With less than 15 minutes remaining in regulation in their 3-2 overtime win over Nashville Saturday night, the Stars scored the equalizing goal they needed to force overtime.
But the game-tying score came from an unlikely hero.
Depth forward Nathan Bastian ended up with the puck wide open in the slot, dodged Predators goaltender Juuse Saros and scored his fourth goal of the season.
“Big goal, wasn’t it?” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said postgame. “It’s important.”
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Bastian’s goal helped the Stars secure their eighth consecutive win, which ties a franchise record. It also gave a prime example of what the Stars need from some of their depth players over the weeks ahead.
The NHL schedule is ramping up, fatigue is setting in, and Gulutzan is looking deeper down his bench for production.
In Saturday’s game, the Stars were without four of their forwards. This week, the team said Mikko Rantanen will miss at least two weeks, likely longer, with a lower-body injury he suffered during the Olympics. The Olympics also took a toll on Roope Hintz, who has missed the last two games with an illness, and Radek Faksa, who is now on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.
The team also filed paperwork to designate Tyler Seguin’s torn ACL from December as a season-ending injury, according to multiple reports. The move frees up more space for Dallas to work with ahead of Friday’s NHL trade deadline — but given all of its absences, the Stars also need to find production within.
The Stars effectively had two fourth lines Saturday in terms of personnel — one of Bastian, Arttu Hyry and Oskar Bäck and the other of Colin Blackwell, Adam Erne and Justin Hryckowian.
“I actually really liked the way they played today — just simple, effective hockey,” Stars defenseman Esa Lindell said. “They forechecked it well, and it’s nice that they got rewarded.”
Those players have delivered valuable minutes all season from a penalty-killing and physicality perspective. Justin Hryckowian served five minutes for fighting for the second consecutive game Saturday, as he tries to energize his group with a scrappy style of play each night.
But goals dry up in the playoffs and down the stretch of a season, and the Stars will need those depth forwards to contribute more regularly on the scoresheet, like Bastian did Saturday, to account for the losses of Rantanen and Seguin.
“It’s always maybe a little easier said than done,” Bastian said. “When you’re missing such key guys like that, and you’re able to still win hockey games, I think it shows positive signs of a good hockey team.
“Guys like us, maybe we can’t bring the skill, but we can make up for it in other areas — maybe a little more physicality. With a little more ice time, you get a little more confidence, and all of a sudden, you can string together some good games.”
The Stars will likely look for more of that depth scoring by bringing in a middle-six forward at the deadline. Dallas will have over $7 million in cap space to work with over the next week — more than enough to trade for a proven scorer. Calgary’s Blake Coleman and Nazem Kadri and Vancouver’s Evander Kane are among the forwards the Stars have been linked to this trade season.
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The Stars lost three 20-goal scorers last offseason in free agency and trades — Mason Marchment, Evgenii Dadonov and Mikael Granlund. While they have found spurts of scoring success, they’ve struggled to stay consistent over long stretches. Too much weight rests on the shoulders of Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston, who lead the team with 33 and 32 goals, respectively.
The Stars’ need for depth production isn’t just with the forwards. Dallas’ blue line has more depth in terms of numbers, but its top three producers have been overused.
Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley are fresh off deep runs in the Olympics where some played upwards of 30 minutes a night. Dallas is fortunate to have Lian Bichsel back in the lineup for the first time since November, but Nill may want to add another top-four defenseman at the deadline, loading up before a deep playoff run.
That’s easier said than done without sacrificing all of his draft picks or trading another key piece like Bichsel, Mavrik Bourque or Nils Lundkvist in return.
Over the next week, it’ll become clearer what personnel Gulutzan has to work with to account for the losses of some of his top scorers late. Whether it’s players currently in the room or newcomers, there will be an expectation on all of them to produce — which he hopes can help bring cohesion ahead of a Stanley Cup run.
“It helps build team, too, because all guys feel a part of it,” he said.