The Dallas Stars’ win over the Vancouver Canucks was rather filthy last night.
Mind you, I don’t mean filthy as in filthy, the slang term in sports which is used as a compliment to how good or cool a certain play or goal was. I mean filthy as in ugly, nauseating, and overall not very pleasant to watch.
I suppose the first period wasn’t too bad — it started off on a real high note when Mavrik Bourque made his way onto the scoresheet (he has been playing like a breakthrough is coming any game now) with a goal thanks only to him and his linemates refusing to give up on the play. But then Jake Oettinger let in a bad goal three minutes later and the momentum was gone.
Only it didn’t stay gone for long, because Jason Robertson continued his never-ending feast on NHL goaltenders with a five-hole zinger. Alas, it didn’t stay long either, as the Canucks got their first power play of the evening and scored in the ensuing front-net chaos.
I specify ‘first’ power play of the evening because the Canucks got about ten bajillion of them, most of them condensed at the start of the second period, including 80 seconds of 5-on-3. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t incensed at the officiating like my friend David Castillo was, but I’m not sure you can ever really be happy about your team taking ten bajillion penalties in a game while drawing only two, regardless of circumstances.
Thankfully for Dallas, Oettinger was able to overcome his early funk and was able to lock things down for the rest of the game, which was necessary because that second period was ugly even without the three penalty kills. The Stars’ netminder put in a couple of highlight reel saves, and not in typical “cool and composed” Oettinger fashion either — I’m talking Anton Khudobin-like in his constant sprawling over the ice to somehow stop a puck that seemed destined to hit the back of the net.
Once the third period rolled around, things finally started to calm down for Dallas (after, of course, the fifth and thankfully final penalty that more or less kicked off the period). It was about then, at long last, the Stars were able to go from filthy to filthy, starting with that Colin Blackwell goal. And with all credit due to Blackwell, it’s honestly not the goal itself that deserves the most credit — it was a total team effort as Liam Bichsel came to pressure Mackenzie MacEachern, whose backpass was then intercepted by Oskar Bäck, who then chipped it ahead to Radek Faksa, who proceeded to spin around and backhand the pass up to Blackwell, setting up the breakaway.
And, of course, that move by Faksa wasn’t even the most impressive spin-o-rama of the night, as Mikko Rantanen… well, you’ve all seen the goal by now.
So what was once looking like a rather ugly game from the Stars ended up as a pretty decisive 4-2 win. Should the Stars feel happy about their performance? No, although a select few individual players might be happy about their individual performances. But a win is a win, and when dealing with an injury bug like Dallas is (or Vancouver is, for that matter), you take every point you can get.
• As Robert Tiffin wrote, we were, once again, robbed of a Jason Robertson hat trick. First, he got all alone at the net front on the Stars’ first power play and just missed the corner pocket, instead hitting the high crossbar. He could have passed it over to an equally wide open Roope Hintz, but Marcus Pettersson (no relation to Elias Petterson or Elias Petterson) had his stick there and might have intercepted it. And as Tiffin wrote, you can’t really blame him for taking the shot the way he’s been playing.
Later, he failed to get his stick on a loose puck that squeezed past Kevin Lankinen, and his follow-up shot was blocked by Filip Hronek’s skate. So instead, Robertson ended the game with just a single goal, which means he’s probably back in “trade the bum” territory among many Stars fans. No, I am not salty, please don’t put it in the papers that I’m salty.
• On the subject of missed scoring opportunities, Jamie Benn was tantalizing close to Goal No. 400 again in his second game back. He didn’t take a penalty this time, but otherwise it was another typical Jamie Benn game in which he didn’t seem to stand out that much. Still, while he may not light up the scoresheet like he once used to, there’s no question he’s still the heart and sole of this Dallas Stars team, who he has now captained for a franchise record 13 seasons.
Speaking of which, I talked with my dad on the way home from the Islanders game a few nights ago about how I still think of the “Victory Green Era” (which includes the new jerseys, Benn’s captaincy, Jim Nill’s tenure as GM, and most of Tom Gaglardi’s ownership) as this relatively new thing, like seven years tops. But no, it’s 13, which means the day is rapidly approaching that the new jersey reveal will have been closer to the Stars’ Stanley Cup win than it is to present day.
Man I’m getting old.
• Turns out I don’t have much to write about this game, so I’ll close things off with news that Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is going to be out 4-6 weeks due to a knee procedure. That’s pertinent to Dallas fans for two reasons, the first of which is that his absence will really hurt their division rival in the short term, as they’re currently on the playoff bubble but easily the biggest threat to pick up the pace and overtake the Stars for 2nd in the division.
But it’s also meaningful when it comes to Oettinger and his bid for the US Olympic starting gig. Hellebuyck is expected to be back long before the games, and he’s still one of the best goalies (if not the) on the planet, but he also has a (perhaps undeserved) reputation for falling short in the playoffs and other big games. That’s not to say Oettinger is exactly known as a stone wall in the postseason (that Calgary Flames series notwithstanding), but my expectation heading into the season was always that Oettinger could take the starter’s job if he played at a very high level heading into the games. Now with Hellebuyck missing a decent chunk of action, now’s the time for him to step up and make the job his.