Johnston thriving on power play for Stars in West 1st Round

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Wyatt Johnston quietly stationed himself below the left face-off circle with the Dallas Stars on the power play in double overtime Wednesday, his eyes fixed on the puck as it went from Miro Heiskanen at the point to Jason Robertson on the near half-wall and back to Heiskanen. 

His back to the end wall, Johnston deftly glided toward his left, to the front of the net, knowing the puck was going to find him there, as it has so often this season.

"He can find his spots, he's really good at timing himself," Stars forward Mikko Rantanen told NHL.com. "He's not just standing there the whole power play, he's moving and then he pops somewhere where an opening is for a half a second and it's on us to try to find him."

That's all the Stars needed for Johnston to score the power-play goal that ended a four-hour Game 3 in the Western Conference First Round at Grand Casino Arena.

Heiskanen sent the puck to the net and Johnston found just enough space in front of goalie Jesper Wallstedt to have time to twist his body and flip his stick from a forehand position to a backhand so he could tip it in, giving Dallas a 4-3 double-overtime win against the Minnesota Wild and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.

Johnston didn't even remember getting bumped by Jonas Brodin in the slot, a subtle little jostle that gave him an extra few inches to turn his body so he could score his third goal of the series, second on the power play. 

Game 4 is at Grand Casino Arena on Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, truTV, TBS, SNP, SNW, SNO, TVAS).

"Just trying to get to the net," Johnston said. "We're trying to get some more pucks there, trying to get some opportunities around the net. I'd have to look at it again and see, it's kind of a little blurry, but just trying to get to the net and trying to get my stick on the puck."

Johnston led the NHL with 27 power-play goals this season because he is always around the net, ready with his stick, finding that little space -- he doesn't need more than a foot -- to either tip or deflect a shot, or get off a quick wristed one-timer.

His two-power play goals in three games against the Wild are already halfway to the number he scored in 37 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs across the previous two seasons.

"Obviously, it helps just having the guys that can find you when you're there, but it's also about trying to find that ice," Johnston said. "It's a lot of talking with Mikko and 'Robo' (Robertson) about different spacing and finding different holes. You combine that with them making their reads, looking where you can find open ice, getting there and being ready to shoot it."

It's as if Johnston is a quiet assassin on the power play. You've got Rantanen and Robertson and Matt Duchene and Heiskanen moving the puck around and there's Johnston in the middle of it all, in the bumper spot, watching it all unfold, waiting for his moment, always the right moment.

"He's not bullying his way around, it's almost like he's doing a pardon-me, excuse-me his way around," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. "That's just hockey sense. It's what I think makes him so good. There's lots of guys in the league that have hands. There's lots of guys in the league that can shoot. Wyatt is not the fastest guy, the biggest guy or the strongest guy, so you think, why is he so good? Everybody is asking that question and the real answer for me is hockey IQ. It's hard to teach what he can do. He has something that other guys don't have."

Gulutzan turned into somewhat of a power-play expert running the Edmonton Oilers unit for seven seasons as an assistant from 2018-25. Edmonton was a League-best 26.8 percent on the power play during Gulutzan's time there.

Working daily with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Gulutzan clearly recognizes the importance of hockey sense on the power play. He didn't know what kind of savant Johnston is on it until he got to work with him this season.

"The biggest skillset that I notice with him is his ability to read in dynamic or evolving situations," Gulutzan said.

He brought up a silky power-play overtime goal Johnston scored against the Calgary Flames on April 7, when he got the puck with his back to the net on his forehand and felt some free space on his backhand, so he spun, faked forehand and scored with his backhand.

"He gets his shot off as quick as anyone," Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said. "He's so smart and he's learning as he's playing where those little holes are and the timing to get open for that split second. You've seen it, he doesn't need much room to make 'em pay."

Johnston is often working on his spacing, positioning, and his shot from in tight.

"It just makes you feel comfortable in a game when you get those looks when you feel comfortable you can put it into the spot you want," he said.

Watch closely and you'll see the Wild penalty killers staying close to Johnston in the first-round series. It's not often that the Stars can get him the puck in the bumper, particularly for a quick one-timer from the slot, but they're always looking.

"When I don't have the puck, I'll try to look before I get it to try to see where he is or where he might be because the most effective plays are always the one touches," Rantanen said. "He has scored there a lot, so teams are sitting on him, sometimes two guys, and then we've got to find some other ways too."

The Stars are 5-for-13 on the power play in the past two games after going 1-for-4 Game 1. The more Dallas diversifies its looks, the more the Wild soften in the middle. 

It happened in overtime Wednesday. Johnston found enough space to end the game.

"He has this uncanny ability that's hard to teach just to find space on the ice and then when he does find space, he's very quick with what he wants to do, whether it's shoot or make a little move, a little play," Gulutzan said. "His hands are very good in tight, very fast and clean, but the ability to find space in that area and move to high danger areas is very hard to teach. He's just got a real knack to find it."