings continued to push throughout the second frame, but the Stars had quality chances as well. Early in the period, Stankoven and Marchment had a nice extended passing play in which they threaded the Kings’ defense multiple times that ended with a chance for Marchment at the net mouth, but Rittich made the save. Later, with about 8:30 left, Johnston rang a shot off the post, but couldn’t get the bounce to fall the right way.
Soon after, Jamie Benn hit Brandt Clarke a bit high and got called for roughing, sending the Kings to their first power play. Despite the Kings winning the initial draw, the Stars’ penalty kill unit showed why they’re one of the top units in the league this season, keeping the Kings largely out of the zone and not allowing a single shot.
Only a minute after it ended though, Joel Edmonson would make Kings fans forget about their lackluster power play when his shot off a faceoff win deflected off the back of Miro Heiskanen’s leg as he was boxing out Trevor Moore in front of the net. Oettinger was unable to catch up to the change in direction, and the game was leveled at 2.
The period would conclude with a second Kings power play after the Stars got called for too many men. Once again the Stars’ PK was suffocating, allowing just a single shot and no dangerous chances. Although the shots were even for the period, the Kings controlled the flow of play much better than the Stars in the middle frame and were rewarded with a new game entering the final period.
Third Period
The Stars started the third period with a strong shift that culminated with a crossbar from Evgenii Dadonov just a minute in. Once again however, the puck refused to bounce into the net. The Kings responded with strong shift of their own, pinning the Stars in the defensive zone immediately after. The pressure paid off with a goal for Warren Foegele less than three minutes into the final frame. Foegele absorbed a hit from Stankoven behind the net before surprising Oettinger with a wrap-around attempt that found its way under his stick and past his right pad.
From that point on, it was almost all Dallas as the Stars pressed to even the game up. Sam Steel came the closest when a backhand from the slot found its way past Dave Rittich and trickled through the crease. Rittich was alert though, and managed to grab the puck before any Stars could get to it. The Kings’ only dangerous chance the rest of the period came when Fiala beat Oettinger on a partial breakaway, but the Stars got some post luck of their own as it rang off the near post and stayed out.
With just under four minutes left in regulation, the drew their second power play when Dave Rittich was called for tripping on Matt Duchene after an extended shift circling the Kings in their defensive zone. The power play maintained possession, but struggled create chances as the Kings went into lockdown mode. The best chance on the man advantage came as the power play was expiring when Duchene drove through an opening in the slot, but the Kings’ defense collapsed to prevent him from getting the shot off and the puck bounced harmlessly behind the net. DeBoer pulled Oettinger with about a minute and a half left and the Stars struggled to enter the zone with control and maintain possession. The clock expired with the Stars unable break through for a final score of 3-2 in favor of the Kings.
Stray Observations
- Stankoven has some chemistry with Duchene and Marchment. They were Dallas’ best line tonight. In addition to Marchment’s goal, they led the team in CF% and xGF% and connected for several pretty passing plays, with the give-and-go between Stankoven and Marchment being a highlight.
- The Kings generated a lot of odd man rushes, but really struggled to create shots with their rushes. Some of that was the quality of the ice, the broadcast mentioned the puck bouncing several times, but some of it was the Stars’ backcheckers getting back quickly and creating pressure that led to poor decisions. Still, it would probably be best for the Stars not to give up so many chances in the first place.
- Nils Lundkvist had several good pinches that resulted in close shots against Rittich, but was unable to convert. He’s struggled to produce points all season, but this was a really strong game for him.
- This wasn’t Oettinger’s best game. It’s hard to blame him too much on Edmonson’s goal, given the deflection, but both that goal and Jeannot’s goals were due to him playing aggressively at the top of the crease, leaving him vulnerable to bounces off the end boards. Foegele’s game winner was not a goal Oettinger usually gives up, beating him along the ice.
- The Kings got a bit of puck luck with favorable bounces on their first and second goals, but the Stars were too passive in the second period when there was still a lot of game left to be played. They showed they were capable of better play in the third period, but not playing a full 60 minutes caught up to them tonight.