Stars need more from forwards following Game 2 loss to Oilers

DALLAS -- When Roope Hintz had to be helped off the ice Friday, favoring his left leg after a slash by Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse, a bad situation got worse for the Dallas Stars.

Coach Pete DeBoer gave no update on Hintz after a 3-0 loss in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center. With their offense shut out again and the best-of-7 series tied 1-1, the Stars could be without a top player entering Game 3 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN+, ABC).

“We need him in the lineup,” center Wyatt Johnston said. “He’s just an awesome player, so good on both ends of the ice. So yeah, you don’t want to be without a guy like that. Obviously, don’t know how he is feeling, but he is such an important part of our team.”

The Stars were one of the best offensive teams in the NHL in the regular season. They ranked third in goals per game (3.35), tied with the Winnipeg Jets.

They were shut out once, and it wasn’t until a 4-0 loss to the Jets on April 10, when they were locked into their spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, resting players down the stretch and stumbling to an 0-5-2 finish.

Now they’re averaging 2.67 goals per game in the playoffs. They’ve been shut out four times, including in each of their past three losses. Of course, after each of those shutout losses, they bounced back with a win.

“I think we got another level to go, and we look forward to Game 3 here,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said.

Do the Stars have another level? If so, will they get to it in time?

Those are big questions.

The Stars should have another level. Their strength should be their depth. They had eight players who scored 16 goals or more in the regular season. But that depth isn’t showing up enough right now.

Forward Mikko Rantanen has 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 15 games, tied for the playoff lead with Edmonton superstars Leon Draisaitl (six goals, 14 assists) and Connor McDavid (three goals, 17 assists), who have played 13 games each. But Rantanen has two assists in his past five games.

Hintz, who usually centers Rantanen’s line, has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 15 games, tied for second on the Stars with defenseman Thomas Harley (four goals, seven assists). But he has one assist in his past five games.

When the top guys aren’t scoring, others need to step up. But too many Dallas forwards aren’t producing. After combining for 123 goals in the regular season, Benn, Evgenii Dadonov, Matt Duchene, Mason Marchment and Jason Robertson have four goals between them in the playoffs.

Benn has one goal, none in his past 12. Dadonov has one goal, none in his past 13. Duchene finally scored his first of the playoffs in Game 1. Marchment has one goal, none in his past 10. Robertson hasn’t scored in eight games since returning from a lower-body injury and doesn’t look like himself.

“We’ve got a group of forwards that’s still fighting to find their elite level,” DeBoer said Friday morning.

DeBoer has defended his guys multiple times by adding context. In the first round, the Stars didn’t have Robertson or Miro Heiskanen, their No. 1 defenseman, against the Colorado Avalanche. In the second, they got Robertson back in Game 1 and Heiskanen back in Game 4, but they played the Jets, the top defensive team in the regular season.

All of that is true. The Stars also felt they generated more chances Friday than they did in their 6-3 win against the Oilers in Game 1, when they capitalized on three straight power plays early in the third period to turn a 3-1 hole into a 4-3 lead. But they need more from more forwards, especially if they don’t have Hintz.

“It’s good that you can generate some looks,” said Johnston, who has eight points (four goals, four assists) in 15 games but none in his past five. “I think we can still do a better job with that. I think at the end of the day, I mean, just not our best game, and we’ll look to improve in many different aspects.”

The Stars have overcome injuries before. They have bounced back from shutout losses with wins before. They have even gone to Edmonton before with the conference final 1-1 and won 5-3 in Game 3. That happened just last year.

But is it a good thing that they’ve come this far without playing their best, because their best is yet to come? Or is it a bad thing that they haven’t been at their best and might be down one of their best players again?

“There’s no panic,” Benn said. “We’re going to regroup, refocus and reenergize and get ready for the next one.”